The Alfred Hitchcock Story by Ken Mogg (Titan Books)

There’ve been tons of books published on the Master of Suspense. But it’s been years since a new volume has caught and held my eye like this one. Titan’s lush coffee-table tome – a revised version of Mogg’s original 1999 edition – is similar in format to The Hammer Story, the publisher’s major 2007 genre non-fiction release, in that old films are made new again, thanks to a mix of foreign and domestic movie posters and little-seen stills (including the Master’s many cameos), used to illustrate several pages of sharp text for each movie. It’s further distinguished by numerous special sections, like those on Hitchcock’s blondes, unfinished projects, and sequels and remakes of his works.  And everything from the covers of the many “Hitchcock presented” short story collections to glamour shots of Grace Kelly are printed on lovely glossy paper that doesn’t outshine the images, making it a must for the Hitchcock fans.  

Hellboy II: The Art of the Movie (Dark Horse)

Hellboy II was one of last year’s most successful genre film releases. It may not have made as much money as Iron Man, or received the critical accolades of The Dark Knight, but its blend of stately Lovecraftian and mythological horror coupled with a broadly funny working-class hero story showcased director Guillermo del Toro’s skills even more impressively than previous efforts like Pan’s Labyrinth. Most striking, however, was the del Toro’s menagerie of imaginative, well-rendered creatures, fused seamlessly to his tale. Such creatures, and the technology used to create them, are captured in Dark Horse’s movie/art book, which stands head, shoulders and horns above most behind-the-scenes volumes, due largely to the impressive selection of concept and production art on display from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, fantasy illustrator Wayne Barlowe and del Toro himself (who provides the introduction), as well as numerous other designers and effects artists. The film’s script is also conveniently reprinted, making Hellboy II: The Art of the Movie the perfect portal to Hell.

The Creepy Archives: Volumes 1 and 2 (Dark Horse)

Picking up the torch dropped by E.C. Comics’ 1950s titles, publisher Jim Warren’s Creepy proudly brought top-quality horror back to comics in the early ‘60s, in a black-and-white magazine with contributions from some of the medium’s top artists. Veterans like Frank Frazetta (Johnny Comet), Reed Crandall (Blackhawk) and E.C.’s own Al Williamson (Weird Science) joined soon-to-be-legends like Neal Adams and Bernie Wrightson in creating one of the three pillars of old-school horror comics (the third, after E.C., being Wrightson’s own original Swamp Thing). Dark Horse lovingly reproduces Creepy’s first ten issues in the first two volumes of its new ongoing series of deluxe hardcovers (five issues per). Those worried the glossy-paper treatment would be too much for the black-and-white art can breathe easy, as the images prove bold enough to survive the transfer. And the covers are reproduced in all their original full-color glory. In an industry crowded with archival comics projects, The Creepy Archives is the year’s best.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)

Nobody Owens, a.k.a. Bod, is a young boy who decides he’s better off being raised and educated by ghosts in a cemetery than out and about in the world of the living. Small wonder, since his family was killed by a mysterious man named Jack. Bod’s adventures, in which he encounters all manner of supernatural creature and phenomenon, deliberately springboard off Kipling’s Jungle Book, but the eerie, engrossing direction they take belongs solely to bestselling author Neil Gaiman, who in this book surpasses his previous children’s novel, Coraline (soon to be a major motion picture from director Henry Selick). Like Coraline, The Graveyard Book is adorned with illustrations by Gaiman’s frequent artist collaborator Dave McKean, whose fans will be heartened to hear he’s concocted even more of them this time out, generating an added layer of moodiness. Gaiman had another banner year in 2008 with this book, The Dangerous Alphabet (his recent illustrated-book collaboration with artist Gris Grimly), and the final volumes (3 and 4) of the The Absolute Sandman (collecting his award-winning comics opus). All of which are recommended for anyone with an interest in any shade of the macabre.

Y: The Last Man – Book One Deluxe Edition by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra (Vertigo)

Brian K. Vaughan was everywhere in 2008 – a guest writer in the best story arc to date in Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 comic, on the writing staff of Lost, and again in his bestselling Vertigo monthly comic Y: The Last Man, with talented artist Pia Guerra. The series may have concluded this year, but those new to the post-apocalyptic saga of Yorick Brown (a.k.a. the last man on Earth) and his pet monkey Ampersand could experience it from the beginning in high style this year, thanks to Vertigo’s new Deluxe Edition hardcover reprinting (word on the streets is that Fables and Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing are due for similar treatment in 2009). Horrifying as only the edgiest science fiction can be, Y proposes a future in which everyone on Earth with a Y chromosome is suddenly killed by a mysterious virus. As Vaughan’s career takes him to stranger, newer worlds, one hopes a similar fate won’t befall him. But in a worst case we’ll always have the beautifully realized future he gives us here.

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (Image)

It’s been a few years now since Shaun of the Dead, Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake and 28 Days Later spawned the 21st century zombie film renaissance. But the revolution is still going strong, albeit in a slightly altered form. The Walking Dead, writer Robert Kirkman’s “zombie movie that never ends,” continued its magnificently shambling post-apocalyptic trek this year, in both its ongoing monthly comic format and volumes 3 and 4 of its impressive (and, at $29.95 each, impressively priced) series of hardcover collections. Through sheer talent, a can’t-miss formula or, most likely, some combination of both, Kirkman’s managed to create a perfectly paced tale, a rarity in comics. His Dead never feels inflated, never feels hurried. It just continues to weigh on the reader’s mind with an ever-expanding, always-pervading creepiness, much like the titular zombies themselves. Here’s hoping salvation never arrives.

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Number 19, edited by Stephen Jones (Robinson Publishing/Running Press)

Stephen Jones is almost certainly the hardest-working editor in horror publishing. After producing seven (!) titles in 2007, this year saw Jones’ Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft (Victor Gollancz), Basil Copper: A Life in Books (a biography of the British horror and crime writer published by PS Publishing), and this, the nineteenth volume of the one truly indispensable annual horror anthology. 2008’s edition featured short prose from many of the usual suspects – but what suspects! Cutting-edge talents like Joe Hill, superb-but-underrated craftsmen and women like Caitlin R. Kiernan, and acclaimed authors like Neil Gaiman are all contained here, along with a host of others. And Jones himself contributes his usual thoughtful, comprehensive review of the genre in various media across the world, as well as a unique necrology. Best New Horror is an almost too obvious choice for this list, as it can be recommended every year without reservations. But try to imagine a world without it -- now that would be really horrifying.

Cat Eyed Boy: Volumes 1 and 2 by Kazuo Umezo (Viz)

Comics auteur Kazuo Umezo has built a reputation as Japan’s leading horror manga creator (impressively so considering the many talented horror creators to emerge from the country).  His best-know work may be the surreal Drifting Classroom, but for my money even that title can’t compare with his early work on Cat Eyed Boy, released in two volumes this year from Viz. The book’s title creature is the perfect mesh of Umezo’s twin hallmarks – cute kids and grotesque abominations – and the adventures featured in this book, in which he serves as sometimes participant/sometimes observer, showcase the range of possibilities inherent in such simple concepts. Weird, creepy and fun (and reminiscent of vintage E.C. horror comics), Cat Eyed Boy isn’t for everyone. But those interested in the potential of manga should definitely give it a try.