Kitty Ravencraft has settled in for a nice night, a watch Hexflix and chill sorta’ night, but all these brats keep knocking on her door demanding candy! What’s a bodacious red-head to do? Well, invite them in and scare the hell out of them, of course! KITTY’S CATHOUSE OF HORROR HALLOWEEN SPECIAL is on stands November 7th, 2018 from Chapterhouse Publishing!

KITTY’S CATHOUSE OF HORROR HALLOWEEN SPECIAL REVIEW

Writer: Dan Parent. Fernando Ruiz
Art: Dan Parent, Fernando Ruiz
Inks: Rick Koslowski
Letterers: Janic Chang
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Editor: Tony White
Cover: Dan Parent
Publisher:  Chapterhouse Publishing
Release Date: November 7th, 2018
Cover Price:  $3.99

Previously in DIE, KITTY, DIE!: Created by Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz, Die, Kitty, Die! was a successful Kickstarter several years back and has taken a totally irreverent look at the life of a young woman who is not only a witch in her own comic, but in real life! A cast of characters straight out of Harvey Comics nightmare makes the series skew a little older than you might think, but it’s something which needs to be seen.

TRICK OR TREAT! SMELL MY FEET…

This issue starts as many great Halloween specials start, with some cute young children as they make their way up to a big, creepy door of a scary, scary house, preparing to ask the residents to give them a treat, or get a trick. But this house is known by the kids, it’s the one where the witch with the big… oh look, there’s Kitty! She appears in a cloud of smoke and greets the little tikes, assuring them there is nothing to be afraid of. Nothing that is, until a chainsaw-wielding ghost materializes and slices her head off leaving it to fall before the traumatized youngsters as a winged demon child, almost a boy from hell, appears and threatens to drag them all to the bad place! Luckily, it’s just a joke, and the kids are all invited into Kitty’s parlor where she gives them treats and tells them stories of the Halloween kind.

What follows is a series of stories told in the greatest of Halloween fashion. Our first story, “Cosplay-Mate of the Year”, tells of a young man who raids Kitty’s basement and comes up with possibly the greatest costume ever to win the party costume contest. Then, Kitty decides to make some extra money and takes up a babysitting job for a friendly old couple, only to find that she should have raised her rates for that kid in “The Boy Story”! In “A Halloween to Dismember”, the family who looks like they escaped from a freak show, The Carney’s, try and figure out what’s going on when their young son, Wolfgang, keeps bringing extra body parts home. Finally, we have Kitty receive a mysterious package on Halloween night, and it causes more than a little stir in “All Dolled Up.”

SILLY SPOOKS AND FUNNY FRIGHTS

Dan Parent (Veronica, Berry and Veronica Double Digest) and Fernando Ruiz (Tales From Riverdale, Archie’s Double Digest) are possibly best known for their work in the comic-book humor genre, having come to popularity through writing and drawing the red-haired eternal teen, but they have branched out into other projects, as a team and solo. This character in particular, Kitty Ravencraft, star of Die, Kitty, Die!, has been through multiple successful Kickstarters and has become known for a more risqué style of story and art than you might think of when you see the art. In fact, while it is not really rated, I would have to give it a hard PG-13. I get that out of the way in case you are thinking of buying a lot of copies and giving them away one Halloween to the kiddies. But as an adult who takes his comic books serious, I have to say, this book is funny!

Parent and Ruiz have a delightful sense of humor that catches you off guard. The comic style is so familiar to a particular genre, that it throws you off when there is a slightly inappropriate joke made or that occasional sexual reference. Even in this day and age, it feels like having found a copy of your uncle’s dirty joke book and reading it behind the barn as at the family reunion. The stories are fun, and only scary in the most liberal sense of the word. But it is the fun and slightly inappropriate feel that makes the book worth a buy. Kitty takes center stage as a horror host, I may have mentioned before how much I love horror host and anthologies, and performs the duties excellently. The story are all well done, and have those little twists that make you giggle despite yourself. She takes the sexy host award of titles I’ve checked out so far, and makes me long for the day that such fun Halloween comics were a regular this time of year. The nod to Dan Curtis’ Trilogy of Terror and its star Karen Black in the “All Dolled Up” story is worth the price of admission alone!

BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU LIKE A LITTLE GIGGLE WITH YOUR JIGGLE, CHECK THIS OUT.

This is a great book, fun and irreverent with just a little naughty thrown in. The only bad thing I can think of is the release date. According to Previews, this book won’t be out until November 7th, a full week after Halloween. Order it anyway. It’s fun and sometimes silly, and that is something that can be appreciated any time of year.

Despite a delay in release, KITTY’S CATHOUSE OF HORROR’S HALLOWEEN SPECIAL is book you will enjoy. Nothing to over the top, but some good adult laughs to be had for all. You should scare one up as soon as you can.