Horror for the Holidays - Check Out Dread The Halls

Each week, The DeMonster’s making gift suggestions for the Nightmare that is… Christmas.

Luana Vecchio’s Cover B

Yes, this is a book that came out two weeks ago, but given that this entire month is the holiday, and it’s still likely sitting on comic shop shelves, I’m going to make the case to go buy a copy right now.

Dread the Halls is Image Comics’ latest entry into the booming world of horror anthologies, joining the ranks of Ice Cream Man, Hello Darkness, Creepshow, and the modern EC-styled revivals, like we just covered with ShiversuspenStories. Like its peers, this one delivers upon several distinct tales, each with its own twist, tone, and artistic identity. All balanced between the horrors of Halloween and some Christmas nostalgia vibes.

This one-shot brings together writers Jordan Hart and Chris Ryall with artists Lee Ferguson, Keithan Jones, Walter Pax, Fabio Veras, and Luana Vecchio, whose art in the first story, Yule, can be best described as an artful dalliance that settles somewhere between cheesy Hallmark Christmas romcom gone horribly wrong, which helps shape the tone of the entire collection.

Like many of the stories in this anthology, that one twists into the unexpected, becoming a remix of what I can only describe as a different sort of final girl trope. Plus, the art is just fantastic. And Vecchio really steals the show in a style that feels fluid yet beautifully momentous.

On top of this, you have Lee Ferguson with a new take on the classic Christmas Carol that sort of left me feeling upset, but in a good way, though I won’t get into why. And more impressively, you have Walter Pax, who utilizes artwork in sketched charcoal drawings, which refine details of horror Christmas tales that’ll equal parts shock and astonish.

Overall, 2025’s Dread the Halls #1 brings a different style of stories perfect for horror fans this holiday season. Each tale feels warm yet unsettling. The writing is on the money. The execution is frightful, yet also festive.

Which is why it’s my second pickup for horror for the holidays.

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Cover A by Maria Wolf

Cover C by Jordan Hart.

Cover D by Toby Wilmsmer

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Dread the Halls 2025 #1 (One-Shot)

Written by Jordan Hart & Chris Ryall
Art by Luana Vecchio, Lee Ferguson, Keithan Jones, Walter Pax, and Fabio Veras
Letter by Jordan Hart
Publisher: Image Comics – Syzygy Publishing

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Christian Angeles is a writer and entertainment journalist with nearly a decade of experience covering comics, video games, and digital media. He was senior editor at The Beat during its Eisner Award–winning year and also served as managing editor of The Workprint. Outside of journalism, he writes comics and books.

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