To be honest, two things have gotten me very excited lately. First is Halloween because I’ve always loved the spooky month of October. I’ve been trying to watch as many scary movies and TV shows as possible to get me properly prepared for Trick-or-Treating. Second is the new Spider-Man 2 PS5 game which I’m probably going to buy by the end of this week. I’ll be officially signing out of the real world soon, thanks to that game. But surprisingly, another third thing is tickling my Spider-Senses and it’s actually a combination of the first two. I was pleasantly surprised to see Spine-Tingling Spider-Man make its debut this past week, and I was treated to a truly horrifying and chilling tale starring Peter Parker. Marvel may not be lying when they say it is the scariest Marvel book ever on the cover.
OFFICIAL MARVEL COMICS DESCRIPTION:
Published:
October 18, 2023
Writer:
Saladin Ahmed
Penciler:
Juan Ferreyra
Cover Artist:
Juan Ferreyra
Terror continues for the Web-Slinger! After a fight with SPIDER-CIDE, Spider-Man gets taken on the most terrifying ride of his life. If you think you’ve already read the scariest Spider-Man story ever, you may stand corrected after this one!
PROS:
- I applaud the writing team for creating a horror story that is scary on so many levels. First, we have the horror of waking up to realize that the world does not know who you are. Peter Parker was rightfully terrified when he woke up to a world where nobody, not even Aunt May or MJ, knew who he was. Loneliness is a bad kind of dread, when you think about it. While the opening act of the first issue was very much action-centric featuring Spidey’s face-off with SPIDER-CIDE, the quick turn of events instantly strikes the reader with a sense of trepidation and anxiety, perfectly leading into the next spooky developments.
- I also really enjoy the second layer of horror that the creative team laid out for us, and that is the troubling sense or feeling of powerlessness. After Peter Parker basically has a panic-attack discovering that his existence is now nothing in the eyes of his loved ones, he rudely and painfully realizes that even his powers are gone. He has a bad accident, and wakes up to the fact that being a normal human being is far scarier than any baddie that he has to face as Spider-Man. Normally, he would be able to brush off pain easily and recover quickly. But now, waking up to no powers, he is unfortunately experiencing the most pain he has ever felt in a long time. It’s pretty tough being a human being, isn’t it Mr. Parker?
- And now we go to the classic horror, where Peter Parker finds himself in a haunted train station, with a haunted conductor, and a haunted crowd of creeps seemingly playing with him for their twisted, demented fun. This is where the gothic art really kicks in and you instantly feel like you’re being thrown into a horror movie, with heads on a table to make it even more fun.
CONS:
- Maybe the mystery of it all was too unclear for a first issue, where we don’t really get any hints or clues as to what exactly is happening or why an evil force is playing these violent, messed up games with Peter Parker. But I guess that’s one way of building up the hype and anticipation for the next chapters.
FINAL GRADE: A
Overall, this is really the perfect book for the Halloween season. If you’re a Spider-Man fan, try it out. If you’re a horror junkie, go for it. And if you’re just looking for ways to keep occupied while you wait for your copy of Spider-Man 2 on PS5, then this is most probably the way to go. The bottom line is that this is a solid read and a very masterfully crafted macabre tale by the team. It almost felt too short when I turned the last page, as I was left wanting to see more of the events unfold. It’s also very refreshing to see Spider-Man in such an intimate, lonely, and desperate horror-themed tale. But we don’t know if more familiar faces or more Spidey characters will be popping up any time soon. We’ll just have to wait and find out.
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@Marco – I used to collect reprints of the old EC comics Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and Haunt of Fear when I was twelve. It’s ironic, because I guess as I grew up the abstract ideas of death and karmic retribution and such that these stories dealt with became more real or concrete, so I don’t know if I could handle this sort of book now. But you always make the books you review sound so appealing, and I feel compelled to pick this one up — at the least for Spider-man, of course, but maybe for some nostalgia, too. October always makes me feel like a kid, after all.
I hope you enjoy Spider-man 2! (Incidentally, I have my own theory as to who Venom is in that world, but I’ll keep it to myself for now.) Don’t stay out of the real world too long — We need you on the Crawlspace.