Critter Compendiums

The chilling classic Defenders tale “The Haunting of Christiansboro” (issue # 103) was among those stories that creeped me out a little when I was a kid. I lost my first copy back in grade school, but in late 2005, I found another copy in a back issue bin of a Binondo Media stall in Makati. It was a self-contained Halloween tale that I still find quite creepy. Writer J.M. DeMatteis turned the series into a superhero-horror title for a time, its roster of mostly magic-related characters (Dr. Strange, Hellcat, Clea, Gargoyle, Valkyrie, Devil-Slayer and Daimon Hellstrom) fighting mystical beings with horrific agendas.

The issue is dark but ultimately uplifting. It’s one of a few comic book horror stories that I’m drawn to. Others that I like, which inspire fear in different and exciting ways, include Walking Dead, Spectre, Courtney Crumrin, and of course, Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing stories.

The issue is a black and white reprint of Swamp Thing Annual # 2, which is about the elemental hero’s search for Abigail Cable’s lost soul. The journey brings him to heaven, hell and some spaces in between. What a great, discomfiting and, again, uplifting story.

During work breaks this past week, I’ve been watching some fright-themed TV shows as well. I saw some old “Treehouse of Horror” specials of The Simpsons, as well as some disturbing Masters of Horror episodes. I also finally started watching Supernatural’s first season. It’s about siblings Dean and Sam, whose monster-hunting adventures across a haunted America bring back fond memories of The X-Files (minus the sexual tension) and Buffy (minus the witty banter and metaphors). It’s a similarly smart show that explores figures from myths and legends and successfully mixes together horror, drama and action elements every episode. That’s a cool pic of the brothers grim below, but let’s skip the jokes that we can crack about Padalecki’s phallic shotgun. Hehe.

While I like the show, there are other TV shows that I’ve been looking for. I want to own complete DVDs of the following:

I used to watch Werewolf back in the late ‘80s, a show that aired on GMA7 every Sunday night. It’s sort of The Incredible Hulk meets The Fugitive. The story follows Eric Cord (John J. York, pic below from werewolftv), a newly infected wolf-man who searches for a cure to his mystical malady. Sexy and sinister.

And of course, there’s Twin Peaks. Man, I want to see the two seasons and the “Fire Walk With Me” movie. I couldn’t watch all the episodes of the show back in 1992, because there were horrendous brownouts almost nightly. I remember the mystery of Laura Palmer’s demise, though, and the spookiness surrounding it. Entertaining, mind-boggling stuff.