THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2026! We all know the drill with comics anthologies – firstly they give creators an opportunity to hone their short storytelling skills of course. But on the other side of the equation they provide audiences with a sampler of the work of artists they may not be familiar with that they can then go on to investigate further. That’s certainly in evidence in Greek horror anthology Horiorror (the title a portmanteau term combing the Greek word for village with the horror genre) which gives us nine suitably chilling terror tales set in the Greek countryside.
It’s a collection that ranges from offerings that have a certain eerie familiarity through to accounts with a more subversive approach, with a broad variety of visual styles on show. The immediately noticeable element is how effectively the artists herein make use of the black and white presentational format to emphasise the tone and mood of each story. That’s never in greater evidence than in the opening wordless story ‘Eternity’ by Ariadne Tzounakou which so effectively uses light and shadow for emotional resonance and .communicating character experience. This cyclical tale of a hunter encountering a mysterious nymph-like creature in the woods has a fittingly clever twist to it too.
Other standouts include ‘Home’ (above), written by Nikki Spanou and illustrated by Ilias Kyriazis where an expectant mother becomes far too encased in the solace of her home, to escape the gossiping tongues of the local villagers, with horrific repercussions. The use of lettering and speech balloons in this short to enhance tension is something to behold. ‘The Nymph’s Shawl’ by Stella Stergiou, meanwhile, has a simple premise but is so chilling because of its melting, almost grotesque artwork. Echoes of Jeff Lemire here and that’s no bad thing at all.
Similarly, Len Gog’s vampire tale ‘The Vourdalak’ (above) may not be heavy in plot but works so well because of its mix of clever page layouts and more than a hint of existential yearning. While Steve Stivatkis’s ‘Potio’s Prayer’ gives us a story of retribution that is striking in its visual intensity, and Max Rue’s ‘The Lamb’ (below) uses a disarmingly innocent employment of character design to subvert expectations in a tale of terrifying betrayal that will ensure the reader wants to hunt down more work by this creator in the future. This latter entry was the visual highlight of the anthology for me.
Horiorror is an impressive parade of bucolic terror, genuinely unsettling in places, and with a rich sense of environment and history. A must-buy for horror fans in Harrogate this November.
Ariadne Tzounakou, Nikki Spanou & llias Kyriazis, Philip Vlachos, The Nymph’s Shawl
Stella Stergiou , Len Gog, Smar, Steve Stivaktis, Max Rue, Auguste Kanakis • Self-published
Review by Andy Oliver
Len Gogos and Auguste Kanakis are at Table C8a in the Bubbleboy Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2026 runs from November 9th-15th with the convention weekend taking place on the 14th-15th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2025 coverage so far in one place here.
Poster art by Núria Tamarit
