When it comes to the golden age of horror films—hell, the golden age of films in general, I will die on the hill arguing that it is the late 1990s into the early 2000s. Sure, you might have incredibly valid reasons to argue against that, but this was a time of peak cinema when it comes to my personal media consumption. I consider it a source of pride that my strongest trivia category, were I to encounter it, would easily be Teen Movies of the late ‘90s into the early ‘00s. You see, I was at the perfect age for those movies to make an impact—a nerdy preteen with no siblings who was often glued to the TV. While everyone can easily recall gems like 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s All That, Bring it On, and Mean Girls, there are an equally large amount of teen horrors and thrillers that defined this era. Sure, everyone knows Scream, but that’s far from the only teen and twentysomething-focused horror that deserves closer inspection and review.
The first that comes to mind for many, after Scream, is likely I Know What You Did Last Summer. Where Scream incorporated elements of humor, I Know What You Did Last Summer takes a more straightforward approach to a slasher film. Though the latter is based on a novel from the 1970s, its influences came much more starkly from the following decade. The “teen slasher” flick became a popular trope in the 1980s, when filmmakers began making edgier films with teens as the leads, putting them in situations where they could do and say things, and yes, even murder, unlike ever previously explored. I Know What You Did Last Summer featured a cast of starlets (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Freddie Prinze, Jr.) in a story that also managed to weave in a popular urban legend alongside beautiful people being murdered.
The idea of urban legends lending themselves to slasher flicks would flourish in the late ’90s, especially in the aptly titled 1998 film Urban Legend, starring Jared Leto and Rebecca Gayheart alongside a cast of equally gorgeous young actors. Focusing on a series of murders at a New England university, Urban Legend paid homage to many beloved (as odd as that may be) tall tales and folklore, including the idea of the backseat killer, the hatchet man, Bloody Mary, pop rocks and soda, and many more.
Urban Legend also introduced another idea that would become popular in horror films of this era: the educational setting. Bringing together both the ode to teen slashers of the ’70s and the high school setting, 1998 saw the release of the ultimate slasher tribute: Halloween H20, starring, alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, a young cast including Michelle Williams, Josh Hartnett, and LL Cool J. This version of the iconic series acted as a direct sequel to the original two films, following a struggling Laurie Strode as she assumes a new identity working at a private boarding school in California. Nevertheless, Michael Myers discovers her whereabouts and wreaks havoc on the peaceful community in his familiar way.
Dark Academia would not yet be as ubiquitous as later years, but the blending of supernatural horror/sci-fi and the academic setting began to infiltrate the teen horror scene. 1998’s Disturbing Behavior starring James Marsden, Katie Holmes, and Nick Stahl follows a group of high school outcasts who discover their seemingly perfect "Blue Ribbon" classmates are part of an elaborate mind control experiment, in a nod to the classic thriller The Stepford Wives. While this movie might not have received the highest of praise, another sci-fi/supernatural academia film became a cult favorite.
Also released in 1998, The Faculty starring an ensemble cast including Jordana Brewster, Josh Hartnett, Piper Lawrie, Usher, and Elijah Wood, explored themes of cliques and alienation in the high school environment through an alien invasion. 1999’s Teaching Mrs. Tingle starring Katie Holmes, Barry Watson, and others (alongside the legend Helen Mirren in the titular role), might not have been as popular or revered as other films from this genre, but it gave viewers a taste of dark academia, but without supernatural elements, instead a darker look at a Heathers-type approach of teens on a murderous rampage.
The genre was not dead, though: so long as pretty young people with perfect lives could be exploited, there was still concepts to explore. None more perfectly encapsulated this than 1999’s Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Selma Blair, Reese Witherspoon, and Ryan Phillippe, which was a modern (at the time) retelling of a 1782 French novel, Dangerous Liaisons. Set in New York City, Cruel Intentions examines the lives of rich high schoolers who set out to diabolically dismantle each other.
While it is easy to whittle down a lot of the media of the time to be about society’s grotesque love of watching gorgeous teens be put through the paces, it’s not fair or accurate to dismiss all of the above, and other films like them, as such. Each one told a darker story that had a strong message, often metaphorically using horror tropes to elevate the challenges of teenage life to wider audiences. In what could be viewed as dehumanizing these characters, the teenage experience is ultimately humanized, and these younger folks are not just pawns in a game, but instead young adults with autonomy. It’s easy to look at horror as just blood and gore for our sick pleasure, but oftentimes there is a message to each story.
As you may have guessed by now, Archie Comics’ newest horror one-shot, TRUTH OR DARE, pays homage to this era of filmmaking, but in comic form. Writer Ron Robbins and I share a love of all things ’90s, as seen in his last horror work for us: his short story in WEIRDER MYSTERIES was a sci-fi/horror story that paid homage to Empire Records. When Ron pitched his ideas for TRUTH OR DARE, its initial incarnations leaned more Saw than Cruel Intentions, but over time, Ron twisted it more into a diabolical thriller with a touch of Girl, Interrupted (and even a few nods to Melrose Place) to craft this story of a party game gone wrong.
Artist Laura Braga has a knack for illustrating some of the most gorgeous versions of our characters, and she brings that style to this comic, really leaning into the “pretty people with major problems” vibe that defined so much of the teen-based films and TV of the 1990s and 2000s. But this isn’t just a vapid story of one-dimensional teens being offed or challenged by a game gone off the rails; there’s a real story about personal trauma and development. Ron Robbins’ love of deep Archie lore provides readers with a shocking twist ending featuring some interesting characters that the sharpest of Archie fans will surely enjoy.
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Read on for additional details on Truth or Dare, and go here to catch up on all of the past installments of Archie's House of Horror!
CHILLING ADVENTURES PRESENTS… TRUTH OR DARE (ONE-SHOT)
When new student Trula Twyst comes to Riverdale, her mysterious and quiet nature doesn’t mix well with the squeaky-clean façade of Riverdale High. Tormented by her past and with a keen interest in Behavioral Psychology, she sets her sights on dismantling the traditional high school hierarchy from within. How? By a simple game of Truth or Dare… This horror one shot is smart, sexy, and for fans of movies like Escape Room, Saw, and Girl, Interrupted.
Script: Ron Robbins
Art: Laura Braga
Colors: Ellie Wright
Letters: Jack Morelli
Cover: Laura Braga
Variant Cover: Suspiria Vilchez
On Sale Date: 7/17
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Cover Art by Laura Braga:
Variant Cover Art by Suspiria Vilchez:
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