Grimm Tales of Terror #3, "Don't Turn on the Lights"

When I was a fledgling comics reader, one of my favorite genres was the horror anthology. I was too young to have enjoyed EC in its heyday, so my go-to titles were the DC books like House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Ghosts, Tales of the Unexpected and Ghosts. For a brief, bright time during that point in my life, I was also treated to Charlton Comics' Midnight Tales with Arachne and the Midnight Philosopher.

There's a void in the comics industry for this genre today, but Zenescope is taking steps to fill it. Grimm Tales of Terror isn't an anthology, so to speak, as each story takes up the whole issue, but at least the tales are standalone grisly tomes.

In this third issue, Meredith Finch and Milton Estevam treat us to a bloody tale with all the feel of a modern urban legend. "Don't Turn on the Lights" uses the tried-and-true trope of college coeds murdered in their dorms by an assailant who's "still out there." It's done up with the usual Zenescope artistic flair, and a nice amount of misdirection.

The tale also presents itself with a frameworked subplot, so that we get our usual introduction to the hostess of our series, Keres, who first appeared as a villain in the Zenescope series, No Tomorrow. Her involvement isn't with the main tale, however, but with an ancillary event involving a lecherous professor and vulnerable students in need of a passing grade.

While the market for modern horror shorts is still a yawning chasm in the graphic format, Grimm Tales of Terror is a welcome island of fright.