Creepshow Holiday Special 2023 

Writers – Daniel Kraus and James Asmus 

Artists – Letizia Cadonici and Jonathan Wayshak 

I have been limiting my comic book reviews to once a week here at the site but I had to write and share this one before the holidays. 

I was looking forward to this special when it was announced and I was able to grab a copy from Eide’s Entertainment. 

In the first tale, Esme is told the tale of The Christmas Man by her mean-spirited cousins who are in town for the holidays. We learn the meaning of stockings hung by the chimney with care and what happens if you don’t put them there in the first place. In the second, Holly and Joy are two friends but also Package Thieves who go around taking gifts from the porches of unsuspecting people and selling them at their consignment shop. Some of the packages come with a grisly surprise inside and a warning. Will the two friends heed the warning or will it be too late to change their greedy ways?

Both stories have a perfect set-up with satisfying and surprising endings to them. Both pack a punch and are cautionary tales as to why we must treat others how we would want to be treated and to do the right thing when others aren’t watching us. For those of you that have ever been bullied or had something stolen from you, you will get catharsis by reading these terrifying tales. 

As a kid that grew up on Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt, Monsters, and The Hitchhiker, I love a good, scary story that provides both a lesson that helps you grow as an upstanding person and the comeuppance for those that treat others poorly. My friend and I have been watching the Shudder series Creepshow from the beginning and its nice to try to guess the twist or the ending to the story. The fact that Creepshow has been spun off into comics and novels proves its popularity and that anthology series are back in a big way. I can’t wait to see what’s in store in 2024 and beyond! 

The Creepshow Holiday Special 2023 was released on Wednesday December 6, 2023. I would check to see if your local comic shop still has copies available for purchase. Creepshow Volume 1 from Image Comics and Season One of the TV series Creepshow are both available instantly on Hoopla. Creepshow is in its second volume and the next issue is set for release on Wednesday December 20^th, 2023.