It has been a while since I last went through the latest releases from DC on their website. It tends to be how I stumble across something relatively new from that side of things in comics. Mostly finding whatever fun comics have been released around specific holidays. With Christmas around the corner there's a few fun ones with some festivity that I'll be checking out next, but I noticed a fun idea that caught my attention that was released around Halloween, with a second volume being released not long ago. I found it interesting since I love Halloween themes all year round, and the idea of there being a comic series which takes in spooky concepts and throws in horror elements within the stories sounded like a fresh concept when most of what DC releases is all about heroes and their drama. The title is 'DC Horror Presents...' and it is a little bit of an anthology series, with each comic being two short stories and that's it. With two volumes out at the moment, that of course comes to just four short stories. It reminded me a little bit of the Creepshow concept, but with that DC character universe twist to it. Utilising existing characters and throwing them into various horror scenarios and adding that spiritual element to things. It's nothing all that fancy, I must admit. Though it has some fun art to it and it's still something a little different to the usual DC formula.
The first stories in the comics seemed much more interesting than the second ones in the volumes, which was strange to me given it felt like they weren't actually pulling anything from any existing franchise. They seemed like regular stories with little twists, and I think that gave these stories a bit more weight compared to the ones that did rely on the existing characters from various DC worlds. One of which consisted of a woman that had her husband die, and the story played up this idea of total heartbreak to which she hated the idea of living without him, taking his body to her father who was capable of bringing him back to life utilising the bodies of others, some sort of Frankenstein operation in the grand scheme of things. Well, all things worked out well and her father manages to bring her lost love back to life, but the outcome is that his suicide was purely intentional in attempt to escape her. A twist that saw her reviving her love just to kill him brutally due to his desperate bid to seek freedom from her insanity. That was a fun story, one I didn't quite expect, and it led to a surprise that gave the short story that great enjoyment at the end. It wasn't that long of a story, as you can expect from a comic volume that only contains two short stories in it. And it was definitely the stronger one.
Another story focused on Penguin, which is no surprise given the HBO series has been throwing the character massively into the public eye as of late. I didn't enjoy this one as much due to the ending. But it was essentially a ghost story with Penguin being haunted in his giant home in the night. He calls up a person that is said to be able to help remove the horrors of the night, and while the person is there he's constantly threatening his life. It's clear that Penguin's true colours are being displayed here as even someone he calls in for help is considered expendable. Though it was made clear that the spirits were actually his victims that were haunting him. The person called in to help him simply leaves, realising that the hauntings are much deserved. It's a fun idea, but I think it ended at the worst time given there was no real pay off towards the end. And annoyingly the story decided to end with a sudden appearance of Batman to which matters are delivered to him. I think that ending ruined things, no need for that character to appear and it felt like a cameo appearance for the sake of a cameo appearance. I think that is how the two stories felt, feeling a bit too poor in writing while the others felt more fresh.
This is the main problem I have with the series so far, I think it would've been better had it just been a unique run of various stories with little attachment to the greater scheme of things. I like the idea of using existing characters here and there, but not with too much emphasis on things to the point where many of them are featured within the same stories. I think it's best when they're focused on one particular character and their worst nightmare unfolding before them. It isn't that I didn't like the story regarding Penguin, it was more that ending which just felt out of place and pulled me out of that fun immersion, compared to that first story which felt more grounded, straight to the point and with a fun twist. It definitely wouldn't have had the same weight if another major character suddenly sprung up out of nowhere at the end just because. One plus is that the comics feel a bit more gory, there's a lot more blood and violence and that's precisely what a horror comic needs. It can't cheapen out on the art and be too tame. Fortunately it does hit its mark in that regard.
I do think it's difficult for comics to focus on the horror genre, especially with the anthology series idea. Creepshow barely functions these days and the stories are often very much hit-or-miss. But it's still nice to see a large company finding a way to give some attention to the genre. I'll be keeping an eye out on future releases, but I wouldn't say this is all that worthy of your time and attention.