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Wake the Dead #1-5
Steve Niles Omnibus
This collection of classic terror tales from 30 Days of Night creator and scribe Steve Niles includes...
Aleister Arcane: Aleister Green loves playing late night TV horror host Aleister Arcane, but he's forced off the air and into unhappy retirement -- and an early grave! But Aleister has left a little gift behind -- will the town ever be the same?
The Lurkers: LA detective Jack Dietz is having one of the worst days of his life. One body is bad enough, but when another turns up with human bite marks, he knows his world has just turned inside out.
Secret Skull: A mysterious killer is on the loose in the city, but this killer only kills bad guys... or those about to be bad!
Wake the Dead: College student Victor works to reverse death, not knowing what a can of worms he's opening up... but he'll find out!
Aleister Arcane: Aleister Green loves playing late night TV horror host Aleister Arcane, but he's forced off the air and into unhappy retirement -- and an early grave! But Aleister has left a little gift behind -- will the town ever be the same?
The Lurkers: LA detective Jack Dietz is having one of the worst days of his life. One body is bad enough, but when another turns up with human bite marks, he knows his world has just turned inside out.
Secret Skull: A mysterious killer is on the loose in the city, but this killer only kills bad guys... or those about to be bad!
Wake the Dead: College student Victor works to reverse death, not knowing what a can of worms he's opening up... but he'll find out!
416 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 2008
28 people want to read
About the author
Steve Niles
887 books450 followersSTEVE NILES is one of the writers responsible for bringing horror comics back to prominence, and was recently named by Fangoria magazine as one of it's "13 rising talents who promise to keep us terrified for the next 25 years."
Niles is currently working for the four top American comic publishers - Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse. He got his start in the industry when he formed his own publishing company called Arcane Comix, where he published, edited and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics. His adaptations include works by Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and Harlan Ellison.
Steve resides in Los Angeles in his bachelor pad with one cat. While there's no crawlspace, there is a questionable closet in one corner and no one is quite sure what is hidden in there...but we have an idea.
--from the author's website
Niles is currently working for the four top American comic publishers - Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse. He got his start in the industry when he formed his own publishing company called Arcane Comix, where he published, edited and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics. His adaptations include works by Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and Harlan Ellison.
Steve resides in Los Angeles in his bachelor pad with one cat. While there's no crawlspace, there is a questionable closet in one corner and no one is quite sure what is hidden in there...but we have an idea.
--from the author's website
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 13, 2015
Great collection of horror comics. I'm a big Steve Niles fan, and I really enjoyed this volume.
ALEISTER ARCANE: Great tale featuring an old school late night horror movie host who is falsely accused by a town of corrupting youth. I sensed a bit of allegory there with the comic book ban of Frederic Wertham in the 1950s. For those not familiar, back in the 1950s a psychologist published a book called Seduction of the Innocent which basically blamed comic books for warping youth. This led to horror comics being banned for around 20 years, which is nuts in hindsight. Anyway, in this story the host decides to get some revenge on the town through magical means, but there's a twist when he befriends a new generation of fans.
WAKE THE DEAD: A reinvention of Frankenstein. I liked this one as there were several easter eggs placed throughout the story that readers of the original Frankenstein would catch. Gory,but good.
THE SECRET SKULL: Great tale of a vigilante ghoul.
THE LURKERS: Ghouls show up again. A group of benevolent ghouls show up when an evil ghoul begins to prey on children. Only one detective know the real story, and it's up to him to stop the monster. The ending could have been a little better, but overall another good one.
I enjoyed all of the art, but it was several different styles. I can see how some people may not enjoy some of the art, as some of it comes across a little cartoonish for horror, but I personally enjoyed it all.
If you like horror comics, I think you'll enjoy this volume. And it's also a lot of reading at a decent price.
ALEISTER ARCANE: Great tale featuring an old school late night horror movie host who is falsely accused by a town of corrupting youth. I sensed a bit of allegory there with the comic book ban of Frederic Wertham in the 1950s. For those not familiar, back in the 1950s a psychologist published a book called Seduction of the Innocent which basically blamed comic books for warping youth. This led to horror comics being banned for around 20 years, which is nuts in hindsight. Anyway, in this story the host decides to get some revenge on the town through magical means, but there's a twist when he befriends a new generation of fans.
WAKE THE DEAD: A reinvention of Frankenstein. I liked this one as there were several easter eggs placed throughout the story that readers of the original Frankenstein would catch. Gory,but good.
THE SECRET SKULL: Great tale of a vigilante ghoul.
THE LURKERS: Ghouls show up again. A group of benevolent ghouls show up when an evil ghoul begins to prey on children. Only one detective know the real story, and it's up to him to stop the monster. The ending could have been a little better, but overall another good one.
I enjoyed all of the art, but it was several different styles. I can see how some people may not enjoy some of the art, as some of it comes across a little cartoonish for horror, but I personally enjoyed it all.
If you like horror comics, I think you'll enjoy this volume. And it's also a lot of reading at a decent price.
June 29, 2024
IDW apes the Dark Horse Omnibus format, right down to the trim size and trade dress. That's cool, as it's a sharp design. Aleister Arcane is a decent story with mediocre artwork. Wake The Dead is fantastic and worth a read. It's the only series in this book with decent artwork, and the cover image (above) is taken from the cover of one of the issues. Secret Skull has a solid enough premise, but is marred by Chuck BB's amateurish artwork. Horrible, non-Horror tinged garbage, it really holds the story back. The Lurkers is a severely decompressed, lazy read. It's Bendis bad, with padding and unnecessary "camera angle" changes. The final tally: One series that's a winner, three that are losers.
December 28, 2024
I am quickly becoming quite a fan of Steve Niles, all four of these short graphic novel, horror stories, were exceptional. Two had a crime noir feel to them, and the others were heartfelt and just good fun!
June 19, 2017
Interesting little stories.
November 18, 2017
Beautiful artwork with enjoyable stories. Great Oct read.
July 2, 2020
Interesting concepts. Passable execution. That's Steve Niles in a nutshell.
July 24, 2021
I loved Aleister Arcane about the horror tv show host who exacts revenge on prudish NIMBYs. Everything else failed to capture my imagination.
October 8, 2011
Of the four stories here, one is weak, and three are above average but not fantastic. A totally enjoyable, solid collection.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews