Comics
“Tales from the Darkside” Revived By “Locke & Key” Creators Through IDW!
“Locke & Key” fans will have reason to celebrate this summer when Joe Hill (“Horns,” “NOS4A2,” “Wraith”) and Gabriel Rodríguez (“Onyx:) unleash their latest horror series on the world.
“Tales from the Darkside” sees the Eisner Award-winning team reunite on a comic-book revival of the horror anthology TV series of the same name, Bloody Disgusting learned.
The four-issue series will feature Hill’s re-imagining of “Tales” for a contemporary take on the cult classic. Structured to have the scope of “Locke & Key” while exploring a vast, underlying mythology, “Tales” aims to unfold a cohesive universe made up of each individual issue. According to the creative team, these stories will draw inspiration from the TV series that it has spawned from while also taking a meta approach to the material.
Hill elaborated further on what his vision for the series is and what fans can expect from the too-good-for-TV story structure:
“This is the show that could’ve been,” says Hill. “The original ‘Tales from the Darkside’ was a fun, bleak little spin on the ‘Twilight Zone’ style anthology. My idea is to give readers a little more. Every story is meant to stand alone, but gradually, you will come to see how they all connect, to tell a single larger story.”
While Rodríguez will provide cover art for the series, joining the team will be Charles P. Wilson III (“The Wraith”) who will contribute variant covers.
“The universe that Joe is building here is wholly unique while still doing justice to the original show,” said ‘Tales from the Darkside’ editor Michael Benedetto. “And having Gabriel collaborating with him again is the best we could have possibly hoped for. These guys have a proven track record, and this series will only serve to build on their reputations as excellent storytellers and masters of horror and suspense.”
Prepare to enter the “Darkside” this June at your local comic shop – plenty of time to get caught up on “Locke & Key” before then!
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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