Dark Christmas: R. L. Stine’s Stuff Of Nightmares – Slay Ride #1 Comic Book Review

A little bit Willard, a little bit Silent Night, Deadly Night, Slay Ride #1 from R. L. Stine’s Stuff of Nightmares is surprisingly strong, grim stuff.

Heinrick Fiddler loves Christmas. He simply doesn’t know what to do with himself when he’s downsized, losing his beloved store Santa position thanks to the retail apocalypse. So what is a mall Santa to do? Go on a murderous, burglaring rampage, naturally, with the help of a trusty chainsaw and a sack full of rats.

Once the scheme is hatched, Slay Ride #1 wastes little time in getting down to (nasty) business. It hurtles along faster than Saint Nick’s ultrasonic, anti-gravity reindeer as an off-duty mall cop races against the clock to try and stop this sadistic Santa’s reign of blood.

Stuff of Nightmares: Slay Ride #1 is clearly going for a vintage EC Comics/Tales From The Crypt vibe, down to the spookily unhinged Nightmare Keeper playing the part of the Crypt Keeper. That means plenty of quips, puns, and one-liners to go with the bloodshed, naturally. The retro aesthetic is aided and abetted by Pius Bak’s artwork and Francesco Francavilla’s coloring, with plenty of noir shadows and giallo pop art color. The coloring also makes it stand out a bit, stopping Slay Ride from being simply another four-color copy.

All in all, Stuff of Nightmares: Slay Ride #1 is a lovely addition to the Christmas Horror canon, alongside cherished chestnuts like And All Through The House from Tales From The Crypt.

Stuff of Nightmares: Slay Ride #1 is out now from Boom! Studios.

Welcome to another year of Dark Christmas, where we’ll be bringing you as much Christmas Horror and Yuletide Terror as you can stomach. Come gather around our Yule Log against the dying light, take shelter from the coming cold and comfort in the fairy lights.

What have you been reading, watching or listening to so far this holiday season? Let us know in the comments!