Back in October of 2013, artist Francesco Francavilla and writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa forever changed the landscape of Archie Comics when they unleashed zombies in Riverdale in their highly popular horror comic series Afterlife with Archie.
It's especially fitting, then, that Francavilla has created spine-chilling variant covers for two of Archie Comics' upcoming horror one-shots—Chilling Adventures of Salem and The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery—and we're thrilled and chilled to exclusively reveal Francavilla's gorgeously haunting variant covers with Daily Dead readers!
Here's what Francavilla had to say about how he was able to tap into his love of cats to help bring new horror artwork to Archie Comics this fall:
I was very excited when Archie Comics asked me to do a cover for the new title CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM! You see, I'm cat people: I'm currently taking care of an indoor cat and at least 3-4 outdoor (stray) cats so to draw a cover where the main focus is one of our feline overlords? Heck YEAH! :)
Cats have always been a staple in the horror genre, from the gothic tales of E.A. Poe to the scary tales of Maestro Stephen King to the giallo/horror movies of masters like Dario Argento and George Romero, so it was an honor to contribute to this long tradition with a spooky cover.
And, as always I'm just happy that between this, THE RETURN OF CHILLING ADVENTURES IN SORCERY, and the other titlles currently out or coming soon, Archie Comics is continuing the tradition of the Archie Horror excellence Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and I originated a few years back with AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE.
Chilling Adventures of Salem will be released on October 12th, followed just a couple weeks later by the October 26th release of The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery.
Below, you can check out Francavilla's variant covers and the synopses for The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, and to learn more about all of the great releases coming from Archie Comics, be sure to visit their official website:
CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM (ONE-SHOT)
Salem the Cat has always been known as Sabrina’s familiar, but what happens when Sabrina’s not around to protect him (or, as is more the case, when he doesn’t have to protect her)? This special one-shot explores a different side of Salem’s life, one in which he acts as an anti-hero enacting vigilante justice on those who hurt others like him… animals, in a horror story that’s equal parts Pet Sematary and Hereditary.
Script: Cullen Bunn
Art: Dan Schoening
Colors: Matt Herms
Letters: Jack Morelli
Cover: Dan Schoening, Matt Herms
Variant Cover: Francesco Francavilla
On Sale Date: 10/1232-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Variant cover by Francesco Francavilla:
RETURN OF CHILLING ADVENTURES IN SORCERY (ONE-SHOT)
Madam Satan escaped Hell a fugitive and hated woman by Satan and his thralls. She’s now principal of Baxter High and Hell has come to Earth. With each classroom acting as a portal to the different circles in Hell, Madam Satan must recruit similar tortured souls if she has any chance of survival… all leading up to a Madam Satan and her army vs. Satan and his in this highly-anticipated follow-up to last year’s hit Chilling Adventures in Sorcery!
Script: Eliot Rahal, Sina Grace, Casey Gilly
Art: Vincenzo Federici, Corin Howell, Liana Kangas
Colors: Matt Herms
Letters: Jack Morelli
Cover: Julius Ohta
Variant Cover: Francesco Francavilla
On Sale Date: 10/26
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Variant cover by Francesco Francavilla:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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