''The Dark Horse Book of...'' was the banner title given to a series of four Dark Horse Comics

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

hardcover comic book horror anthologies edited by

Scott Allie Scott Allie is an American comics writer and editor, best known as an editor and executive at Dark Horse Comics from 1994 to 2017. Early life Allie grew up in Massachusetts. Career Allie joined Dark Horse Comics as an editor in September 1994 ...

and featuring the work of Mike Mignola and others. In 2017 Dark Horse collected all four volumes together in ''The Dark Horse Book of Horror''.

Volumes

''The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings''

This first volume was published on August 27,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and featured Mike Mignola's only new ''Hellboy'' story for that year as well as a new '' Devil's Footprints'' story, a Victorian ghost story illustrated by Gary Gianni, and an interview with real-life séance medium L.L. Dreller. In his introduction editor Scott Allie states that he has loved anthologies for as long as he can remember and that the theme for this anthology came from the ''Hellboy'' story about a haunted house contributed by Mike Mignola, although he would later expand the remit somewhat to fit the works of Randy Stradler and others. Jill Thompson won the 2004 "Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior)"

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for the story ''Stray'' in this collection.

''The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft''

This second volume was published July 7,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and featured a new ''Hellboy'' story by Mike Mignola as well as a sequel to ''Stray'' by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson story, a classic witch tale by

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Algernon Charles Swinburne ...

illustrated by cover artist Gary Gianni, and an interview with Wiccan High Priestess Phyllis Currott. In the introduction, editor Scott Allie states that he was once again influenced by Mike Mignola in the choice of a theme for this second volume, which is inspired by the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne,

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...

and '' Weird Tales'' (for whom Smith formerly wrote). The volume was nominated for the 2004 "Favorite One-Shot"

Wizard Fan Award ''Wizard'' or ''Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture'' (previously titled ''Wizard: The Guide to Comics'' and ''Wizard: The Comics Magazine'') was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wiz ...

and Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson won the 2005 " Best Short Story"

for the story ''Unfamiliar''.

''The Dark Horse Book of the Dead''

This third volume was published June 1,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and featured a new ''Hellboy'' story by Mike Mignola as well as a story by ''Goon'' creator Eric Powell and a classic tale by '' Conan the Barbarian'' creator

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...

illustrated by cover artist Gary Gianni. In his introduction editor Scott Allie states that this was supposed to be the last book in the series, because he thought he was pushing his luck with three, but he changed his mind and a fourth was produced. He agreed to it because he enjoyed working with the writers and artists involved in the series.

''The Dark Horse Book of Monsters''

This fourth and final volume was published December 13,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and featured a new ''Hellboy'' story by Mike Mignola as well as Kurt Busiek and Keith Giffen's homage to the great monster comics of Jack Kirby and a classic tale of South Seas horror by William Hope Hodgson illustrated by cover artist Gary Gianni. The volume was nominated for the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

"Favourite Foreign Comic Book or Graphic Novel of the Year"

Ledger Award The Ledger Awards are prizes awarded to "acknowledge excellence in Australian comic art and publishing." Named after pioneering Australian cartoonist Peter Ledger (1945–1994), the awards were first held in 2005 to help promote and focus atte ...

and Jill Thompson won the 2007 "Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior)"

in part for the story '' A Dog and His Boy'' in this collection. {, class="wikitable" , - ! Title !! Creators , - , colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFFFFF", , - , ''I Witnessed the End of the World!'' , , , - , colspan="6", , - , colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFFFFF", , - , '' The Hydra and the Lion'' , , Story & Art:

Mike Mignola Michael Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a Hellboy Universe, shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', ''Abe Sapien'', ''Lo ...

, - , colspan="6", , - , colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFFFFF", , - , ''A Tropical Horror'' , , , - , colspan="6", , - , colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFFFFF", , - , '' To Weave a Lover'' , , , - , colspan="6", , - , colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFFFFF", , - , ''The Horror Beneath'' , , , - , colspan="6", , - , colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFFFFF", , - , '' Hidden'' , , {{flatlist, * Story:

* Art: Paul Lee, Brian Horton , - , colspan="6", , - , colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFFFFF", , - , '' A Dog and His Boy'' , , {{flatlist, * Story: Evan Dorkin * Art: Jill Thompson , - , colspan="6",

References

{{Reflist {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Horse Book of...