Books
REVIEW: ‘You Promised Me Darkness’ #1 from Behemoth Comics

You Promised Me Darkness #1 (Behemoth Comics, $3.99) starts with a story by Sage, a character known only through narration at the outset, who tells a story of a brother and sister.
The brother is a victim of a boogeyman–a dark force within himself–that liked to burn things. The way that boogeyman manifested was a pyroclastic explosion of fire, igniting objects in a close radius. The sister, as the book title mentions, promises him darkness and a way to keep that fire from coming back and hurting himself and others.
If that sounds familiar–perhaps as in superheroes or mutants–well, you’re getting warm. Sage, the narrator, is the next person we see, and he tells a tale of superhero-like ‘children of the comet’ that first appeared in 1910, creating characters with special abilities, many of which are dark and troubling.
A constant question I came up against in this review was ‘is this a horror book or a superhero book?’ The answer to me is “neither and both,” as there are elements of superheroes–specifically of the aughts-decade television show Heroes–balanced with elements of horror. The race of super-beings “were obviously persecuted, abducted, manipulated, analyzed, dissected and subjected to all sorts of atrocities,” Sage says. Those are not words from a superhero tale.
There’s a lot to like in the first issue. The villain, a (speaking of Heroes) Sylar-like character discovered his powers during a satanic sacrifice. He hunts super-powered children of the comet to kill them so he can consume their powers. His next target? The brother in Sage’s introductory tale. There are also fun horror elements. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story so I’ll mention the group of mind-controlled assassins as my favorite.
Depending on taste, the art will be either a help or a hindrance. It’s minimal and raw–black on white, with no gray tones. At its best, it conveys raw creepiness, such as a full-page shot of a gas mask and the setup/fight that dominates the latter half of the issue. At its worst, it gets overly dark, muddy and confusing–especially when textured backgrounds are involved–with panels that sometimes appear like zine pages that have been photocopied over one too many generations.
While I enjoyed most of the writing, an element of it didn’t work for me: a present narrator (Sage) seemed unnecessary, especially given the character’s dialogue quirks of ‘Yikes’ and the use of teenage-sounding speech mannerisms.
That said, the strong points of the story (the plot, the premise of the villain and the key brother and sister characters) win out. The art also works for me and tips the scales in favor of horror. Characters are minimalist and creepy and items like floating eyeballs show up more ominous on the page. It harkens back to early indie work by Brian Michael Bendis and other creators who used pure black and white a la Sin City to deliver their stories in the 1990s.
Most important, in reaching the end of You Promised Me Darkness #1, I was eager to get to issue 2. You Promised Me Darkness wields an interesting premise and promising plot lines. Superhero, horror, a combination of both, this is a story with enough creepy elements and intrigue to keep readers satisfied.
For more comics reviews check out Something is Killing the Children.

Books
‘Official Five Nights at Freddy’s Cookbook’ Gets Release This Fall

Five Nights at Freddy’s is getting a big Blumhouse release very soon. But, that’s not all that the game is being adapted into. The hit horror game experience is also being made into a cookbook filled with deliciously spooky recipes.
The Official Five Nights at Freddy’s Cookbook is filled with items that you would find at an official Freddy’s location.
This cookbook is something fans have been dying for since the first games’ original release. Now, you will be able to cook signature dishes from the comfort of your own home.
The synopsis for Five Nights at Freddy’s goes like this:
“As an anonymous night guard, you must survive five nights as you are hunted by five animatronics hell-bent on killing you. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria is a fantastic place for children and adults can have fun with all the robotic animals; Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy.“
You can find the Official Five Nights at Freddy’s Cookbook in stores beginning September 5.

Books
Stephen King’s ‘Billy Summers’ Being Made By Warner Brothers

Breaking News: Warner Brothers Acquires Stephen King Bestseller “Billy Summers”
The news just dropped via a Deadline exclusive that Warner Brothers has acquired the rights to Stephen King’s bestseller, Billy Summers. And the powerhouses behind the film adaptation? None other than J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way.
Speculation is already rampant as fans can’t wait to see who will bring the titular character, Billy Summers, to life on the big screen. Will it be the one and only Leonardo DiCaprio? And will J.J. Abrams be sitting in the director’s chair?

The masterminds behind the script, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, are already working on the screenplay and it sounds like it’s going to be a real doozy!
Originally, this project was slated as a ten-episode limited series, but the powers that be have decided to go all out and turn it into a full-fledged feature.
Stephen King’s book Billy Summers is about a former Marine and Iraq War veteran who has turned into a hitman. With a moral code that only allows him to target those he deems “bad guys,” and a modest fee of never more than $70,000 for each job, Billy is unlike any hitman you’ve seen before.
However, as Billy begins to consider retirement from the hitman business, he is summoned for one final mission. This time, he must wait in a small city in the American South for the perfect opportunity to take out a murderer who has killed a teenager in the past. The catch? The target is being brought back from California to the city to stand trial for murder, and the hit must be completed before he can make a plea deal that would bring his sentence from the death penalty to life in prison and potentially reveal the crimes of others.
As Billy waits for the right moment to strike, he passes the time by writing a sort of autobiography about his life, and by getting to know his neighbors.
Books
Clive Barker Says This Book is “Terrifying” & It’s Becoming a TV Series

Remember the boost The Evil Dead got back in 1982 when Stephen King called the film “Ferocuisly original?” Now we have another horror literary icon, Clive Barker, calling a work “Utterly terrifying.”
That work is the novel The Deep. No, not the 1976 Peter Benchley thriller with the same name. This is Nick Cutter’s 2015 bestseller which takes place underwater. Cutter is the pen name used by Canadian author Craig Davidson.
Speaking of King, he has also praised Cutter’s work, saying the novel The Troop, “scared the hell out of me and I couldn’t put it down … old-school horror at its best.”

That’s high praise because Google Books describes The Deep as “The Abyss meets The Shining.”
Two horror literary legends lauding your work as “terrifying” and “the best?” No pressure there.
Bloody Disgusting breaks down the plot for The Deep in their story:
“A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure.
But far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a universal healer hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.”
Writer C. Henry Chaisson, who wrote screenplays for both Antlers and Apple TV’s Servant is adapting the book for Amazon Studios.
iHorror will keep you updated on the progress of the series as we know more.
*Header image taken from The Telegraph.