This is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween.

Hi ho.

It's October, which means a couple things. First, that my DVR will soon be full of whatever horror schlock Turner Classic Movies can dish up (I'm looking at you, The Return of Dr. X).

Second, that you might be in the mood for some seasonal comics to read while you, I dunno, chop down pumpkin trees or whatever.

The Chicago Tribune recently

took a stab at recommending some seasonal books, but the comics they mention are pretty standard fare and won't be unfamiliar to anybody who keeps up with comic book movies.

And in the words of Dr. Frank N. Furter: I think we can do a little better than that!

Let's take a look at ten terrifying tales for the more well-read comics aficionado (nerd).

10. Creepy

Creepy magazine was basically a revival (if it hadn't been good, we'd be calling it a "rip off") of Tales From the Crypt in the mid-1960's. Like its predecessor, Creepy was an anthology title that featured a number of short horror stories per issue, all introduced by the darkly comic "Uncle Creepy."

The strength of the magazine was its creators - Frank Frazetta, Reed Crandall, Joe Orlando, and scores of others turned out dozens of chilling stories over the course of the magazine's nearly twenty-year run.

Get it off, get it off, GET IT OFF!!!

Dark Horse Comics recently released the first volume of The Creepy Archives, collecting the series' first twenty-four stories. Check it out and marvel at the gorgeous Frank Frazetta covers.

9. Batman & Dracula: Red Rain

Red Rain is the first - and best - part of a trilogy of Batman-as-Vampire stories by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones.

The book is exactly what it sounds like. And frankly, if the words "Batman and Dracula" and the image below aren't enough to motivate you to immediately read this, I don't know what will.

Sometimes I think my costume is too spiky... nah.

Thankfully, the entire trilogy was recently released in the Batman: Vampire trade paperback.

8. Parasyte

Parasyte is a Japanese comic by Hitoshi Iwaaki first published in Japan in the early-90's and brought to the U.S. in the late-90's as part of Tokyopop's early publication Mixx Zine.

The story concerns a race or parasitic aliens who come to Earth and take over human hosts, killing them in the process. When a parasite's attempt to take over high school student Shinichi Izumi's brain fails, Shinichi's hand is replaced by the alien and the two work together to fight the invasion.

NOM NOM NOM

It may sound superhero-y, but it's really a horror comic, full of surreal images and fights between the various parasites. The series is currently in print and worth checking out to see some creepy-as-hell monsters maiming each other and those around them.

7. Shock SuspenStories

The more obvious EC comic to read on Halloween is, of course, Tales From the Crypt. But while lacking the supernatural elements of that title, Shock SuspenStories is a lot cooler and creepier.

An anthology title from the 1950's, Shock SuspenStories featured stories from a number of genres (horror, sci-fi, war) with the connecting thread being that each story was lurid, provacative, and had a "shocking" twist ending (hence the name).

The series' most famous stories tackle subjects like racism, drug use, corruption, and mass hysteria.

Yep. Just another Friday night in the South.

There are two volumes of archived SuspenStories currently in print through Gemstone. They feature fantastic, disturbing stories and artwork by greats like Wally Wood and Frank Frazetta (unfortunately given a gaudy, inappropriate recoloring, but that's a rant for another time).

6. Route 666

A moment of silence for Crossgen.

Ahem.

Route 666 was part of Crossgen's expansion following their first wave of titles in 2000. Written by Tony Bedard and penciled by Karl Moline, the book followed the trials of college student Cassie Starkweather, cursed from birth with the ability to see and talk to ghosts. Following the grisly death of a classmate, Cassie becomes involved in a war between our world and the next, fighting a variety of monsters and ghosts along the way.

This is the worst prom ever!

The book is as fun as it is gruesome (check out the death of Cassie's classmate - crushed to death by the collapsing gym bleachers). Unfortunately it was cancelled at issue #22 due to Crossgen's going belly-up, but those 22 issues are some solid horror comics. The series is no longer in print, but back issues can be got dirt cheap on eBay or, no doubt, in your local comic shop's quarter bin.

5. Frankenstein

Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein is a four-issue miniseries from 2005 written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Doug Mahnke that - for reasons I will never understand - was not turned into an ongoing series afterward.

It follows the adventures of the recently-revived Frankenstein as he tangles with a telepathic teenage outcast, evil fairies on Mars, and his own former Bride - now a government operative.

Friiiieeeeennnd

The whole series is Grant Morrison at his best and Doug Mahnke was born to draw a gruesome, unsettling, off-the-wall story like this.

The story is scattered throughout the various Seven Soldiers trade paperbacks, but that's frankly a crappy way to read them. The individual issues shouldn't be hard to come by or expensive.

"All in a day's work... for FRANKENSTEIN!"

4. Wrath of the Spectre

If you are a criminal in the DC Universe, The Spectre is the absolute last guy you want gunning for you. Superman will whisk you off to jail. Batman will stuff you into an asylum after breaking your jaw with a hunk of bat-shaped metal. Wonder Woman will give you a chance to indulge in whatever light bondage fantasies you might harbor.

The Spectre will melt your fucking hands off before sending you to Hell.

Well, shit.

Written by Michael Fleisher and masterfully drawn by Jim Aparo (all hail), Wrath of the Spectre contains some of the character's best stories ever. Watch in horror as the omnipotent Spectre hunts down criminals and deals macabre justice upon them.

3. Thor: Vikings

Thor is probably not a character you'd expect to wind up on a list of creepy comics. To the skeptical, I have three words: Zombie Super Vikings.

Written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Glen Fabry (the creative team behind Preacher), Thor: Vikings pits the god of thunder/superhero against an undead army of super-powered vikings. Easily the goriest thing on this entire list, the book features perhaps more decapitations than any comic in history as the zombie vikings - after easily beating Thor to a pulp - proceed to rape and pillage all of Manhattan.

Pictured: Thor being asked for spare change on a normal day in the East Village.

It looks like the book is out of print right now, but check it out if you run across a copy. If your idea of black humor includes lots of disembowelment, this book is right up your alley.

2. The Living and The Dead

Of course, not every spooky Halloween story has to be mean-spirited.

Drawn by Norwegian cartoonist Jason, The Living and the Dead is a silent comic that follows a young dishwasher who falls in love with a prostitute and has to fend off a zombie invasion.

In process: fending.

The story is cute, gruesome, and touching all at once. If you liked Shaun of the Dead, you'll like this.

1. The Tomb of Dracula

With respect to all of the above artists, nobody can draw horror comics like Gene Colan.

Beginning in 1971 and working with a number of writers over the course of nearly a decade, Colan pencilled what remains the definitive comics version of Dracula.

How am I supposed to ravish this young nubile woman if I can't find my castle in this goddamn fog?

The stories range from gruesome to more adventurous, but they're all worth reading to absorb the gorgeous, haunting artwork.

Thankfully, the entire series is available through Marvel's dirt-cheap Essentials books. And unlike many comics, Tomb of Dracula actually looks better in black and white than it did in its original color.