Longtime horror content creators HorrorHound have taken to Kickstarter to launch their first hardcover full release, Halftone Horrors: The History of Horror Movie Comic Books! This first in a planned series of collector-based hardbound books delves into the expansive history of comic book adaptations of horror movies from the prolific to the obscure. Here’s the official description of the project from the creators:

Halftone Horrors: The History of Horror Movie Comic Books will be a 240-page full-color hardbound book telling the history of officially licensed comic book adaptations of every hit, cult, and obscure horror movie to receive attention within the comic book industry. This comprehensive book includes companies from the early days of this publishing industry – like Dell, Gold Key, and Charlton Comics Group – to the indie boom of the 1990s (Adventure Comics, Epic, Innovation) – and ending on the modern-day comic giants (Dynamite Entertainment, Boom!, IDW Publishing). The guide covers everything from Nosferatu, Frankenstein, and Night of the Living Dead to A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, and Army of Darkness.

As a huge fan of horror comic adaptations, a compilation of that very specific but deep history sounds like a dream come true, and who better to tackle the project than HorrorHound editor-in-chief Nathan Hanneman? Of the project, Hanneman states: “I have always been a huge supporter of reference and history guides – especially ones that revolve around the world of collecting. If the idea of owning a companion guide to an entire world of collectibles means as much to you as it does to me, then this will be a priceless option and possession to have. It was an important challenge I wanted to take on. While we have been working on this book for years, finishing it was never a time-manageable opportunity. The pandemic shut-down of 2020 was a sobering reminder that you shouldn’t delay your hopes and goals. I used my time quarantined in my home office to finally bring this project to reality. With help from Kickstarter backers, we can bring it to the masses.”

But wait, there’s more! The Kickstarter campaign is also an opportunity to order other merch from HorrorHound, perhaps most exciting being the first issue of the company’s own original comic book with a Kickstarter exclusive variant cover. Seems like a perfect add-on for Halftone Horrors! You can also order shirts, pins, stickers, and subscriptions to HorrorHound Magazine to further help the project along, which at the time of writing is about forty percent of the way to its minimum funding goal.

I sincerely hope Halftone Horrors meets and exceeds its funding goals– the amount of dedication and research that had to go into compiling this often-overlooked corner of history seems tremendous, and it’s no surprise to see publishers moving to Kickstarter in the wake of the pandemic. Titles like this contribute a lot to the horror community as a whole, so if you can, please check out the campaign or visit the official Halftone Horrors website and share the project with anyone else who may be interested. At $35 for a full-color hardbound copy, this thing is a steal. I can’t wait to use it to discover some of the stranger adaptations that I’ve never heard of. Before you go, take a look at a few sneak peek pages: