This month we take a look at three horrific new books from Frisson Comics and Mad Robot Comics.

Knock Knock #11: Pestillence (Frisson Comics)

With most of the other themes for horror short stories covered, the team at Frisson Comics decide to have a look at Pestilence for the latest issue of their Knock Knock anthology. Cue lots of stories about pustules and infections, that will guarantee to have you itching and scratching imaginary ailments by the end of the book. It’s an interesting idea for an anthology, and one which is ripe for grotesque body horror. However there isn’t much variety the genre and as such there are a lot of outbreak and quarantine based stories in the collection. Stand outs such as Zoonotic Planet and. Never Just A Cold, make this a fun, albeit slightly revolting read, while longer form prose stories give a sense of variety to the issue – espeically if you are overwhlemed by pictures of septic boils. With a strong cover that looks like a Gerald Scarfe painting, this is one of small presses more interesting horror anthologies, but perhaps this issues subject matter was a little too stomach churning for us!

You can get Knock Knock #11: Pestillence for £4 from etsy.com/uk/shop/FrissonComics

Frank at Home on the Farm #1 (Mad Robot Comics)

Next we’ve got not one, but two, books from Brighton’s Mad Robot Comics. The first, Frank At Home on the Farm is the latest from the team being last year’s Murder Most Mundane. Another slice of dark British horror it follows soldier Frank who returns home from the Great War only to find his family are missing from their farm. But they’re not on a trip (as all the locals suggest), there is something more sinister going on, as everyone seems to have forgotten about them. But how and why is this happening? Is this a symptom of Frank’s post traumatic stress or some form of collective amnesia? And what do the sinister farm animals have to do with everything? Packed full of the same sense of Gothic mystery and foreboding that we loved in Murder Most Mundane, the mystery of what is happening to Frank is underpinned by a dark and foreboding undercurrent that is like mixture of the Wicker Man and The League of Gentlemen. It’s not played for fun at all, and the idea of a dark secret at the heart of village is what powers this sinister story along.

Pick up Frank At Home On The Farm #1 from mad-robot-comics.myshopify.com

Cadavers: World Gone To Hell (Mad Robot Comics)

The second Mad Robot books we’re going to look at is Cadavers: World Gone To Hell, an anthology that also works as a prequel to Mad Robot’s Cadavers series. Set on a version of Earth which has overlapped with an alternate dimension full of monsters, ghouls and demons this collection of stories tells the story of how this merger came about. It’s a really fun collection of stories and a great intro to the world of Cadavers – although it is perhaps more suited for existing readers of the book (or those looking to get into it) Featuring a fantastic collection of small press talent, the stand-out of this volume is The Blob from Charlie Etheridge-Nunn and Russell (Gateway City) Olson and is a 30s style pulp detective tale about a gelatinous PI. It’s a pitch perfect mix of pulp homages and surreal moments (especially the femme fatale who is literally all legs) and is worth getting the book for alone!
Pick Cadavers: World Gone To Hell from mad-robot-comics.myshopify.com/