Every month, Dark Horse Comics gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a comic or book in the Horsepower column which appears in each of our printed comics issues for the month. These articles can include the inspiration behind a specific title, what it’s like to work in the comics industry, or some other special feature on the highlighted title of the month. In this month’s Horsepower, Dark Horse Assistant Editor Joseph Cavanagh introduces readers to Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft:
Perhaps more so than any other genre of media, horror is defined by its many flavors.
Gothic. Folk. Cosmic. Psychological. Body. Slasher. The list goes on. Personally, I love a ghost story (Jang Jae-hyun’s Exhuma is a new favorite of mine).
Most horror media mixes and matches the tropes and aesthetics of two or three genres. Same goes for the bevy of horror-themed TTRPG systems. But the most classic of the cult-classic horror games, Dungeons & Dragons’ Ravenloft, is so iconic precisely because it leaves no genre unexplored.
Ravenloft: The Horror Within is the latest TTRPG release from Wizards of the Coast. The new rulebook re-vamps (pun intended) the setting for the D&D 5.5e ruleset.
If you aren’t familiar, Ravenloft is a dimension in the Dungeons & Dragons universe made up of Domains of Dread. Each Domain, the personal fiefdom and prison of its respective Darklord, embodies a different genre of horror. Count Strahd von Zarovich’s Barovia is home to Gothic terrors. Tepest, ruled by Mother Lorinda, is a pastoral world of folkish nightmares. And Borca, where Ivana Boritsi and Ivan Dilisnya vie for power, has . . . dolls?
When we approached Amy Chu about writing a comics series set in Ravenloft, she latched onto the diversity of genres. To best capture this variety, Amy planned a really ambitious mystery that spans the Domains of Dread, with each of the four issues set in a different one. And to give each Domain its own distinct feel, we’ve brought on a different artist to illustrate each of them.
What we’ve ended up with is a horror series composed of four frightening vignettes, each its own genre, that assemble into a terrifying puzzle. It will take Ravenloft’s greatest adventurers-turned-investigators to put the pieces together. Can they do it in time to save the Domains?
We can’t wait for you to find out!
—JOE CAVANAGH, ASSISTANT EDITOR
Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft #1, written by Amy Chu, illustrated by Ariela Kristantina, colored by Roman Stevens, and lettered by Haley Rose-Lyon, is out in comic shops on September 16!
