Secrets of Sinister House - Team Up's Comic Corner
Secrets of Sinister House (2019) One Shot Holiday Special
Week Three of October and the spooky train is still going full steam ahead! This week we look at a holiday one shot special from DC comics Called The Secrets of Sinister House! This one shot gets its name from the original Secrets of Sinister House ongoing horror anthology series, published from 1972-1974 by DC Comics. It wasn’t exactly a great seller and was kind of forgettable other than being responsible for introducing Cain and Abel to the DC cannon. These characters are more on the supernatural side of DC’c lineup than their typical superheroes. They really became well known for their roles in the Sandman Universe created by Neil Gaiman.
A panel from Gaiman’s Sandman series
DC is using this retired series name as a nostalgic way to present 8 short stories, packed full of the spooky stuff we know and love. The Justice League Dark, Constantine, Zatana, and Dead Man (my personal favorite) all make an appearance in this book. Each story deals with ghosts and imps in their own way, and are all great. I am always a sucker for a good Dead Man, aka Boston Brand, story and I look forward to it almost every year in the Halloween Special. This year is no different. House Of The Dead is a great stand alone story that keeps you on the edge the whole time.
Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, Martian Manhunter, and Ryan Choi’s version of The Atom round out the issue each with their own stories of fear and the unexplained. While Jessica’s fear has been explored to death in the regular cannon, this one off story features a very Alien, spooky abandoned spaceship feel to it that I absolutely loved.
The greatest part of this one shot, and really the main reason you should pick it up, is that we get to revisit Earth 43 of the DC Multiverse, better known as the Red Rain universe. In this universe, Batman fights Dracula and Becomes a Vampire in order to beat him. There were 2 sequels written to the original Batman V Dracula: Red Rain book, and all 3 of them are some of the best selling graphic novels DC has ever produced. From time to time we get the chance to revisit this alternate Earth, and this year we got to do it for Halloween…how fitting!
In this story a version of Talon kidnaps a young Barbara Gordon but Vampire Batman is there to save the day. A simple premise, but the inner monologue of Batman in this story is immaculate. In it, he starts to accept how even as a monster, he can still do good. Also, you get to see this monster version of Batman try to calm the young child with a wicked looking smile before darting off into the night as she starts to cry. A well executed comedic moment in this otherwise serious tale, for sure.
If you’re looking for some spooky stories to get you through the remainder of this season, then I highly suggest that you go and pick up this special. It came out last week and I’ve already read it twice - and am contemplating a third. Not only are the stories all great, but it’s specials like this that get to highlight some of the younger and more unknown talent out there in the DC stable of artists. That’s all for today, leave your thoughts in the comments and any other comics that you think deserve the spotlight in the coming weeks!
See you next week and don’t be afraid to crease the corners on a good panel!