First off, let me say that the little comic nerd that was in me never dreamed he’d be getting press materials delivered to his door, direct from D.C. Comics. That, that still makes me happy and a little excited when I see their logo on the pacage at the front door.

Halloween is generally a big holiday in the genre world. Probably even bigger in the ranks of some place like DC’s Vertigo Comics where they embrace more the weird and macbre. Enter their big Halloween spooktacular, The House of Mystery Halloween Annual. This bad boy is 45 pages of full color creepiness, with some shorts from many of Vertigo’s line. You’ll find a wrapper story from the original creative team of “House of Myster”, a visit from “Hellblazer” hero John Constantine, a preview of an upcoming title “I, Zombie” and more.

I’m not too familiar with the Vertigo line outside of their big name staples. Titles such as “House of Mystery” I’ve never heard of before. Be it a simple matter of not catching it on my local shops shelves, who knows. After digging into this Halloween annual, I actually finding myself itching to ad a few new books to the pull list. Nothing here is outright terrifying mind you, and none of the stories are long enough to be indicitive of the titles normal output. Still, they’re a nice little creepy aside that fits in with the season.

Even in the short amount of time given to each tale, I find myself most drawn to “House of Mystery”. There’s a good quirky cast going on here and glancing at back issues online, it looks to be a good fit for the horror fan. The upcoming “I, Zombie” looks like it could have some potential as well, and “Hellblazer” is always good fun.

Quality wise, there is really nothing to be surprised by here. Most of the titles core teams are at work and face it, they’re all pros! The artwork is solid, the stories are fun. There’s not enough room here to get the full depth of the writing team but just enough of a teast that might tug at your curiosity.

It’s Halloween at The House of Mystery, and that can only mean one thing: the bash of a lifetime! But when Fig discovers a strange mask in the attic, she begins having visions of everywhere the mask has been, and she quickly becomes the life and death of the party. This special 48-page annual contains a framing story by the regular HOUSE OF MYSTERY creative team of writer Matthew Sturges and artists Luca Rossi and Jose Marzan Jr. Also included is a series of short stories from a few regular Vertigo titles including HELLBLAZER by Peter Milligan, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini and MADAME XANADU by Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder Hadley and Richard Friend as well as a special MERV PUMPKINHEAD tale (the first in over 8 years!)by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham and Kevin Nowlan! In addition, you’ll be treated to a yarn spotlighting the upcoming new monthly series I, ZOMBIE by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred

If you’re a horror comic fan, you might snag this one while you’re at the shop. While I enjoyed it, I can’t really say I would be sad had I missed it altogether. If you have an extra $5 to spare in your weekly book budget, give it a shot because hey…tis the season!