Archie Horror
Imprint of Archie Comic Publications
Archie Horror is an imprint of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. focusing on the company's horror-related titles. Prior to the creation of the imprint, the titles were published under the main Archie Comics banner.
The titles in the imprint are rated "TEEN+" due to their content and subject matter which include realistic violence, gore, blood, disturbing scenes, and some moderate language. All titles under this imprint are set in alternative realities that are non-canonical from the core Archie series, and each title is independent from the others.
01Publication history
Beginnings
In 2013, Archie Comics announced Afterlife with Archie to be written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Francesco Francavilla. It is the first horror title as well as the first series to be rated "TEEN+" under Archie Comics. The series was partially inspired by the zombie-themed variant cover Francavilla did for Life with Archie: The Married Life. The series launched in October 2013 to critical and commercial success. The first eight issues sold out while some reviewers called it one of the best horror comics to come out in a long time. It won three awards at the 2013 Ghastly Awards for Best New Series, Best Ongoing Title, and Best Colorist for Francesco Francavilla.
In 2014, Archie Comics released Afterlife with Archie #6, which details the whereabouts of Sabrina Spellman who had not been seen since the first issue. The issue was positively received, leading Archie Comics to announce a solo series starring Sabrina in June 2014. The first issue of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, an occult horror story detailing Sabrina's teenage witch origins in the 1960s, was released in October 2014. As with Afterlife with Archie, the series received critical and commercial success with the first two issues selling out.
Creation of imprint
In March 2015, Archie Comics announced the Archie Horror imprint due to the successes of Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who is also Archie Comics' Chief Creative Officer, said that "in-house we started referring to these books as the Archie Horror books" so "when it started to look like Afterlife #8 and Sabrina #2 were going to be released around the same time, why don’t we formalize something that is already happening, which is the imprint.”
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #2 was the first to be released under the imprint in April 2015, followed by Afterlife with Archie #8 in May 2015.
Further titles
A one-shot titled Jughead: The Hunger was released in March 2017 as part of Archie Comics' "pilot season" for the New Riverdale lineup. The story focuses on Jughead Jones and his family's lycanthropic heritage to explain Jughead's excessive hunger. It was written by Frank Tieri with artwork provided by Michael Walsh. The book was picked up as an ongoing series that July and debuted its first official issue in October with Pat & Tim Kennedy taking over as artists.
In March 2015, along with the announcement of the imprint, Archie Comics revealed that a new title was in the works featuring a "major female Archie character from the past" for the imprint. Written by Megan Smallwood, with art by co-writer Greg Smallwood, Vampironica was officially announced in December 2017 and debuted in March 2018.
Two 5-issue limited series were announced in October 2018. From writer Cullen Bunn and artist Laura Braga, Blossoms 666 features twins Cheryl and Jason Blossom competing for the title of Antichrist. The series released its first issue in January 2019. The second series, a crossover titled Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica features the protagonists of the two respective titles facing off against one another. The series comes from Tieri and the Kennedys and was released in April 2019. Jack Morelli serves as letterer for all six titles.
02Titles
Ongoing series
- Afterlife with Archie (October 2013-present)
- Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (October 2014-present)
- Jughead: The Hunger (October 2017, March 2019)
- Vampironica (March 2018, December 2018)
- Vampironica: New Blood (December 2019- April 2020)
Limited series
- Blossoms 666 (January 2019-July 2019)
- Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica (April 2019- October 2019)
- Archie Comics: Judgement Day (May 2024 - July 2024)
- Archie Horror Presents... The Cursed Library Alpha, Omega & Unbound (August 2024 - December 2024)
One-shots
- Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Presents: Madam Satan (October 2020)
- Chilling Adventures in Sorcery (December 2021)
- Chilling Adventures Presents: Jinx's Grim Fairy Tales (August 2022)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Weirder Mysteries (September 2022)
- Chilling Adventures of Salem (October 2022)
- Fear the Funhouse (October 2022)
- Happy Horror Days (December 2022)
- The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery (December 2022)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Betty: The Final Girl (February 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe of Horrors (March 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… The Cult of That Wilkin Boy (April 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Jinx: A Cursed Life (May 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Camp Pickens (June 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Strange Science (August 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Madam Satan: Hell On Earth (September 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Welcome to Riverdale (October 2023)
- Fear The Funhouse Presents… Toybox of Terror (October 2023)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe of Horrors: Fresh Meat (March 2024)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… The Cult of That Wilkin Boy: Initiation (April 2024)
- The Wicked Trinity (June 2024)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… Truth or Dare (July 2024)
- Chilling Adventures Presents… The Nine Lives of Salem (February 2025)
Free Comic Book Day
- Archie Horror Presents... The Cursed Library (April 2023)
- Archie Horror Presents... The Cursed Library Prelude (April 2024)
03Creative teams
The following is a list of main and frequent contributors to publications of the Archie Horror imprint, ordered alphabetically by surname.
| Afterlife with Archie (2013) |
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2014) |
Jughead: The Hunger (2017) |
Vampironica (2018) |
Blossoms 666 (2019) |
Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica (2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Creator, Writer |
|||||
| Laura Braga | Creator, Artist |
|||||
| Cullen Bunn | Creator, Writer |
|||||
| Joe Eisma | Artist | Variant cover artist | Artist | |||
| Francesco Francavilla | Creator, Artist |
Variant cover artist | ||||
| Robert Hack | Creator, Artist |
Variant cover artist | ||||
| Matt Herms | Colorist | |||||
| Pat & Tim Kennedy | Artists | Creators, Artists | ||||
| Jack Morelli | Letterer | |||||
| Greg Scott | Artist | |||||
| Greg Smallwood | Creator, Writer, Artist |
|||||
| Meg Smallwood | Creator, Writer |
|||||
| Frank Tieri | Creator, Writer |
Creator, Writer | ||||
| Michael Walsh | Creator, Artist, Colorist |
|||||
04Other media
In September 2017, it was reported that a live-action Chilling Adventures of Sabrina television series was being developed for The CW by Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions as a companion series to Riverdale, with a planned 2018-2019 release. Lee Toland Krieger directed the pilot, which was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Both are executive producers along with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater. In December 2017, the project moved to Netflix with a two-season order, 10 episodes each. In January 2018, it was announced that Kiernan Shipka has signed on to play the lead role of Sabrina Spellman. The first season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was released worldwide on Netflix on October 26, 2018.
05Collected Editions
Afterlife with Archie
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afterlife with Archie, Vol. 1: Escape From Riverdale | 978-1619889088 | June 4th, 2014 | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Francesco Francavilla | Afterlife with Archie #1-5 |
| Afterlife with Archie, Vol. 2: Betty R.I.P. | 978-1619889484 | September 24th 2019 | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Francesco Francavilla | Afterlife with Archie #6-10 |
| Afterlife with Archie: Deluxe edition | 979-8894883144 | October 27, 2026 | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Francesco Francavilla | Afterlife with Archie #1-10 |
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Vol. 1: The Crucible | 978-1627389877 | August 18th, 2016 | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Robert Hack | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1-5 |
| Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, Vol. 2 | 978-1627388030 | October 13th, 2022 | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Robert Hack | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #6-8 |
| Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Occult Edition | 978-1682557938 | 17th October, 2019 | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Robert Hack | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1-8 |
| Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Deluxe Edition | 979-8894883489 | November 17, 2026 | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Cullen Bunn | Robert Hack, Dan Schoening | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1-9, Chilling Adventures of Salem #1, Archie Horror Presents: The Nine Lives of Salem #1. |
Jughead: The Hunger
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jughead: The Hunger, Vol. 1 - Run Like a Wolf | 978-1682559017 | July 18, 2018 | Frank Tieri | Michael Walsh, Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma | Jughead: The Hunger one-shot, Jughead: The Hunger #1-3 |
| Jughead: The Hunger, Vol. 2 - Welcome Home, Jughead Jones | 978-1682558430 | January 23, 2019 | Frank Tieri | Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma | Jughead: The Hunger #4-8 |
| Jughead: The Hunger, Vol. 3 - FrankenMoose Meets the Wolf Jug! | 978-1682558270 | August 8, 2019 | Frank Tieri | Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma | Jughead: The Hunger #9-13 |
Vampironica
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vampironica: First Blood | 978-1682558331 | April 4, 2019 | Greg & Meg Smallwood | Greg Smallwood, Greg Scott | Vampironica #1-5 |
| Vampironica New Blood | 978-1645769521 | October 15, 2020 | Frank Tieri, Michael Moreci | Audrey Mok, Matt Herms, Jack Morelli | Vampironica New Blood #1-4 |
Blossoms 666
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blossoms 666 | 978-1682557976 | November 7, 2019 | Cullen Bunn | Laura Braga | Blossoms 666 #1-5 |
Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica | 978-1645769736 | March 5, 2020 | Frank Tieri | Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma | Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica #1-5 |
Chilling Adventures Presents
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Horror Presents: Chilling Adventures | 978-1645768593 | September 12, 2023 | Cullen Bunn, Frank Tieri | Various | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Presents: Madam Satan, Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Chilling Adventures Presents: Jinx's Grim Fairy Tales, Chilling Adventures Presents... Weirder Mysteries, Chilling Adventures of Salem, The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Happy Horror Days |
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Story | Art | Collected material |
| Archie Horror Presents: Terrifying Tales | 978-1645768593 | September 03, 2024 | Cullen Bunn, Frank Tieri | Various | Chilling Adventures Presents… Betty: The Final Girl , Chilling Adventures Presents… Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe of Horrors , Chilling Adventures Presents… The Cult of That Wilkin Boy, Chilling Adventures Presents… Jinx: A Cursed Life , Chilling Adventures Presents… Camp Pickens, Chilling Adventures Presents… Strange Science, Chilling Adventures Presents… Madam Satan: Hell On Earth |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Archie Horror”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Archie Horror logo.jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
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