Dead Beats: A Musical Horror Anthology

by Joe Corallo (Editor), Eric Palicki (Editor)

"..if you're looking for new or used vinyl, cassettes, CDs, gear, or merch, Dead Beats has the best selection in town. Of course, everything we sell has a story and our friendly Shoppe Keeper is happy to tell you all about it. All sales final..."

Dead Beats is a 160-page full-color anthology of music-themed horror comics centered around the curiosities for sale at one peculiar record store by its enigmatic Shoppe Keeper. Edited by Joseph Corallo (Oh S#!t, It's Kim & Kim, Mine!) and Eric Palicki (This Nightmare Kills Fascists, All We Ever Wanted), Dead Beats features more than twenty comics stories and more than forty up-and-coming creators and industry veterans, as well as cover art and interstitial narrative illustrations by Lisa Sterle (Long Lost, Submerged).

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Anthologies, Fiction, Supernatural, Graphic Novels Comics

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2019

Reviews

[Ruth Gibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any time a horror anthology manages to have demons, queerness, characters of color, sensitive portrayals of such, make my skin crawl, AND make me cry from cute old lesbian wives? Then damn, it has earned those five stars and more.

[Michaela Lochen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, eclectic collection of horror comics centred around music & musicians. It was entertaining to check out, but it's not a book I plan on keeping or re-reading.

[Ella Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my all time favorite anthologies. gorgeous art, some genuinely terrifying stories, some super sweet ones that made me cry and lots of queer rep!

favorite stories were Love in a Dark Cabin, Let’s Stay Together, Angel From My Nightmare, Debaser and Delta Blues.

I also liked Bone Dry but it scared the crap out of me haha.

Anyway, this book does not disappoint! I have read it three times now and love it so much.

[Jon Hewelt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of this anthology. Its heart's in the right place, but the execution (especially the writing on some of the stories) is lacking. Pacing is difficult in a shorter form, and as with any anthology, Dead Beats has its hits and misses. For me, however, more misses than hits.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dead Beats reminds me why I often stay away from horror anthology comics. While I definitely had moments where I chuckled or found particular narrative choices interesting, the space provided to each story consistently feels too short, where the conclusion feels flat because the characters did not have a chance to grow beyond pastiches of protagonists from horror stories past. The best part of this anthology is the Shoppe Keeper, who serves as the book's storyteller a la the Crypt Keeper in EC Comics. As seems to almost be the case for me with horror anthologies, I wanted to love this more than I actually did.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. The stories vary from okay to bad. Some ended so abruptly I wondered if my book was missing pages. The idea of the anthology is fun and the person who did the framing sections did a solid job.

[yyyzzzaaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars -
did not disappoint, a super quick horror comics full of surprises! a lot were very gruesome, but the bittersweet ones, like
“hey darling, do you gamble” and “let’s stay together” were my favorites.

also lots of band inspiration for my ocs :)

[Jon Allanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fun read, inspired by music and horror comics. I definitely felt both the person I was growing up and the person I wanted to be while I was reading this. Great stories and art. Recommended.

[Katharama · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most anthologies, the quality of the stories vary, but these are mostly good. 3.5 stars.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bunch of music-themed horror stories!

[Aryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh... some of these stories were noticeably older and there was probably a reason they hadn't surfaced until now. I liked the framing, but the stories themselves just weren't great.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Loved the musical aspect. The art was varied and pretty interesting, but the individual stories lacked enough substance for me to feel fully invested in any of them.

[Kay ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the rep but these stories were mainly misses.