DREAD THE HALLS 2026 Brings Killer Christmas Trees and Werewolf Mayhem This December
Forget visions of sugarplums. This Christmas, the halls are decked with blood, monsters, and supernatural mayhem as Image Comics and Syzygy Publishing prepare to unleash Dread the Halls 2026, arriving in comic shops December 2, 2026.
Created and written by Jordan Hart and Chris Ryall, the 48-page one-shot delivers four brand-new tales of seasonal terror, turning beloved Christmas traditions into nightmares filled with murderous decorations, rampaging creatures, and decidedly unconventional holiday cheer.
Joining Hart and Ryall for this year’s festivities are artists Chris Anderson (Spectral), Drew Rausch (Sullengrey, Eldritch!), Fabio Veras (Super Creepshow), and Well-Bee (Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog).
A Very Scary Christmas
This year’s anthology promises an especially twisted assortment of holiday horrors, including elves battling werewolves, a seemingly innocent family bringing home a haunted Christmas tree, supernatural dimensions, self-aware parade floats wreaking havoc above Hollywood, and an oversized nutcracker showdown.
From supernatural scares to outrageous monster battles, Dread the Halls 2026 continues the anthology’s tradition of blending pitch-black comedy with festive carnage.
“Elves versus Werewolves, self-aware parade floats that battle above Hollywood, a happy family that accidentally brings a haunted Christmas tree into their home…from art style to story themes, this year’s issue pushes the Dread the Halls series into unexplored territory while offering a new spin on one of the greatest Christmas horror covers of all time!”
— Jordan Hart
For fans whose holiday traditions include repeat viewings of Silent Night, Deadly Night and Black Christmas, this year’s anthology offers another reason to embrace the darker side of the season.
Six Covers, One Unholy Holiday
In addition to its four new stories, Dread the Halls 2026 will feature six collectible covers from an impressive lineup of artists.
Maria Wolf provides Cover A and a 1:50 Toxic Variant, while Jordan Hart contributes the Wrapped Variant.
Legendary illustrator Joe Jusko joins the festivities with three additional covers: the Bizarre Variant, a 1:25 Unwrapped Variant, and a 1:100 Foil Variant.
Jusko’s participation carries special significance for the creative team, as his artwork helped inspire the original concept behind Dread the Halls.
“It’s exciting enough to get the ‘Dread’ band back together for a bleakly funny foray into the holiday season, but having a special cover from Joe Jusko, the artist whose work is directly responsible for us creating Dread the Halls in the first place, makes this one extra-special.”
— Chris Ryall
The result is a holiday horror package that celebrates the strange, the supernatural, and the wonderfully macabre.
Coming to Comic Shops December 2
Whether you’re searching for a stocking stuffer for the horror fanatic in your life or simply looking to replace traditional Christmas cheer with something considerably more sinister, Dread the Halls 2026 promises an appropriately unhinged holiday experience.
Dread the Halls 2026 arrives December 2, 2026, from Image Comics and Syzygy Publishing.
- Title: Dread the Halls 2026
- Publisher: Image Comics / Syzygy Publishing
- Writers: Jordan Hart and Chris Ryall
- Artists: Chris Anderson, Drew Rausch, Fabio Veras, and Well-Bee
- Format: 48-page horror anthology one-shot
- Release Date: December 2, 2026
- Lunar Order Code: 1026IM0285
The issue is available for preorder through comic book retailers and directly through Image Comics.
Ho, ho, horror—and an unhappy New Year!
Source: Image Comics / Syzygy Publishing. Press materials courtesy of Don’t Hide PR.
