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Refrigerator Full of Heads #1-6
Refrigerator Full of Heads
Return to Brody Island in the bizarre and bloody sequel to Joe Hill’s Basketful of Heads!
For a year now, the mysterious axe that unleashed pandemonium during the hurricane of ’83 has waited at the bottom of the bay but nothing that powerful stays buried. Brody Island has new visitors, and a new sheriff in town, too-not to mention a dangerous great white shark spotted in its waters-and when vacationing couple Calvin Beringer and Arlene Fields find themselves on the wrong side of Brody’s unsavory elements, their beachcombing will turn up something a lot sharper than sea glass…
After only one day on Brody Island, Cal and Arlene manage to piss off a homicidal biker gang–and to find the magical axe so memorably wielded by June Branch one year ago. But what else have Cal and Arlene come to Brody to do? And now that you mention it…where is June Branch?
Crime novelist Rio Youers joins forces with artist Tom Fowler to unleash a gonzo grindhouse expansion on the lore of the original Basketful of Heads!
This volume collects Refrigerator Full of Heads #1-6.
For a year now, the mysterious axe that unleashed pandemonium during the hurricane of ’83 has waited at the bottom of the bay but nothing that powerful stays buried. Brody Island has new visitors, and a new sheriff in town, too-not to mention a dangerous great white shark spotted in its waters-and when vacationing couple Calvin Beringer and Arlene Fields find themselves on the wrong side of Brody’s unsavory elements, their beachcombing will turn up something a lot sharper than sea glass…
After only one day on Brody Island, Cal and Arlene manage to piss off a homicidal biker gang–and to find the magical axe so memorably wielded by June Branch one year ago. But what else have Cal and Arlene come to Brody to do? And now that you mention it…where is June Branch?
Crime novelist Rio Youers joins forces with artist Tom Fowler to unleash a gonzo grindhouse expansion on the lore of the original Basketful of Heads!
This volume collects Refrigerator Full of Heads #1-6.
168 pages, Paperback
First published October 18, 2022
38 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Rio Youers
90 books433 followersRio Youers is the British Fantasy and Sunburst Award–nominated author of Lola on Fire and No Second Chances. His 2017 thriller, The Forgotten Girl, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is the writer of Refrigerator Full of Heads, a six-issue comic series from DC Comics, and Sleeping Beauties, a graphic novel based on the number-one bestseller by Stephen King and Owen King. Rio’s latest novel, The Bang-Bang Sisters, was published by William Morrow in summer 2024.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
January 8, 2025
Basketful of Heads didn't need a sequel.
But like most slasher movies, it got one.
I actually thought this was going to suck much harder than it did. Rio Youers did an admirable job of making something nobody asked for into a decent story.
It picks up about a year or so after Joe Hill's comic ended and has a new couple getting themselves into hot water in the same town with the artifact.
The how and why are spoilers, so if you're interested you can read it for yourself.
Some of the original characters make an appearance, and it seems as though this might become an ongoing series. Maybe next time it will be a Trunk Full of Heads or a Purse Full of Heads?
The possibilities are limitless when you think about it. There are a lot of places you can stuff a head if you really want to get creative.
So, do you actually want to read this?
Up to you. But I didn't think it was bad at all.
Recommended for fans of disembodied heads.
But like most slasher movies, it got one.
I actually thought this was going to suck much harder than it did. Rio Youers did an admirable job of making something nobody asked for into a decent story.
It picks up about a year or so after Joe Hill's comic ended and has a new couple getting themselves into hot water in the same town with the artifact.
The how and why are spoilers, so if you're interested you can read it for yourself.
Some of the original characters make an appearance, and it seems as though this might become an ongoing series. Maybe next time it will be a Trunk Full of Heads or a Purse Full of Heads?
The possibilities are limitless when you think about it. There are a lot of places you can stuff a head if you really want to get creative.
So, do you actually want to read this?
Up to you. But I didn't think it was bad at all.
Recommended for fans of disembodied heads.
July 15, 2022
God, this was stupid. What a disappointment after the simple 80's horror movie vibe of the original. Turns the ridiculousness up to 11. Begins with cutting the head off a great white shark with the axe and only gets dumber from there. Tom Fowler's art is really fugly. His action scenes are incoherent. What a fucking disappointment!
December 8, 2022
A cheesy but stupidly fun sequel gets farmed out to a new creative team that expands the mythology and amps up the gore. You can't jump the shark if you bring it along for the ride . . .
March 14, 2025
Refrigerator Full of Heads is a sequel to Basketful of Heads, a graphic novel from 2020 by Joe Hill. (You're supposed to put women in refrigerators, not heads; did we learn nothing from Gail Simone and Catherynne Valente?) Well, Basketful needed a sequel about as much as a (please choose and substitute your own favorite phrase) fish needs a bicycle, but this one isn't too bad and has some fun bits. It's not as good as the first volume, the art gets too jumbled and confused in the action panels, the character of Junie doesn't ring true to the original... but there are some fun bits. I liked the giant shark head chained to the grill of the truck, and the fact that the government agents are from "...The Department of Defense, The Office of Irrational Metallurgy, to be exact." (The story is set in 1984; I wonder if the Office of Irrational Metallurgy's budget is in danger from the current, 2025, administration?) Anyway, it's an entertaining (if way over-the-top) book. I enjoyed it, but the biggest drawback is that I would have enjoyed it a lot more when I was ten years old, however the dialog is somewhat equally over the top with profanity and so I can't recommend it for young readers.
May 6, 2022
A worthy extension to the original story, with a well-reasoned excuse for existing beyond 'we like money', and a few bonkers twists that will make you laugh out loud..
November 1, 2022
Refrigerator Full of Heads collects issues 1-6 of the DC Comics and Hill House Comics series written by Rio Youers with art by Tom Fowler.
Set approximately a year after the events of Basketful of Heads, a biker gang is on a mission to collect the Norse Tetrad, powerful Norse weapons that when united will grant the wielder god-like powers. The only item that is missing is the Axe of Yggdrasil which is still lying at the bottom of the ocean near Brody Island. Two undercover Department of Defense agents have just arrived to the island to find the missing axe in hopes of securing it before the gang.
Basketful of Heads is out there, but seems tame compared to the story we get here. Everything in this book is increased to the max level. Unfortunately, it’s a new creative team that doesn’t live up to the original. The book isn’t bad by any means, but is missing the tight storytelling of Joe Hill and the fantastic art by Leomacs. This was the first Hill House Comics book in a few years and I hope Joe Hill keeps that relationship with DC Comics as I enjoyed most of the books.
Set approximately a year after the events of Basketful of Heads, a biker gang is on a mission to collect the Norse Tetrad, powerful Norse weapons that when united will grant the wielder god-like powers. The only item that is missing is the Axe of Yggdrasil which is still lying at the bottom of the ocean near Brody Island. Two undercover Department of Defense agents have just arrived to the island to find the missing axe in hopes of securing it before the gang.
Basketful of Heads is out there, but seems tame compared to the story we get here. Everything in this book is increased to the max level. Unfortunately, it’s a new creative team that doesn’t live up to the original. The book isn’t bad by any means, but is missing the tight storytelling of Joe Hill and the fantastic art by Leomacs. This was the first Hill House Comics book in a few years and I hope Joe Hill keeps that relationship with DC Comics as I enjoyed most of the books.
January 20, 2023
4 AND 1/2 STARS
While Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill is perhaps a better written story, this sequel, Refrigerator Full of Heads, written by Joe's friend, Rio Youers, is a lot more fun. This second outing had better artwork, a faster pace, insane developments, and the coolest shark scenes since Deep Blue Sea. I really had a blast with this and hope a third tale is planned. I would recommend writer Brian Keene or Tim Waggoner to helm the next one, both a perfect fit if you ask me. Highly recommended after reading the first book. You can't go wrong!
While Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill is perhaps a better written story, this sequel, Refrigerator Full of Heads, written by Joe's friend, Rio Youers, is a lot more fun. This second outing had better artwork, a faster pace, insane developments, and the coolest shark scenes since Deep Blue Sea. I really had a blast with this and hope a third tale is planned. I would recommend writer Brian Keene or Tim Waggoner to helm the next one, both a perfect fit if you ask me. Highly recommended after reading the first book. You can't go wrong!
May 22, 2023
An unnecessary follow-up to the super-fun Basketful of Heads, Refrigerator Full of Heads does not earn higher marks simply for having a larger place to store the heads. In fact, it is in pretty much every other way a lesser outing. The characters are less interesting, the plot is less fun, and the sharp edge of the horror is dulled.
The art is decent, I guess. On par with Basketful. In Refrigerator, we have two undercover feds arriving on the island to openly hunt down the head-lopping Viking axe. They quickly and stupidly get entangled with a roving biker gang who are also after the axe. There's a surprise reveal and really not much else. The best head to roll is a shark's, which serves as a humorous way to later off some enemies.
The art is decent, I guess. On par with Basketful. In Refrigerator, we have two undercover feds arriving on the island to openly hunt down the head-lopping Viking axe. They quickly and stupidly get entangled with a roving biker gang who are also after the axe. There's a surprise reveal and really not much else. The best head to roll is a shark's, which serves as a humorous way to later off some enemies.
September 25, 2023
Gloriously diabolical in every way. The creators must have had a blast making this, maybe they had a little too much fun this gets so outrageous at times. While not quite as great as Joe Hill's volume. It's still fairly enjoyable if you ask me.
December 30, 2024
While the change in tone isn't necessarily a negative thing, the new art style and the cheesy writing make it hard to enjoy, especially when compared to the quality of the previous entry.
April 25, 2022
Took everything that was great about Basketful of Heads and decides to make it bigger and dumber.
October 6, 2025
3.5 Stars
This volume was way more over the top than the first. Still a good read, and I have to admit it's quite an original concept, but overall I did like volume 1 better. This reads sort of like a Vertigo book of the 90s, in a good way.
This volume was way more over the top than the first. Still a good read, and I have to admit it's quite an original concept, but overall I did like volume 1 better. This reads sort of like a Vertigo book of the 90s, in a good way.
January 5, 2023
DC Black Label gave author Joe Hill his own comic label- Hill House Comics, and the first book in his line was Basketful of Heads, which was full of dark humor and was ridiculous fun. This sequel, led by a new creative team and authored by Rio Youers, builds off the first but amps up the gore and ludicrousness by 100%!
The year is 1984, and a year has passed since June survived a massacre on Brody Island and threw the magical Norse axe into the bay. Two undercover Department of Defense agents arrive on the island to find the axe, but a biker gang is also on the trail. June, who has tried to put to distance herself from last summer’s tragedy is pulled into it again, as the biker gang has located more Norse weapons that are deadly and magical and want her to reveal where the axe is to complete their collection. When the axe is discovered by the DoD agents, it comes in very handy when a great white shark attacks them. The story leans into the absurd with this shark and soon the vacation rental’s refrigerator starts to fill up with the heads of bikers and corrupt cops. While I liked June and the DoD agents, Calvin (loved his shirt!) and Arlene, the bikers were simply created to be evil with no redeeming characteristics. You must have a huge suspension of disbelief throughout, but especially for a certain rolling head that points to yet another sequel in the future.
Artists Tom Fowler and Craig A Taillefer gave the characters a Mad magazine type of caricature treatment, which was the aesthetic established in the first book, but further supported in that Fowler has worked for Mad in the past. I loved the chapter breaks, as different authors gave their interpretations of the story. The action scenes, especially with the shark, could get to be a bit much with too many panels. There were times in a two-page spread I wasn’t sure if I should read top to bottom and start at the top of the second page again, or if it spread over the entire two pages.
While I wouldn’t recommend this book to a newbie, it builds off the first story well, so if you liked Basketful of Heads you should definitely check out this over-the-top story as well! (Actual review 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2023/01/0...
The year is 1984, and a year has passed since June survived a massacre on Brody Island and threw the magical Norse axe into the bay. Two undercover Department of Defense agents arrive on the island to find the axe, but a biker gang is also on the trail. June, who has tried to put to distance herself from last summer’s tragedy is pulled into it again, as the biker gang has located more Norse weapons that are deadly and magical and want her to reveal where the axe is to complete their collection. When the axe is discovered by the DoD agents, it comes in very handy when a great white shark attacks them. The story leans into the absurd with this shark and soon the vacation rental’s refrigerator starts to fill up with the heads of bikers and corrupt cops. While I liked June and the DoD agents, Calvin (loved his shirt!) and Arlene, the bikers were simply created to be evil with no redeeming characteristics. You must have a huge suspension of disbelief throughout, but especially for a certain rolling head that points to yet another sequel in the future.
Artists Tom Fowler and Craig A Taillefer gave the characters a Mad magazine type of caricature treatment, which was the aesthetic established in the first book, but further supported in that Fowler has worked for Mad in the past. I loved the chapter breaks, as different authors gave their interpretations of the story. The action scenes, especially with the shark, could get to be a bit much with too many panels. There were times in a two-page spread I wasn’t sure if I should read top to bottom and start at the top of the second page again, or if it spread over the entire two pages.
While I wouldn’t recommend this book to a newbie, it builds off the first story well, so if you liked Basketful of Heads you should definitely check out this over-the-top story as well! (Actual review 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2023/01/0...
January 17, 2023
I loved Basketful of Heads, but was really disappointed by this sequel. The original was a perfect, self-contained slasher comic, and this just keeps going bigger. Bigger is not always better, it's just more.
December 7, 2023
The first book in the _____
Full of Heads
series had a fantastical premise: it's the real world, except for a magic axe that keeps heads alive after lopping them. But within its parameters it was a sober, serious crime-and-corruption mystery.
This sequel, on the other hand, is just sillybottoms cuckoo banana pants. Mostly to its detriment.
The axe is now part of a four piece set of magical Norse armaments, which are being hunted by both the Department of Defense and an unusually well-informed biker gang. The final girl from v1 is pulled back into the mix. As is typical for sequels, the action, violence, and body count are ramped up. It all makes for a lesser but still okay read.
Where it goes off the rails:
The illustration is mostly serviceable, although when the action ramps up it tends to become an unparsable red mess. The blood is red, the axe glows red, the giant snake is reddish, and it was apparently all shot through a red filter.
This sequel, on the other hand, is just sillybottoms cuckoo banana pants. Mostly to its detriment.
The axe is now part of a four piece set of magical Norse armaments, which are being hunted by both the Department of Defense and an unusually well-informed biker gang. The final girl from v1 is pulled back into the mix. As is typical for sequels, the action, violence, and body count are ramped up. It all makes for a lesser but still okay read.
Where it goes off the rails:
The illustration is mostly serviceable, although when the action ramps up it tends to become an unparsable red mess. The blood is red, the axe glows red, the giant snake is reddish, and it was apparently all shot through a red filter.
October 27, 2022
Rio Youers and Tom Fowler have cooked up a sequel to Joe Hill's "Basketful of Heads" that's even crazier, bloodier, nastier and more fucked up than you would think possible. Once again taking place in 1983 on Brody Island, a couple has shown up, supposedly on vacation. But soon they find themselves in a race with a group of bikers, headed by a vicious woman of Nordic descent, to find the fabled Axe of Yggdrasil, an ancient Viking relic that severs the heads of its victims, but leaves the head alive. The very same axe that June used to defeat a group of thieves in "Basketful of Heads" will swash its way through the necks a new group of villains as June is unwittingly brought back into the action.
This was one of the bloodiest, most vicious and fucked up comics I've ever seen. Youers and Fowler held nothing back in the story-telling and artwork. While the book leaves things open for another sequel, whoever produces it will be hard-pressed to top what these guys did in this one.
This was one of the bloodiest, most vicious and fucked up comics I've ever seen. Youers and Fowler held nothing back in the story-telling and artwork. While the book leaves things open for another sequel, whoever produces it will be hard-pressed to top what these guys did in this one.
March 6, 2024
The original by Joe Hill was an interesting take on a horror movie trope. This sequel by Rio Youers was none of that. It was a corny, cartoonish, unintelligent slaughter-fest that shouldn't have been made. Brody Island is revisited and its a shame. The writing was incredibly, laughably bad. Tom Fowler's art was good and a nice fit for the genre but the coloring was jarringly awful at times. Overall, a severe disappointment.
May 4, 2022
More blood, more guts, a bit thin but still fun.
February 28, 2023
Right... This was a disappointing thing. It's a combination of horror, 80s shlock and quite a bit of foolish. The stupidity is on another level, which isn't my problem with it. My problem is trying to make the story dramatic as well... Ehhh what?!
Take lessons from grizzly shark. Revel in the stupid story, make it fun and go. But do you need to suddenly add useless details, just so that you can say, yes it is unfair. And oh so dramatic...
I call bullshit!
The colors are good, and i like the layout of the comic, but that's it. So two stars go for the book and colors, and some of the drawings.
The rest is not really worth your time unfortunately.
Take lessons from grizzly shark. Revel in the stupid story, make it fun and go. But do you need to suddenly add useless details, just so that you can say, yes it is unfair. And oh so dramatic...
I call bullshit!
The colors are good, and i like the layout of the comic, but that's it. So two stars go for the book and colors, and some of the drawings.
The rest is not really worth your time unfortunately.
October 14, 2022
Mouais j'ai trouvé juste moche et pas aussi bien que le 1er Basketful of Heads
March 27, 2025
a black lesbian martial arts master from the DOD in the early 1980s
Ok lol
Cool art pretty dumb story line
Basketful of heads was better in my opinion
Hard to get into any of the characters
Ok lol
Cool art pretty dumb story line
Basketful of heads was better in my opinion
Hard to get into any of the characters
May 2, 2022
The original series was Creepshow fun. I hated every character and they all deserved what they got. Wasn't sure this follow up would deliver but it totally goes to 11 with the gore and dirty creepy people. The only minus is June isn't getting hers. She's just as dirty as everyone else. Lots of heads getting cut off including a sharks, who was my favorite character this time. Frankie Says Try To Relax while reading this.
February 20, 2023
Najlepší Hill House titul. Bez debaty. Poctivé nádherne našlapané béčko plné humoru a krvi a proč do boha nemohli byť všetky tituly tak vynikajúce?
December 7, 2024
Absolutely bat shit crazy. Insanely fun to read.
June 9, 2024
Loved it!
August 28, 2024
Well, it's about as stupid as the average 80s horror sequel, so in that regard, I guess it succeeds. Unfortunately, the ugly art and terrible story make this an extremely disappointing follow-up to the vastly superior Basketful of Heads.
November 5, 2022
The sequel to basket full of heads. The story becomes really over the top and the art is muddled and difficult to follow at times. This was okay but not nearly as good as basket full of heads.
June 4, 2023
If Basket Full of Heads is a love letter to 70s horror, Refrigerator Full of Heads pays homage to indie gore flicks where plot is largely unnecessary and the rule of cool reigns supreme.
April 6, 2024
[ESP/ENG]
Tras leer Un cesto lleno de cabezas, que me causó bastante buena opinión, no me decidía a leer esta secuela. Tiene peor nota, y las reviews no son en general halagüeñas, pero me aburría y quería saber más. En este caso...craso error. No es que me haya parecido peor, es que me ha parecido malo. Todo (bueno, casi, lo bueno en spoilers.)
En general, la trama es bastante mala, y tiene una mezcla de elementos que en lugar de cohesionar la historia parece que la hacen pedazos. En inglés, en el mundillo audiovisual, hay una expresión llamada Jump the shark. Aquí ocurre eso, figurativa y literalmente, pero en lugar de caer de pie se desliza cuesta abajo y sin frenos, hasta estamparse y quedar hecho mierda (perdón por la expresión (en realidad no lo siento))
El dibujo tampoco mejora, no me gusta este estilo, y además se abusa en exceso de un brillo rojizo, y llegando al final hay viñetas en las que no sabes qué está ocurriendo (en spoilers también)
Creo que lo dejo ya, no beneficia a nadie que siga desparramando. Lo mejor y lo peor, por ser spoilers, aquí:
🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓
After reading A basketful of heads, which gave me quite a good opinion, I couldn't decide to read this sequel. It has a worse rating, and the reviews are generally not flattering, but I was bored and wanted to know more. In this case...big mistake. It's not that it seems worse to me, it's that it is bad to me. Everything (well, almost, the good part in spoilers.)
In general, the plot is quite bad, and has a mixture of elements that instead of uniting the story seem to tear it to pieces. In the audiovisual world, there is an expression called Jump the shark. That happens here, figuratively and literally, but instead of landing on their feet, it slides downhill without brakes, until it crashes and ends up in shit (sorry for the expression (I'm not really sorry))
The drawing doesn't improve either, I don't like this style, and it also overuses a reddish glow, and reaching the end there are vignettes in which you don't know what is happening (spoilers too)
I think I'll leave it now, it doesn't benefit anyone if I keep spilling it. The best and the worst, because they are spoilers, here:
Tras leer Un cesto lleno de cabezas, que me causó bastante buena opinión, no me decidía a leer esta secuela. Tiene peor nota, y las reviews no son en general halagüeñas, pero me aburría y quería saber más. En este caso...craso error. No es que me haya parecido peor, es que me ha parecido malo. Todo (bueno, casi, lo bueno en spoilers.)
En general, la trama es bastante mala, y tiene una mezcla de elementos que en lugar de cohesionar la historia parece que la hacen pedazos. En inglés, en el mundillo audiovisual, hay una expresión llamada Jump the shark. Aquí ocurre eso, figurativa y literalmente, pero en lugar de caer de pie se desliza cuesta abajo y sin frenos, hasta estamparse y quedar hecho mierda (perdón por la expresión (en realidad no lo siento))
El dibujo tampoco mejora, no me gusta este estilo, y además se abusa en exceso de un brillo rojizo, y llegando al final hay viñetas en las que no sabes qué está ocurriendo (en spoilers también)
Creo que lo dejo ya, no beneficia a nadie que siga desparramando. Lo mejor y lo peor, por ser spoilers, aquí:
🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓
After reading A basketful of heads, which gave me quite a good opinion, I couldn't decide to read this sequel. It has a worse rating, and the reviews are generally not flattering, but I was bored and wanted to know more. In this case...big mistake. It's not that it seems worse to me, it's that it is bad to me. Everything (well, almost, the good part in spoilers.)
In general, the plot is quite bad, and has a mixture of elements that instead of uniting the story seem to tear it to pieces. In the audiovisual world, there is an expression called Jump the shark. That happens here, figuratively and literally, but instead of landing on their feet, it slides downhill without brakes, until it crashes and ends up in shit (sorry for the expression (I'm not really sorry))
The drawing doesn't improve either, I don't like this style, and it also overuses a reddish glow, and reaching the end there are vignettes in which you don't know what is happening (spoilers too)
I think I'll leave it now, it doesn't benefit anyone if I keep spilling it. The best and the worst, because they are spoilers, here:
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews