. .""A werewolf stalks the streets of Baltimore . . .""A griffin slaughters a herd of horses in Madrid . . ."Weird sightings of cryptozoological and mythological creatures abound around the globe. Sometimes the creatures simply appear and then vanish again, content merely to put in an appearance. Other times they make themselves known to entire cities, and leave their mark. Damaged buildings. Scars on the landscape. The occasional death.Then suddenly, the death toll escalates. One by one Hellboy and his friends at the BPRD are dispatched to avert disaster. Hellboy encounters a dragon in Brazil. Abe Sapien tackles a giant alligator in Venice. Liz Sherman faces off against a phoenix in the Mediterranean.But in dawning horror they realize it's all a distraction -- heralding nothing so much as an event of apocalyptic proportions . . .

    That story is collected here with rare Hellboy related stories, long sought after by fans of the Mignola's hit comic, which is soon to be a major motion picture! Reprinted here for the first time are the first solo Abe Sapien comic, Drums of the Dead, by Brian McDonald and Derek Thompson, as well as the short stories "Abe Sapien versus Science" and "Lobster Johnson: Killer Inside My Skull." If these names mean nothing to you, you've been missing out on the greatest adventure saga comics has to offer. If you do know these names, then this is the collection you've been asking for.

    Sent to keep an eye on Sarah Nail, a young girl hiding from the curse of her family, Hellboy becomes entangled in the blood debt of evil mystical preacher, Brother Jester. Stuck between human malice and the mysteries of the occult, Hellboy comes up against an intrigue of ghosts, demon trees, talking bullfrogs, and a race of lost mutant children.An all-new Hellboy novel!

    Today, Hellboy is a top field agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He questions the unknown - then beats it into submission. His latest case: angels have attacked the Vatican, destroying an entire floor of the building's precious library. That's a new one, even for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. The BPRD dispatches Hellboy and his amphibious colleague, Abe Sapien, to investigate. When they arrive ojn the scene, they discover that thousands of documents from all eras of history have been destroyed - except for one, saved from the holy fire by an obsessive scholar. His prize? An ancient scroll allegedly written by Jesus the Nazarene - decades after the crucifixion. Hellboy's first thought is that the scroll was the focus of the seraphim's attack - but why would heavenly creatures undertake such violence and ruin?The answer to this puzzle will lead Hellboy down a terrifying trail to ancient gods, vengeful demons, and a hidden world made of the purest evil...

    Over the years, many of the best artists in the industry have asked if they could do a backup story, just to get a chance to play with the characters and worlds Mignola has created. As Dark Horse gears up for the release of the 2004 Hellboy motion picture, we present this lavish colection of these stories. One of the most popular features in recent Hellboy books has been the sketchbook section, so we've asked these stellar artists to let us present some of their behind the scenes work in this collection. Some of the best writers and artists in comics team up to present stories of giant bats, demon children, jet packs, haunted circuses, and rusted-out spaceships. Old-fashioned pulp fun featuring one of the greatest heroes of modern comics.

    On a train in the London Underground, a young couple is terrorized by a demon. In a suburb, a poltergeist forces a family to flee their home.Hellboy has his hands full.While the supernatural is on a rampage in London, a series of brutal "Torso Murders" turns up at various sites around the city. All of the corpses are headless, limbless, and drained of their blood.Called in to investigate the killings, B.P.R.D. agents Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman discover a wellspring of black magic under the London streets. They also find a sack of heads. Hellboy descends into the dark underworld of London, encountering demons who prophesy the coming of plague and the opening of an Eye to the otherworld, bringing forth death and destruction upon the land.* "Mark Morris is one of the finest horror writers at work today"Clive Barker

    The identity of the perpetrator is a complete mystery until Hellboy and Liz Sherman -- acting on an unlikely tip from a ghost -- foil a museum heist attempted by crude, robotic constructs inhabited by human spirits. One of these freed human spirits offers to help Hellboy track down those who imprisoned him: a fanatical order of psychics obsessed with creating a new messiah, one that will bring about a new stage of evolution for mankind -- whether mankind is willing or not. Now only Hellboy and his colleagues stand between a vulnerable humanity and an evil, vengeful god.

    We've gotten glimpses of these other women over the years on T.V., in comics, and in books. Now for the first time, the writers from the television series, including the show's creator, Joss Whedon, and one of its stars, Amber "Tara" Benson, present the tales of these girls, with the help of comics' greatest artists. Gene Colan, co-creator of Marvel's Blade and Tomb of Dracula, returns to Dark Horse for the story of a young girl in 1970s New York, battling vampires. Tim Sale, artist of recent epics Batman: The Long Halloween and Superman for All Seasons teams with Joss Whedon for a grim tale of a medieval slayer. American comics legend P. Craig Russell (Dr. Strange, The Ring of the Nibelung) and international rising star Mira Friedmann (Actus Tragicus) also join the stellar lineup.

    

    Rewritten by Gaiman for this graphic novel, these two ominous stories from the author's award-winning prose work Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions feature animals and people not being quite what they seem.In "The Price," a black cat like a small panther arrives at a country home and is soon beset by mysterious and vicious wounds. What is he fighting every night that could do this, and why does he persist?"The Daughter of Owls" recounts an eerie old tale of a foundling girl who was left with an owl pellet as a newborn on the steps of the Dymton Church. She was soon cloistered away in a local convent, but by her fourteenth year word of her beauty had spread -- and those who would prey upon her faced unforeseen consequences.

    In Dublin, Ireland, the clientele of a backstreet pub are found dead. In Kyoto, Japan, the bullet train pulls into the station with blood-spattered windows. It is the time of the Black Sun. Across the world, the wolves are calling to each other. Locked in bodies that had no idea they were there, they rise from the depths of the unconscious and turn towards America! For Hellboy, it's a race against time to prevent a devastating wave of primal savagery washing across the land. And so he is drawn to Boston's Beacon Hill and the Grant Mansion, believed to be the most haunted house in New England, where the truth may lie buried.

    Now, Vertigo and DC Comics are proud to present the first of four definitive Absolute Editions collecting this groundbreaking series in its entirety. The Absolute Sandman, Volume One reprints issues 1-20 of The Sandman , and features all-new coloring on issues 1-18, commissioned especially for this edition. This volume also includes a full reproduction of Gaiman's original proposal for the series and the complete script and pencils by Gaiman and Charles Vess for the World Fantasy Award-winning story "A Midsummer Night's Dream" from The Sandman 19. Finally, a gallery of character design sketches show the evolution of Dream of the Endless.

    But that's nothing compared with the fear that takes hold when he realizes what's in that world with him! Follow Will's struggle through the season one events of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things! Written by Jody Houser (Mother Panic, Faith) and illustrated by Stefano Martino (Doctor Who, Catwoman)

     House of Mystery focuses on five characters trapped in a supernatural bar, trying to solve the mystery of how and why they're imprisoned there. Each one has a terrible past they'd like to forget, and with no books, newspapers or TV allowed in the House, they face an eternity of boredom. But stories become the new currency, and fortunately, the House attracts only the finest storytellers.Collecting: House of Mystery 1-5

    Emerging from the pages of THE SANDMAN, the former Lord of Hell is enjoying retirement as the proprietor of L.A.'s most elite piano bar when an assignment from the Creator Himself threatens to change all that. Collects THE SANDMAN PRESENTS: LUCIFER #1-3 and LUCIFER #1-13.