Creepshow: 13 Tales of Terror

by Nancy A. Collins, Jonathan Maberry, David Avallone

Inspired by the hit TV series Creepshow™ from executive producer Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead), this anthology boasts 13 new terrifying tales.

Creepshow: 13 Tales of Terror features original stories by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), David Avallone (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), Nancy A. Collins (Swamp Thing, Blade Runner, Sonja Blue), Dennis Crosby (Death's Legacy), Keith R.A. DeCandido (Supernatural Crimes Unit, Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Gwendolyn Kiste (The Haunting of Velkwood), Jonathan Maberry (V-Wars), Lisa Morton (Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween), Nick Roberts (The Exorcist’s House), Thomas E. Sniegoski (Hellboy, Vampirella), Tim Waggoner (Terrifier, Halloween Kills novelizations), Simon Bestwick (Kolchak Eras), and James Aquilone (Kolchak: The Night Stalker).

Creepshow: 13 Tales of Terror is a macabre celebration of the series’ legacy — twisting morality tales of terror, justice, and cosmic retribution, told through the Creep’s ghoulish grin.

The anthology features a cover from Russ Braun (The Boys, Kolchak: The Night Stalker), and each story is accompanied by a full-page piece of art featuring The Creep from EV Cantada.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

236 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2026

About the author

Nancy A. Collins (born 10 September 1959) is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has also written for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs. Leatherface, Predator: Hell Come A Walkin and her own one-shot Dhampire: Stillborn.

Collins was born in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s; after time in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia she settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 2000s.

Collins has written twenty novels since 1989, many of which refer to and directly include races of creatures the author calls Pretenders, monsters from myth and legend passing as human to better hunt their prey.

Collins has also written a number of highly acclaimed Southern Gothic short stories and novellas, most of which are set in Seven Devils, Arkansas, a highly fictionalized version of her hometown.

Most recently, she has focused her attention onto the Golgotham urban fantasy series,published by Penguin. Golgotham is the 'supernatural' ghetto of New York City, where creatures from myth and folklore--including witches,shapeshifters,leprechauns and centaurs--live and work in uneasy alliance with mankind.

Reviews

[LTJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“CREEPSHOW: 13 Tales of Terror” by various authors is the first-ever prose short-story collection inspired by this legendary horror franchise. CREEPSHOW has been a big part of my life for decades now. I saw the original CREEPSHOW movie when I was about 10 years old, and loved every moment of it. I love the CREEPSHOW franchise so much that I originally subscribed to the streaming service Shudder just to watch and enjoy the CREEPSHOW TV Show. Hell, I even listened to the original CREEPSHOW movie soundtrack while reading this. Needless to say, I love CREEPSHOW and was beyond excited to read this once it was available.

Before I dive into my horror book review, here are all the trigger warnings I found while reading:

- Religion
- Violence against animals (cats, bats)
- Hunting animals
- Politics
- Rape
- Drinking and driving
- Nazism
- Racism
- Violence against children
- Parental abuse

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this book. Moving along, I enjoyed this book on my Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, which made the special CREEPSHOW illustrations before every chapter look amazing. I loved this touch of The Creep, giving a quick, terrifying intro to the short story that awaited. I enjoyed most of the short stories here, as the writing was exceptional and creepy, with the usual plot twists you’d expect from CREEPSHOW.

These plot twists were so damn good that they felt like their own episodes in a CREEPSHOW movie or TV show. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but this had some of the best, visceral, insane horror I’ve ever read in an anthology. Everything was so crazy and unique, it left such an impression on me. I made many weird faces while reading all those horror events and situations.

You have everything from creatures and ghosts to sea horrors, vampires, horror train rides, and more. There is definitely a little something here for any avid horror reader to enjoy.

Honestly, almost every single story hit the mark, but these 11 were the absolute standouts for me:

With All the Boards Nailed Just Right by Jonathan Maberry
Five Is the Best Number by Gwendolyn Kiste
Dead Line by Dennis K. Crosby
Tiny House (of Terror) by James Aquilone
When the Mask Falls by Tim Waggoner
The Great Makeover by Lisa Morton
Instant Karma by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Longings From a Dusty Shelf by Thomas E. Sniegoski
If You’re Flapping and You Know It by Nick Roberts
Companion Piece by Nancy A. Collins
Blood and Tinsel by Steve Niles

If I had to pick my favorite short story, I’d pick “If You’re Flapping and You Know It” by Nick Roberts, because it was so disturbing and graphic that I will never look at a bat the same ever again. I’ll leave it at that.

I give “CREEPSHOW: 13 Tales of Terror” by various authors a 5-Star rating out of 5. The diversity of horror here is magnificent, and it was such a blast to read. If you love CREEPSHOW as much as I do, you will cherish this collection. If you’re looking for a great horror anthology, this is up there with the best of them. They did a fantastic job selecting an incredible roster of authors for this book, and it shows. They did the CREEPSHOW franchise proud with this first-ever, and hopefully, the first of many more CREEPSHOW books done in anthology prose style.

[Austin Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 13 short stories in the Creepshow franchise. For the first addition of such in the IP, they did a fair job with this and the stories do truly feel Creepshow in nature. While there weren't any I fully loved, sadly, there weren't any bad ones either. Below are my ratings for each story.

With All The Boards Nailed Just Right by Jonathan Maberry - 2.5⭐
A basic zombie story where they are trapped in a house with a swarm of zombies trying to break in. There's a bit of an RL Stine type of twist ending to this.
It was okay.

The Hide by Simon Bestwick - 3⭐
A rather violent yarn that features people-hunting(?!) - only for their targets to become immortal and retaliate. Another (kinda) zombie story, this one was decent.

Five Is the Best Number by Gwendolyn Kiste - 3.75⭐
A really fun and unique story with fairy tale vibes and featuring mean-spirited, dysfunctional family dynamics. I'm always a sucker for such twisted familial horror stories.
While I really dug the setup to this one, it does unfortunately go down the very typical revenge/comeuppance route, which kept me from loving this. But it was still very good and easily one of the best in the book.

Dead Line by Dennis Crosby - 3⭐
A troubled youth makes a getaway on a subway train, only to find out it might not be a normal train after all.
Decent.

Tiny House of Terror by James Aquilone - 2.5⭐
A young couple used to city life buy a small house out in the middle of nowhere. What ensues is some psychological horror as the house "closes" in on them.
This one was okay.

When the Mask Falls by Tim Waggoner - 3⭐
This is a cursed object story with a formula and tropes we've seen before, but still a fairly solid and well told tale.
Decent/Good.

The Great Makeover by Lisa Morton - 2.5⭐
A virus infects people who consume certain products, from a certain conspiring company, turning them into mindless addicts (zombies). This one felt predictable and preachy. Probably my least favorite in the book. But still wouldn't say it was bad, necessarily.

Instant Karma by Keith DeCandido - 3⭐
A new karate dojo opens up in town, and begins to rival the one that's well established, leading its owner to drastic measures to insure his remains superior/intact.
Decent/Good.

Longings From a Dusty Shelf by Thomas Sniegoski - 3.25⭐
Another (sort of) cursed object story, and comeuppance tale, as a disgruntled husband uses supernatural means to get revenge on his very (un)loving wife. Things don't exactly go as planned, though.
This story is reminiscent of The Crate. It was fun.

If You're Flapping and You Know It by Nick Roberts - 3⭐
A man discovers his attic is infested with bats, and decides to wage war on them instead of waiting for help from the extermination services. This leads to some unexpected and gruesome consequences.
Pretty simple but decent story.

The Predator's Heart by David Avallone - 3.25⭐
Set in WW2, some German soldiers aboard a submarine encounter some kind of crazy, supernatural threat deep in the ocean. Can't say too much without spoilers, but it ends up being pretty crazy.
This was a fun one.

Companion Piece by Nancy Collins - 3.75⭐
This one is apparently a prequel to The Companion episode from the TV show(?). This story was pretty solid, and has some more depth to it than most of the other stories in here. It wasn't perfect for me but I did like the historical setting and voodoo themes we got with this one.
Very Good.

Blood and Tinsel by Steve Niles - 2.5⭐
We close out with a very short story that takes place on Christmas, and has some maniac dressed as Santa murdering a kid's parents, but idk, I guess they deserved it 'cause they were abusive assholes??? This was too short and needed more elaboration for me. Not bad but one of the weaker ones, imo.

Overall this is a pretty cool collection that's worth checking out for fans of this franchise.
3⭐ overall.

[Shiv (The Horrorlander) · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

*The Companion Piece*: 10/10 Perfect
*Longings From A Dusty Shelf*: 9.4/10 Great
*Five Is The Best Number*: 9/10 Great
*The Predator’s Heart*: 8.8/10 Very Good
*When The Mask Falls*: 8.5/10 Very Good
*The Hide*: 8.5/10 Very Good
*If You’re Flapping And You Know It*: 8/10 Good
*Dead Line*: 7.8/10 Pretty Good
*The Great Makeover*: 6.8/10 Decent
*Tiny House (Of Terror)*: 6.5/10 Decent
*Blood And Tinsel*: 6/10
*With All The Boards Nailed Just Right*: 6/10 Okay
*Instant Karma*: 6/10 Okay

Overall this was an amazing collection, my favorite thing from Creepshow since the first two movies and the Volume 1 Comic.
*The Companion Piece* by Nancy A Collins is now my favorite story in the IP bar none. Amazing western story that reminded me a lot of the movie *Sinners* in atmosphere, themes, and characters. It was the most fleshed out, and ended not only being inspired by Joe Lansdale’s *The Companion*, actually tied into by the end.
*Longings From A Dusty Shelf* felt like The Crate mixed with Father’s Day and ended up throwing it’s own unique twists, that one is in my Top 5 stories of the IP.
*The Predator’s Heart* felt like something straight of out Horrors Of War by Tim Curran and definitely something he’d write.
*Five Is The Best Number* was also a great weird yet satisfying haunted house revenge story.

Overall collection had a lot of fun stuff in it, no bad stories at all, and the last story made The Creep into a canon tale like for some nods

[Carson Buckingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

CREEPSHOW is James Aquilone’s latest anthology, and this one is reminiscent of the old 1982 movie of the same name. He is a premier anthologist, and with an all-star Table of Contents, this book doesn’t disappoint and follows the spirit of the movie admirably.

Here’s what you get:

“With All the Boards Nailed Just Right” by Jonathan Maberry. Even if you’re burned out on zombie stories, there’s a great twist at the end that I didn’t see coming at all. Beautifully done.

“The Hide” by Simon Bestwick. A trio of hunters tracks and kills an unusual quarry.

“Five is the Best Number” by Gwendolyn Kiste. Beautifully written story of revenge.

“Dead Line” by Dennis Crosby. Once you are on this train, it can take a long, long time to get off. Nice twist at the end.

“Tiny House (of Terror)” by James Aquilone. A broken couple buys one of those tiny houses that are all the rage these days, in hopes that living closer together will actually make them a closer couple. He loves it; she, not so much. But he finds something in the garden that will ensure they will always fit in that house.

“When the Mask Falls” by Tim Waggoner. A story about what happens when someone combines blind ambition, no talent, and an unwillingness to follow directions.

“The Great Makeover” by Lisa Morton. The whole world changes—from junk food! Believe it or not, as funny as that premise sounds, this is one frightening story!

“Instant Karma” by Keith R. A. DeCondido. Two karate schools are at odds, “but those who choose to fight have lost before they have begun”—in spades.

“Longings From a Dusty Shelf” by Thomas E. Sniegoski. A man wants to murder his wife with the aid of a supernatural being. Nice twist at the end.

“If You’re Flapping and You Know It” – by Nick Roberts. Grotesque story about man vs. bats.

“The Predator’s Heart” by David Avallone. A study of predator and prey during World War II.

“Companion Piece” by Nancy A. Collins. Interesting story about hoodoo and the price paid for using it.

“Blood and Tinsel” by Steve Niles. A Christmas murder recalled. This reader is kind of sick of Christmas murders, and there was nothing particularly new under the sun here, and overall, it was an unfortunate way to end the anthology. Usually, anthologists begin and end with the strongest stories, and “Blood and Tinsel” was just too weak to pull off the required exemplary ending to this top-notch anthology.

That being said, there was a three-way tie for my favorite story in the book: Jonathan Maberry’s “With All the Boards Nailed Just Right,” Lisa Morton’s “The Great Makeover,” and Tim Waggoner’s “When the Mask Falls.”

Christmas is coming fast, and this would be a fabulous book to give as a gift. Superb writing at a low price, so you can buy one for yourself and one for that horror fan you’ve been struggling to come up with a gift for.

James Aquilone has hit it out of the park once again. Bravo.

5 out of 5 stars

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some that know the great works of Stephen King and Robert McCammon might understand that Night Shift and Blue World are considered by many anthology horror readers to be essentially quintessential reads of the genre. Maybe Full Throttle by Joe Hill comes to mind. But this little short story collection released in 2026 based on the Creepshow IP, my all time favorite IP, has now entered the penthouse suite. And if you think I’m kidding, I’m not stretching when I say this might very well be in my top 10 favorite anthology collections of all time. I won’t go into spoilers or details but I’ll share my ratings of each story. Please do yourself the favor and read this magnificent book. And also - I think it would be essential for you to read Joe Lansdale and co.’s short story called The Companion before reading this collection (you’ll see why).

With All The Boards Nailed Just Right — 7/10 ⭐️ light good
The Hide — 8/10⭐️ high good
Five Is The Best Number - 9/10⭐️ great
Dead Line - 8/10⭐️ high good
Tiny House (Of Terror) - 6.5/10⭐️ decent
When The Mask Falls - 8.5/10⭐️ pretty good
The Great Makeover - 7/10⭐️ light good
Instant Karma - 6.5/10⭐️ decent
Longings From A Dusty Shelf - 8.5/10⭐️ pretty good
If You’re Flapping And You Know It - 7.5/10⭐️ good
The Predator’s Heart - 9/10⭐️ great
Companion Piece - 10/10⭐️ fantastic
Blood And Tinsel - 6/10⭐️ okay

The highlights of the book is Nancy Collins’ follow up to Joe Lansdale’s iconic story. What a fun time. Also, if you want something more unique and subtexty please try Five Is The Best Number and The Predator’s Heart out as well. The rest all fluctuate between and okay to pretty good time. If you like throwbacky types of stories, Longing From A Dusty Shelf takes three well known Creepshow yarns and spins it into a new tale of conglomeration. Then there are straight up throwbacks to EC comics and DC Bronze Age Horror with WATBNJR, The Hide, and Dead Line. The last story Blood and Tinsel might be the weakest story of the bunch, but if you love The Creep, just wait and see.

Fantastic book. Please grab this and read this.

[Justin Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this collection. There was a good nostalgia factor of the old Creepshow/Tales From The Crypt episodes of my youth here. But it was very uneven, there were about the same number of stories I really enjoyed as there were what I felt were complete duds.

My Favorites were (in no particular Order:
With All the Boards Nailed Just Right
Dead Line
The Great Makeover
Instant Karma
If Youre Flapping and You Know it

Misses (for me):
The Hide
Tiny House
The Predator's Heart

[Zannat · Rating 5 out of 5]

It features five dark, EC-style comic tales of revenge, monsters, and grim justice: Father's Day, The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, The Crate, Something to Tide You Over, and They're Creeping Up on You.