9 Comics & Graphic Novels That Invoke the Spirit of Stephen King

Stephen King is back. Not that he ever went anywhere—but his new novel, The Outsider, feels like what we think of when we think of “classic King,” exploring the dark underbelly of a seemingly idyllic American town, and disturbing scenes of supernatural violence anchored in family trauma. It’s drawing back fans who wight not have gone for his recent foray into police procedurals, and might inspire some of his newer readers to take a deeper dive into horror.

Creepshow, by Bernie Wrightson, Jack Kamen, and Stephen King
We’ll start with a couple of books that King fans will enjoy because they’re written by, or closely associated with, King himself. Cheating? Perhaps. But if you love King and you love comics, these are going to be essential. Creepshow is a cult-classic anthology film from 1982 directed by Night of the Living Dead’s George A. Romero and written by King, adapting two of his own stories alongside three new ones. Inspired, as it was, by disreputable, Seduction of the Innocent-era horror comics, the filmmakers saw to it the movie was adapted for comics by classic horror artist Jack Kamen and Swamp Thing’s brilliant Bernie Wrightson. The work of those two creepy geniuses raises the book well beyond the realm of cheap movie tie-in, making it, if anything, an even better tribute to the golden age of sleazy horror than the film. (Hope you like cockroaches.) This one is recently back in print, and as lurid as ever.

American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque
Vampires are no strangers to King: they appeared first (and best) in his early novel ‘Salem’s Lot, and also show up throughout the Dark Tower series. Though longtime Batman writer Snyder and artist Albuquerque have been the main talents behind the series since 2010, American Vampire was christened by King when he provided a couple of stories for the first book. The series tells of vampire outlaw Skinner Sweet and his progeny, a silent film actress named Pearl Jones. Sweet was turned in the 1800s in the American West, and awoke to find that he had powers that set him apart from the old world European vampires that spawned him. The series follows Sweet and Pearl two as they travel through the subsequent decades of American history, bloodsucking all the way.

Wytches, by Scott Snyder, Jock, and Matt Hollingsworth
Another horror book from Snyder, this time with Jock and Hollingsworth, Wytches flew a bit under the radar back in 2015, but deserves a look. Sailor Rook and her parents fled to a tiny and isolated town in order to escape scrutiny following the mysterious disappearance of a girl who had been bullying Sailor. Small town with deep, dark woods? What could go wrong? There are creatures in that forest (no spoilers to say that they’re witches), and they have a deep and longstanding interest in the family. The witches’ gruesome abilities relate closely to guilt and human frailty, making them uniquely psychological, and very King-like horrors, and the focus on a deeply damaged family and a teenager who is called upon to be strong and heroic in the face of disbelief and hostility from grown-ups gives it the feel of vintage King (It, for starters).

Tales from the Darkside, by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Michael Benedetto
Another cross-media project, this one by King’s son, Joe Hill. While Hill has carved himself a career independent of his famous father, they share a penchant for character-driven horror in prosaic settings—stories of everyday people caught up in ghastly happenings. In 2013, Hill was tapped to write and produce an update of the classic Darkside TV series (to which King had contributed); sadly, it didn’t make it to air, but did eventually make it to the page. Hill adapts his own screenplays here, a series of stories about people caught in a literal darkside. In the first, a lifeguard’s carelessness leads to a drowning; in the second, a man’s hallucinatory demon escapes into the real world following brain surgery. The final tale involves a creepy family and a tablet that grants viewers a peek into an underworld.

Locke & Key, by Joe Hill and Garbiel Rodriguez
Also from the collaborative team of Hill and Rodriguez, Locke & Key is an original creation that feels like it could’ve formed the basis for the best book 1980s-era King never wrote, with a group of young protagonists right out of Derry. It’s the story of a family that moves into its patriarch’s childhood home, called the Keyhouse, after he is brutally murdered. That the place is located in Lovecraft, Massachusetts is as big a hint that bad business is going to go down there as Rodriguez’s brooding artwork. As their mother gets lost in a cloud of grief (and at the bottom of a bottle), the three Locke children uncover a mystery behind the locked doors and in the (not quite) empty well of the increasingly sinister estate. Vengeful ghosts abound, as a dark legacy that has stalked the family for generations finally comes into the light. Chilling stuff—six volumes of it, plus several essential spinoffs.

Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll
Much of King’s work is threaded with distinctly horrific family traumas endured by women. Those threads aren’t always tied together flawlessly, but books like Dolores Claiborne represent good faith efforts from a male writer. Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods tells five deeply disturbing stories of women facing genuine terrors, and it’s an absolute tour de force. The art, coloring, and lettering all reinforce the mood of creeping dread in stories that often begin almost like fairy tales, and, much like King, use the supernatural as a stand-in for more realistic acts of violence.

Revival, by Tim Seeley, Mike Norton, and Mark Englert
“Rural Noir,” as Revival bills itself, is a phrase that also applies to many King books, and the tone, which blends horror, humor, and family drama, will be recognizable to his fans, even as this book goes in its own unique directions. The story takes place in a (very) small town in central Wisconsin, where one day the dead rise from the grave. They’re not monsters, necessarily, and most seem just as confused as the living about what’s going on. A police officer, Dana Cypress, is called upon to keep order amid the chaos that ensues, all the while investigating a particularly brutal murder with suspects both living and deceased.

Beasts of Burden, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson
Horror in a quiet suburban community. A dark evil plots in the sewers. The local graveyard is giving up its dead. Sound familiar? There’s a twist here, though, and the spoiler is in the title: the only people who can save the town aren’t people at all, but a crew of determined dogs (and a cat). Though the book is utterly unique, King-style small-town horrors abound, as does a mix of chills, humor, and pathos that wouldn’t be entirely out of place in one of the master’s novels. What’s more, Beasts of Burden boasts utterly gorgeous watercolor art from Jill Thompson.

Marvel’s The Dark Tower, by Stephen King, Peter David, Robin Furth, Jae Lee, and Richard Isanove
Finally, we come to the graphic novel series most closely associated with King’s work. With 17 (and counting) miniseries, the Dark Tower graphic novels have adapted, expanded upon, and sometimes rewritten the novel series upon which they’re ostensibly based. Some of comics’ biggest names (Peter David, Jae Lee, Sean Phillips, Richard Isanove, etc., all overseen by King’s research assistant, Robin Furth) have taken part in building out the fantasy/horror story of Roland Deschain, last gunslinger of Gilead. Initially, the series chronicled the gunslinger’s backstory as was only touched upon in the books, before dipping in and out of the parallel worlds suggested by its off-kilter adaptions of the novels. It’s a commitment, no question, but fans of King’s fantasy aren’t likely to balk at the generous page count.