From the mind of Pat Higgins and Pulp Bytes Press comes Hellscape Americana, an anthology comic for the modern horror seekers. A lot of the time, people view comics as something from the 1950s — and that’s true for a lot of it. But Hellscape Americana takes the idea of midcentury horror and transforms it into the bizarro world of today.
Step into the dark underbelly of the modern American psyche with Hellscape Americana, a chilling collection of five fright-filled short stories created by cartoonist, Pat Higgins!
Hellscape Americana
Take the story Trackman, for example. A boy tells his parents about a monster coming to get them, and the parents pay the ultimate price for not believing him. You’d think we would have a “monster under the bed” or “monster in the closet” type of situation, but this was completely realistic for this day and age. The parents’ dialog reminded me of conversations my husband and I could easily have about our son during bedtime. The end scare was surprisingly grisly — and of this era. Hell, there’s even an Alexa they talk to!
Or take my favorite of the bunch: Petland. Higgins expertly took a body horror trope and gave it some 2020s pizzazz by making the main character seek help for his own sicknesses from a pet shop owner instead of having the insurance to see a real, human doctor. Hellscape Americana is full of twists and turns that flip our world upside down with all the possibilities of new-age horror.
Hellscape Americana fits into a pretty nice niche here; it isn’t the typical monster fare from the 50s, and it isn’t totally futuristic. It features the here and now, making the horror all the more horrible. Drawn in an updated comic style with bold colors and speech bubbles that flow effortlessly through the panels, these short snippets of spook are a perfect getaway for any horror comic lover.
Hellscape Americana is available now in select indie comic shops, conventions, and online at Pat-Higgins.com/hellscape. Follow Pat Higgins on Instagram for the latest!
