| "Dread" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dread | |
| Title: | "Dread" |
| Volume: | 1 |
| Number: | nn |
| Cover price: | $9.99 |
| Cover date: | May, 1993 |
| Publisher: | Eclipse Comics |
| Credits | |
| Chief: | Catherine Yronwode |
| Ex. Ed: | Clive Barker |
| Writers: | Fred Burke |
| Pencilers: | Dan Brereton |
| Inkers: | Dan Brereton |
| Cover artists: | Dan Brereton |
| Cover inker: | Dan Brereton |
| Cover colorist: | Dan Brereton |
| Colorists: | Dan Brereton |
| Letterers: | Willie Schubert |
| Editors: | Valarie Jones; Fred Burke |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | — |
"Dread" is the title of the first story featured in the Dread one-shot graphic novel. Based on the short story by Clive Barker, this tale was adapted by Fred Burke with painted artwork by Dan Brereton and lettering by Willie Schubert. The second feature, "Down, Satan", was adapted by Steve Niles and illustrated by Tim Conrad. This edition was published by Eclipse Comics and released in May, 1993.
"Dread"[]
Steve, a young university student, becomes acquainted with an older classmate named Quaid, an intellectual who has a morbid fascination with dread. Quaid reveals to Steve that he kidnapped a vegetarian classmate of theirs and imprisoned her in a room with merely beef for sustenance, only releasing her when she finally overcame her dread of eating meat to prevent starvation; she eats the meat even though it has spoiled.
Steve becomes Quaid's next candidate for his experiments, held captive in a dark, silent room, forcing him to relive a childhood period of deafness that terrified him. Steve is driven insane by this forced sensory deprivation and eventually escapes. Steve then happens into a homeless shelter where he is mistaken for a drug-addicted vagrant and is given new clothes and shoes, but these don't fit him well. He is mad, pale with shock, and his lips are red and chapped from dehydration.
Later, Steve steals a fire axe from the shelter and breaks into Quaid's home. Quaid's experiments, all along, were to try to help him understand the nature of fear in order to cure his own coulrophobia, but he is ironically butchered by Steven, whose ghastly appearance, ill-fitting clothes, and over-sized shoes have given him the appearance of a clown.
Featured characters
- Steve
Supporting characters
Villains
- Quaid
Minor characters
- Quaid's classmate
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
Items
Vehicles
Powers
Miscellaneous
"Down Satan"[]
| "Down, Satan" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title: | "Down, Satan" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Steve Niles |
| Pencilers: | Tim Conrad |
| Inkers: | Tim Conrad |
| Colorists: | Tim Conrad |
| Letterers: | Willie Schubert |
| Editors: | Fred Burke |
The shortest story of the collection relates the tale of a wealthy middle-aged businessman, Gregorius, who becomes depressed when he believes God has deserted him, and he comes up with a plan to build a Hell on Earth to summon Satan, believing that God will then sweep him (Gregorius) out of Satan's clutches and into his heavenly fold.
In North Africa, in his vast Satanic Cathedral, Gregorius soon loses sight of his original intention of attracting God's attention and is captured after torturing hundreds of people to death in the well-equipped torture chambers. It is deliberately left ambiguous whether Gregorius went insane, or if he really did succeed in tempting Satan into taking residence in his own personal Hell. While Gregorius languishes in prison, a man bearing the accoutrements of a priest enters the cell and shoots him in the head with a revolver.
Featured characters
- Gregorius (Only appearance; dies)
Supporting characters
- Warren Dickerson
Villains
- Gregorius
- Satan (Referenced only)
Minor characters
- Leopardo (Only appearance; dies)
Organizations
- North African military
Races & Animals
Locations
- Hell (Referenced only)
Items
Vehicles
Powers
Miscellaneous
- Falling from a great height
- Gore
- Gunshot victims
- Military units
- Prison
- Ritualism
- Satanism
- Shot in the head
- Suicide (Unconfirmed)
Notes & Trivia[]
- This volume is 58-pages long.
- "Dread" was originally published in Books of Blood, Volume 2.
- "Down, Satan" was originally published in Tapping the Vein #5 from January, 1992. The original story, titled "Down, Satan!", was published in Books of Blood, Volume 4, released in July, 1985.
- Dread has been adapted into a British feature film in 2009, which was written and directed by Anthony DiBlasi.
- Quaid from "Dread" suffers from Coulrophobia, which is a fear of clowns.
Recommended Reading[]
- Books of Blood, Volume 1
- Books of Blood, Volume 2
- Books of Blood, Volume 3
- Books of Blood, Volume 4
- Books of Blood, Volume 5
- Books of Blood, Volume 6
- Tapping the Vein Vol 1
See also[]
- Dread
- Rawhead Rex
- Tales from the Darkside: The Yattering and Jack
- The Forbidden
- The Others: Don't Dream It's Over