House of Horror

Friday the 13th: Bloodbath #1
Written by Brian Pulido
Art by Mike Wolfer
Released: 2005
Publisher: Avatar Press

Premise: In 2005, Avatar Press began releasing titles from New Line Cinema’s “House of Horror” license, which includes A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Platinum Dune’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To kick off their titles, Avatar released one-shot “special” issues serving as an introduction to the New Line characters and premises.

On the shore of pristine Crystal Lake lies the long-neglected Camp Tomorrow, badly in need of rehabilitation. Charged with reforming the camp, ten teenagers have come to the site with the hopes of earning a quick paycheck and partaking in the most decadent party-filled weekend of their lives. But as their first night of debauchery commences, they begin to learn, one by one, that their surprisingly common family backgrounds are a little too coincidental… And that their presence has reawakened the curse of Jason Voorhees! Striking forth from the shadows in an unrelenting orgy of blood, Jason will defend his territory at all costs, but is he truly the hunter or actually the prey in a much larger and more sinister plot?

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Two hunters are killed by the monstrous Jason Voorhees, their bodies disemboweled and hung from a tree. Six months later, at “Camp Tomorrow”, a group of new camp counselors are going through orientation. The project manager, Kevin Carny, briefs the group on when repairs to the neglected grounds will begin and covers job expectations. Carny is also quick to announce that though there is a lot of work to do, the night is theirs to do with as they please. While the counselors pair off for the night, Carny is joined by Johnny “the handyman,” and the two monitor the group’s interactions. As time passes, the counselors find out from one another they have a great deal in common, one of which is they are all orphans. It isn’t long before Jason appears however, slaughtering the couples one by one. Carny and Johnny watch Jason from afar, pleased he has finally revealed himself. After visually confirming Jason’s appearance, Carny contacts a mysterious business woman, who praises Carny on his work and refers to him as “Mr. McClintock”. She approves of how “the plan” is proceeding and gives him approval to move forward.
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Halloween: NightDance #3
Written by Stefan Hutchinson
Art by Tim Seeley
Released: April 2008
Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing
Story: Chapter Three: A Rainbow in One Color

Premise: Halloween: NightDance is a four issue mini-series based around the Halloween mythos, with Michael Myers haunting the small town of Russellville, Illinois. This series takes place within the new continuity set into motion with Halloween: H20 and Halloween: Resurrection.

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): While watching the day’s sunset, Lisa reluctantly recounts to Sean an incident with Daniel, the little boy who Lisa babysat two years prior in 1998. She and Daniel had gone for a walk one afternoon, and had come upon the house where the Russellville hacksaw incident happened years before. Daniel ran ahead of her and into the house, with Lisa chasing after him. After she entered the house, she noticed Daniel had fallen through a trap door in the floor, which led to the cellar. Lisa rushed to his aid to find him badly injured. Determining her options, she noticed a dark figure up at the cellar door. The figure closed the door and locked it, leaving the two youths trapped in the dark basement. Two days later, they were found, however Daniel would never fully recover physically from the ordeal. Two years later, Daniel still draws Lisa pictures, which Daniel’s mom leaves in her mailbox, though she refuses to speak to Lisa directly. Lisa notes her guilt, fear of darkness, and continuing nightmares stemming from the incident, while Sean comforts her. Meanwhile, at the Russellville hospital, nurses and policemen have an altercation outside the room of the unidentified girl Ryan had brought in earlier. She lies on the bed; her eyes wide open in terror. Later, Lisa and Sean return to Lisa’s house, where Lisa decides to take a shower. Before going upstairs, she mentions to Sean Nikki’s infatuation with him, and that he should call her. He agrees and tries to call Nikki, although he doesn’t get an answer. While redialing, Sean notices a blood trail in the kitchen and investigates. In the shower, Lisa ruminates on her earlier conversation with Sean and sees blood at her feet. Turning around, she sees a disemboweled cat on the shower floor. Lisa screams for Sean, jumps out of the shower, and comes face-to-face with a shape in the bathroom doorway: Michael Myers. Michael and Lisa stare at each other, until they are interrupted by Sean rushing up the stairs. Michael reaches out and grabs Sean by the neck, then throws him backward down the staircase. Lisa screams at Michael to get out, to which Michael complies. He walks down the stairs, past Sean, and disappears out the front door. Sean gets up and chases after him. Lisa, panicked by the confrontation, rushes to her room to get dressed and sees her wall is covered in the disturbing children’s drawings she’s been receiving lately, along with a smear of blood. After dressing, Lisa grabs a butcher knife from the kitchen and, realizing Myers was the same figure who locked her and Daniel in the basement those years ago, sets off for Daniel’s house, thinking Myers has come back to finish them off. When approaching Daniel’s front yard, she is stopped by Ryan, who reveals Daniel is his wife’s younger brother. Ryan informs Lisa no one is home and wants to know why she is there, with butcher knife in hand. Lisa shares her story and the photos she received earlier in the day, one of which is the picture of Judith Myers. Ryan, recognizing the picture of Judith, decides to try and force open the front door to the house. Upon gripping the door handle, he winces in pain, claiming the handle has been covered with razorblades. Meanwhile, Sean has followed Myers to the Russellville cemetery. He approaches a freshly dug grave and sees the dead body of Nikki. Before he can react however, Michael beats him to death with a shovel.
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Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #6
Written by James Kuhoric
Art by Jason Craig
Based on the treatment written by Jeff Katz

Premise: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash was originally the proposed sequel to the hit film Freddy vs. Jason. Jeff Katz, formerly of New Line Cinema, wrote the original treatment in late 2003 for the Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash project. This treatment added the character of Ashley (Ash) Williams from the Evil Dead film series; giving audiences an already established hero to take on the two villains. Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash was New Line’s best idea on how to continue the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, but Sam Raimi (Evil Dead writer/director) decided to not let New Line use Ash in the planned sequel. Due to an agreement could not be reached between the different camps concerning the use of the Ash character, Wildstorm Publishing and Dynamite Entertainment came together to release the sequel as a comic book limited series titled: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash. The first issue (of six) was released in November 2007, with subsequent issues released monthly.

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Caroline tries frantically to wake up an unconscious Ash, as Freddy slowly emerges from the rubble of the demolished Voorhees house. Forced to make a run for it alone, Caroline escapes to a nearby fishing shack and hides with the Necronomicon. Freddy, furious at Caroline for taking “his” book, starts destroying the neighboring shacks in an effort to locate her. Eventually, her position is revealed and Freddy takes the book from her. Just as Freddy takes hold of the book however, Jason appears on the scene, and is quickly subdued by Freddy. Freddy gloats over his victory, but is soon sent flying through the air by Ash’s car, driven by the now awake Ash. Ash emerges and takes on the two villains. While all three battle each other, Caroline opens the disregarded Necronomicon and manages to find the needed passage to open a portal to the Deadite dimension. She reads the correct incantation and a gigantic portal opens above Crystal Lake, sucking up everything near it. Ash and Caroline grab hold of a tree, while Freddy (who is nearest to the portal) is drawn in by the vortex. Jason, unfazed by the portal, approaches Ash and is about to deliver a killing blow, when Ash’s car is picked up by the storm and slams into him, sending him crashing in Crystal Lake’s icy waters. In the chaos, Caroline loses the Necronomicon, which flies through the air and into Freddy’s eager hands. Freddy promptly tries to locate the correct incantation to to fix “this travesty”, but quickly loses the book to the portal. Enraged, he is sucked up soon after, which causes the portal to immediately close. Afterward, Ash and Caroline leave Crystal Lake, with Ash content that events “are over.” Later, the portal opens again and drops the Necronomicon on the frozen lake. Underneath the ice, Jason opens his eye.
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Friday the 13th (Special) #1
Written by Brian Pulido
Art by Mike Wolfer
Released: 2005
Publisher: Avatar Press

Premise: In 2005, Avatar Press began releasing titles from New Line Cinema’s “House of Horror” license, which includes A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Platinum Dune’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To kick off their titles, Avatar released one-shot “special” issues serving as an introduction to the New Line characters and premises.

After the events of Freddy vs. Jason, Laura Upland has had it. She’s one of two squabbling siblings who have inherited the land Camp Crystal Lake was built on. Their latest stalemate is how to deal with the destruction done at the Crystal Lake Resorts. Laura KNOWS Jason Voorhees caused it. He is out there and until he’s done in, they won’t be able to sell those lucrative time-shares. Unknown to her brother Miles, she enacts a plan to kill Jason that will rip her family apart. Literally. Can a paramilitary group, armed to the teeth, survive against a supernatural unstoppable killing machine? Take a guess.

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Mike and Pam are parked outside Crystal Lake, their van near the side of the road. While the couple engages in various sexual activities, a paramilitary group is hunting the supernatural killer Jason Voorhees nearby. As Jason appears and kills the soldiers one by one, it is revealed that two months ago, the owners of Crystal Lake, Laura and Miles, are facing bankruptcy as a result of the events in Freddy vs. Jason. Much of the equipment used to build their upcoming resort community was destroyed, all of which was uninsured. Laura, driven by revenge, hired the military group to take Jason down once and for all. Laura’s and Miles’s father had built the original Camp Crystal Lake and Laura despised Jason for destroying her father’s life work. While the soldiers are slaughtered, Laura monitors the scene from a helicopter flying above, remembering her vow to destroy Jason. Meanwhile, Mike and Pam, hearing the commotion, are forced to make a run for it after a dead soldier lands on their van, demolishing it. After the last of her soldiers are killed, Laura uses the chopper’s armaments against Jason; albeit to no avail. Jason responds by killing the helicopter’s pilot, forcing the chopper to crash into a nearby tree. Laura manages to escape the crash however, landing in Crystal Lake. From the lake, she challenges Jason, explaining her intense hatred to him. Jason doesn’t come after, and instead, causes the helicopter to come down on her, slicing her to ribbons. Later, as Mike and Pam walk down the road back to town, they are quickly decapitated by Jason, who had finally caught up to his intended prey.
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Demons 3: The Ogre
Tagline: What happens when the nightmares of your childhood suddenly become reality?
Released: 1991
Starring Virginia Bryant, David Flosi, Patrizio Vinci
Directed by Lamberto Bava
Written by Lamberto Bava, Dardano Sacchetti

Format: DVD
Distributed by Shriek Show
Released: August 19, 2003

Features:
Trailer
Interview with Lamberto Bava

Premise: Cheryl, a best-selling author of horror novels, goes on vacation with her family to an ancient villa in the Italian countryside. Legend has it the villa is said to be cursed, and very soon, Cheryl realizes that the hideous ogre that haunted her dreams as a child is alive and living in the basement of this very house. She becomes obsessed with his presence but fails to convince anyone else that he exists. It’s not until the ogre kills the babysitter and kidnaps Cheryl’s child that it becomes apparent that the stories she writes are becoming reality.

Plot Breakdown (spoilers): Ever since she was a child, Cheryl has had frequent nightmares of a fiendish ogre dwelling in the basement of a stately European castle. Years after the nightmares, Cheryl has now become a world famous horror author, and lives in Italy with her husband Tom and son Bobby. While on vacation in the Italian countryside, Cheryl and her family take up residence in an old Italian villa… that seems to look all too familiar to Cheryl. Now the nightmares of her childhood are coming true, as the monster in the basement of the villa begins to make its presence known. Cheryl must now find a way to stop the beast before it can harm her family.
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