Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead
From the twisted imagination of Trick ‘r Treat creator Michael Dougherty (director of the upcoming Krampus and Trick ‘r Treat 2 and screenwriter of X-Men 2 and Superman Returns) alongside a top-notch team of creators including writers Todd Casey and Zach Shields ( Krampus), Marc Andreyko ( Batwoman) and artists Fiona Staples ( Saga), Stephen Byrne ( Buffy/Angel), Stuart Sayger ( Bram Stoker’s Death Ship) and Zid ( Son of Merlin) comes this 4-part collection that paves the way for the Trick ‘r Treat film sequel.
Days of the Dead takes readers on a journey through Halloween history with 4 chilling new Trick ‘r Treat tales. Discover old-world lovers whose romance takes a chilling turn and Western pioneers who discover the dark side of the frontier. Travel to 1950s Los Angeles for a tale of pure horror noir and into the heart of small-town America to see some pranksters taught a lesson they'll never forget.
Across centuries of Halloween horror, wherever fear lies, Sam will be waiting…
Reviews (76)
Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead review
It's difficult to follow up on something as popular as Trick 'r Treat, Michael Dougherty's Halloween opus that inspired a graphic novel, cosplays, and a 24 hour movie marathon. Trick 'r Treat 2 has been hinted at, but the road to creating a new film is difficult, and Dougherty has been busy with his Christmas anthology Krampus anyway. Instead of a new film, Dougherty set to work writing four more Trick 'r Treat stories for a graphic novel collection, hearkening back to the original film's opening credits. Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead is meant to tide fans over until the sequel film, but there's no indication of whether these same stories will be used for the big screen format. In an attempt to step away from the original's concurrent storylines, Dougherty - along with the help of co-writers Todd Casey, Zach Shields, and Marc Andreyko - instead produces four shorts that take place in different time periods and settings, keeping just a couple things in common - they're all set on Halloween, and Sam always makes an appearance. This approach is an interesting one, an attempt to maneuver around the successes of the original and undercut some inevitable disappointments. Dougherty doesn't want to focus on the traditional; this time, he takes a look at differing cultures and their versions of Halloween, and most of them tend to be those that are marginalized from society. In the first, "Seed" - with artwork from Fiona Staples - the wrap-around story frames how the entirety of Days of the Dead will work. There's a little girl who's afraid to go trick-or-treating, so her grandfather tells her some (questionably terrifying) tales to get her in the mood. "Seed" explores witches during the mass witch hunts, a tale of romance where a man falls for a branded witch and attempts to free her from the inquisitors who seek to burn her at the stake. In a way, it's a tale that changes very little about the witch sub-genre, except for acknowledging the importance of the pumpkin within the Halloween tradition. Staples' artwork is clean and moody, and this is a successful, if somewhat trite, story. "Corn Maiden" is one of the better stories in this anthology, with artwork from Stephen Byrne. A pioneer girl, whose father is basically Thomas Durant from Hell on Wheels, befriends a Native American tribe on Halloween night; unfortunately, she brings them tainted candy akin to history's smallpox blankets, and accidentally murders them all. But Sam - and the Native American culture's Corn Maiden spirits - help to protect the night from true evil, turning all of the railroad men into a field of pumpkins. Byrne's colors and concise panels, along with lots of open space, help to make "Corn Maiden" a fantastic read. The anthology moves into "Echoes," however, which is the least successful offering. Part of that comes from Stuart Sayger's artwork, often too messy with scribbled lines and dark colors to tell what is actually happening. But "Echoes" also has a confusing premise, one that's related more to murder mystery than to Halloween itself. It's the one big misstep in this book, and hopefully - if Dougherty chooses to use these stories for his sequel - he decides to skip this one. "Monster Mash" is the best story, and saved for last. It has some great artwork from Zid - mostly because he is able to create a huge assortment of creatures - but it also revels in the spirit of Halloween that's most akin to the original Trick 'r Treat. It follows two kids trying to enjoy some mischief on Halloween - decorations, mostly - blockaded by the intensely religious people in town who decide to do a lock-in on All Hallow's Eve. That's because the ghouls come out late at night, and our boys get caught up in the spirit of frolicking with witches, goblins, and other traditional monsters. It's so much fun that one of the boys wants to stay and become a monster. Another reason this fun story works so well, though, is because it directly ties into the framing tale. Dougherty is good at doing this sort of thing, and here he uses it to his advantage by relating each of these stories together without having to resort to the same technique in Trick 'r Treat. However, I must admit that Days of the Dead is something of a letdown. Where Trick 'r Treat felt magical, this is merely a series of tales attempting to incorporate different elements of the Halloween tradition from multiple timelines. That's actually a very interesting concept, and it works for the most part as a stand-alone Halloween anthology. But with Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead, the traditional Halloween elements that made the original so beloved - capturing the spirit of the contemporary holiday season - are missing, and even the decorations, sights, and sounds of the season are lacking specifically because of the specificity of the time periods. Clearly, the reader (me, in this case) has to take some of the blame. Dougherty can't just give us another night of terror that follows the same procedure, and so he shakes things up by jumping through time. That doesn't excuse some of the poorer elements, like "Echoes," but it does highlight the need to set aside preconceived notions of what a Trick 'r Treat sequel should be. As a stand-alone graphic novel, Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead is a treat, but readers will most likely find themselves looking for a few more tricks.
Trick or...
I really liked this little anthology comic. It's a great concept to have the 4 different stories spanning across centuries. Though unlike the film, the isn't really a link to tie them all together, just the ominous presence of Sam. And in that, it kind of felt like a Tales from the Crypt story to me at times. A great thing about the 4 different stories is that they all have different art styles and themes, which is an awesome idea. Some of the stories are better than others but that's not to say any of it is not enjoyable. Overall, if you love Trick'r Treat, you should read this. Even if you haven't seen the film and just love Halloween, you can totally read this without watching the film at all. Overall, this is a great deal. I just wish it was longer. you can finish it relatively quickly, but it is worth reading again for sure. I especially loved the last story, where everything hits the fan. The final story has a very traditional Halloween story vibe and a great art style. If you're at all interested, pick this up for some fun Halloween reading.
Serviceable, but a little disappointing.
While I doubted the comic stories would live up to the film, I still found myself a little let down with this collection. The first story explores the origins of Halloween, but it suffers from not being scary. The second story was well put together, but still could've been a little creepier. The third story has a decent premise, but the art doesn't do a good job of conveying what's happening, and the whole plot is too convoluted for my liking. The final story has a lot of cool visuals, but in comparison to the film it feels way too over the top. Sam wasn't the only creature running around in the film, but this story is on a whole different scale to what we saw in the original movie. I'm also let down by how little we get to see of Sam. To some degree this makes sense. Sam's not exactly an antagonist, and while he was a recurring presence in the film, he wasn't directly responsible for a lot of the carnage that happened. Still, the book would've been much more satisfying if at least one of the stories focused on Sam working to punish one of the holiday's rulebreakers, as what happened in the film. Some of the stories' morals are a bit too hamfisted for my liking as well. If you're a fan of Trick 'r Treat, I'd recommend giving this book a look. But you may want to curb your expectations.
Decent book.
It's a fast and simple read. Definitely worth getting if you like the movie and want something that will hold you over until Michael Dougherty finally starts and releases the sequel to "Trick 'r Treat." Some of the stories were good and some were ehh. I wasn't much of a fan for the third stories writing and layout. It was confusing because the drawing style used made it hard to identify certain characters and often I would mistake some characters for the main protagonist while they were actually an antagonist. It was hard to follow and I had to do a lot of re-reading to make sure I understood what was happening and even then I wasn't sure. I think this book would have been much better if Michael Dougherty had written all of the stories, rather than have each segment written by someone else. Other than that, if you like the movie, you'll enjoy having this in your collection just for the sake of having it. It's $10 so it's not a bad price and it's a quick read.
Days of he Dead
Trick R Treat: Days of the Dead is a 144 page graphic novel containing four stories and a few pages of extra treats. I was pretty excited when I heard we'd be getting a bit more Sam in our lives this October, even if it wouldn't be in movie form. If you're a huge fan of the original movie, you may be a bit let down with this book. As you can see from the summary above, the stories are each set in their own time. Although there is no Pulp Fiction-esque crossover between them, I like the idea of visiting different time periods. Sam is barely present in some of the stories but he always pops up. Like any good showman, they definitely saved the best for last. Of the four stories, Monster Mash is the one that most feels like it comes from the same world as the film. Being contemporary, it's the only one that reflects Halloween as we expect it. It has a nice little twist at the end. My next favorite was surprisingly Corn Maiden. I wasn't expecting a Halloween tale set in the Old West to grab me as much as this one did. It's a cool story and the artwork looks as if it came from animation. Like Monster Mash, this one fits in the Trick R Treat film world. Seed, set in 1640 Ireland, is about a witch and her would-be persecutor falling in love. I liked this story because it sort of tells how Halloween came to the New World. My least favorite by a mile, was Echoes. I had expected this to be my favorite being a 1950s noir tale. However, the story has more of a supernatural vibe that's not necessarily tied to Halloween. The artwork in this segment is horrible and not what I'd expect from a 50s noir story at all. But maybe the most thrilling thing about the book is the short introduction by Michael Dougherty. In it, he states a proper sequel is on the agenda after Krampus hits theaters this December. Good news indeed! I'd say if you're a fan of Trick R Treat, definitely pick this up. You'll probably enjoy most of it and anything we can do to show there's a need for a move sequel is a good thing!
Flawed but entertaining for fans of the film.
I absolutely love Michael Dougherty's film 'TRICK 'r TREAT.' So when I recently found this one shot graphic novel released last year and written by the same creative team I had to give it a try. Much like the film it contains four separate stories loosely connected by the character of Sam. While the stories themselves are well written and illustrated most of them lacked the fun and dark humor present in the film. The second story dealing with the "Corn Maiden" and the last story "Monster Mash" are the two best stories in the book. Especially "Monster Mash" which comes closest to being something you might see in a filmed version. Unfortunately, the third story, "Echoes," is one of the worst written and illustrated stories I've read. The visual story telling is extremely poor and inconsistent. Besides that, the other three stories make this a must read for fans of the film.
Definitely not on par with the movie. It’s probably worth passing on this.
The stories weren’t that great and seemed more like they were interested in preaching about how evil some western people are (particularly Christians) and how pagan religions are great. Really weird, and a different tone than the movie. I don’t want to be preached too, I just want to ready some creepy Halloween stories. Really odd how different this felt from the movie. The art is pretty good, particularly the last story. The art on the 3rd story was probably the worst and made the story a bit incoherent. Overall, very disappointed.
Trick or Treat? Trick...
First of all, I love the original Trick 'r Treat. Hands down my favorite Halloween movie of all time. Was super excited for this graphic novel and, honestly, I was a bit let down. These are 4 separate stories in 4 very different times. You have Seed, Corn Maiden, Echoes, and Monster Mash. My favorite was definitely Monster Mash. I don't want to dive into any of the stories to spoil anything, but there's very little reference to Sam in each of these stories which was kind of a bummer. I think if you're a hardcore fan and have to have/read everything then probably worth picking up. If not, I would try to borrow this from someone or you could even pass on this completely in my opinion. Thanks!
More trick or treat
Just got it today. Great book. Nice that it'll keep fans satisfied until the next film. Would be great to be a yearly occurance with this book. So many great stories could be told. Comics are not what they used to be. Too much pc bulls***. Instead of just entertaining and drawing the reader in they push political views. This isn't the case. Unique stories and some great art. Two Relying on witchcraft, a shaman,and two friends trick or treating. All with a nice wrap around story to tie things up. I'm hard to please but I love halloween. This will not disappoint. Check this out if you loved this movie. Its a nice compilation to it. Krampus should be just as good.
Hit and miss
The first story was alright. It wasn't bad but it was just very generic and bland. Second story was pretty good but again not terrific. It was my second favorite out of the four The third story was total garbage and the artwork was awful The fourth and last one was awesome and the reason I'm not giving this 1 or 2 stars. It felt the most like the movie, the artwork was gorgeous, and it had the most halloween spirit. Definitely the best and blew the other 3 away. If the others were like this one then this book would have been wonderful. O and on a side note Amazon needs to pack their stuff better. Mine was squeezed into a box that it didn't even fit in and the edges are scraped up and destroyed
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