Hogtown Horror, Vol. 1

The city of Toronto, Canada is known by many nicknames, including The Big Smoke, The Centre of the Universe, Hollywood North, and Hogtown--the latter of which lends itself to a new collection of ghoulish comics called Hogtown Horror.

Each of the 17 stories, produced by Canadian artists and writers, chiefly take place in and around Toronto. Obviously those who live here, or are familiar with the city, will get a kick out of the stories--but they're universal enough to please any horror fan.

The collection, which is the first of a proposed series of volumes, saw the light of day thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign (to which I happily contributed). The cover, by Shane Kirshenblatt, deftly relates the horror for those of us who have to use the TTC on a daily basis, and is a great preview of the stories within--which are often peppered with dark humour.

Here's a sample of a few of my favourites:

Resurrectionists by Allison O'Toole and Jason Loo

Body snatching has become a matter of course for two medical students, but how far are they willing to go?

Beware the Children by Howard Wong, Josh Stafford, and Robin Simon Ng

Don't wake the children. NEVER wake the children...

Dwayne's Inferno by Sam Noir and Christopher Yao

An orphaned boy is stalked by a ghost...but nothing is what it seems!

Cabbagepatch by Shawn Daley

Where an urban legend becomes a reality...

Cronenberg by Miike Something and Christopher Yao

What would you do if your idol showed up on your doorstep?

Overall the collection is excellent, although a couple of the stories fall short due to sub-par art or writing. But it's definitely a collection that should be sought out by horror fans, and I eagerly anticipate getting my claws on subsequent volumes.

Hogtown Horror Vol. 1 can be purchased via http://hogtownhorror.com, and you can also find them on Facebook.