With a name that sounds a bit like a George Romero movie and with a cover by Charlie Adlard, can horror anthology Dead By Dawn from Shane Chebsey and Andrew Richmond breathe new life into the undead genre or will it be another rotting corpse of a read!

Publisher: Scar Comics
Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Price: Coming Soon from the Scar Comics Web Store

We often pontificate on here about what makes a good anthology. Sometimes it is a coherence of theme (Sagas of the Shield Maiden), or author (Thoughtscape Comics), or just having a load of quality submissions and a big dose of ambition (The 77). Well this new collection from small press stalwart Shane Chebsey (organise of the ICE conventions) and Andrew Richmond is definitely the latter. Bringing back a concept from their early days on the UK small press scene at Bristol in 2007, this is essentially a classic horror themed anthology in the vein of EC Comics – but with a modern twist. While there is a very big hint of the undead about most of the stories, it is more than ‘just another zombie book’ – as you can see from the intro where Chebsey explains how he called in his mate Adlard to do the cover as long as there weren’t any ‘bloody zombies’ and so fortunately this isn’t another book trying to ride on Adlard’s coat tails!

Instead, Dead by Dawn is a much more of a broad ranging horror anthology, but one which lays its stall out very quickly with Dosed by Brox which mixes Nazi dominatrixs and an undercurrent of suburban malaise to create a really unsettling, but also full on, opener. (Warning: This is not one to read with the kids!!) As a result, this feels more like the kind of ambitious, dark and twisted horror books of Krent Able (I Feel Love), than something more conventional like the London Horror Comic or Twisted Dark.

On the cover Chebsey claims to have brought together some ‘of the most twisted creators in comics’ and he has a really fine roster of contributors. With stories from the likes of 2000AD’s Dan Abnett, Benjamin Dickson, David Hine and Mark Stafford – and even our own Michael Powell to name but a few. As with all anthologies some stories are better than others, but overall this is a very strong collection thanks to this experienced line up. (Although if were being hyper critical we would say it does feel like a bit of a ‘boys club’ and could benefit from some more diverse voices).

Stand outs for us include the wonderful avian horror of Bird Brain by Hine and Stafford (not a shock considering our love of Liphook and The Bad Bad Place), the historical horror of The Laughter of King John (which reminded quite a lot of the wonderful Flintlock) and also the classic horror vibe of Cold by Powell and Stephen Daly. Not to mention that opener from Brox. All of these have strong concepts and equally classy artwork and help give Dead By Dawn a very accomplished and professional feel.

There are very few weak links in the presentation and as such, even those which may lack some of the polish of others don’t stand out as being out of place, just a bit more raw than others. Tonally it hangs together well, feeling varied but also like a considered collection rather than one which is hastily assembled. Inevitably in a post-pandemic world there feels like a lot of themes of disease and plague are prevalent, and whether this is intentional or not it seems to seep through every element of the book giving it a very contemporary feel, which is no bad thing.

If you are looking for that next really fresh horror collection, which doesn’t rely on cheap thrills and shocks (at least not all the time) then this is definitely the book for you. As with all horror books it is not for everyone, but it is definitely the right side of gory and creepy, but with a dark heart all the same. The only thing more unsettling than some of the stories in here, is just how much of a tough job Chebsey and Richmond are going to have bringing this one back for another instalment. But that is not because this is a book devoid of life, rather that this is one brimming with quality as much it is soaked in blood stained gore!