7 Scary Super Hero Stories for a Merry Marvel Halloween

Marvel has brought comic fans a scary slew of marauding monsters since its early days -- but Marvel's Super Heroes are not safe from a horror story of their own! Instead of turning to tales of franken-monsters, were-beasts and swamp creatures, try any of these surprisingly scary Super Hero stories, all available to read in Marvel Unlimited!

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS: WEAPON X

When the worlds of horror and Super Heroes collide, it makes for a truly terrific tale – that’s what makes MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS: WEAPON X one of the most classic Wolverine stories ever told (that was definitely only one of his worst days ever). There’s nothing worse than a shadowy organization that experiments on unwilling subjects, and this story written and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith doesn’t shy away from really gruesome body horror as well as the psychological horror of seeing someone as powerful as Wolverine being completely, absolutely controlled like a puppet. It’s nothing short of a nightmare seeing our beloved Canucklehead going through viscerally painful procedures that coat his bones in adamantium.

But as we know, Wolverine doesn’t just take these things lying down, and the story arc does not end well for the poor dopes responsible for all that torture. Not really a spoiler if you know anything about Wolverine.

IMMORTAL HULK (2018)

Start and don’t stop reading this Eisner-nominated horror. Bruce Banner is resurrected following a death by arrow (see: Civil War II), however his latest incarnation is a zombie Hulk terror immune to dismemberment and even death. This is a nighttime-stalking Hulk that you’ve never seen before. We guarantee it.

More unsettling than this gooey, undead brute, is the vast amount of Hulk egos that crop up to plague Banner. From deranged “Devil Hulk”, childlike “Hurting Hulk”, to even ol’ Joe Fixit, these competing personas terrorize and suppress Bruce Banner, causing the morale of a man to be trapped in a monster.

Oh, did we mention this series is also body horror at its finest?

MOON KNIGHT (2016) #194-200

Moon Knight, as we all know, is already a kooky character who deals with his own internal demons while carrying out his heroic (or anti-heroic) deeds. But in last year’s series-ending story arc in issues #94-200 (“Phases”) written by Max Bemis and drawn by several artists, Marc Spector revealed a childhood incident at the root of his emotional damage. His neighborhood’s beloved rabbi, whom Marc called “Uncle Yitz,” was revealed to be an exceptionally evil serial killer named Ernst. As the story returned to the present day, Ernst made a sickening return to make Marc’s life even more terrifying.

As if Ernst wasn’t enough, there was also the “Collective,” and the hive mind that promised “magic” but was more of a frightening fever dream. You’ll never look at hipsters the same way again.

ULTIMATUM (2008) (AKA THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT)

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll put down whatever you’re eating… In this Ultimate Universe series, Magneto goes full tilt crazy following the death of his children, and reverses the Earth’s polarity using a boost from Mjolnir. This results in cataclysmic weather patterns that summon Armageddon, but also inspire some wildly campy, slasher deaths that befell your favorites!

Talk about a Halloween treat! As X-Man, Avenger, Asgardian and more are knocked off at ridiculous speed, a core group of survivors cling to their final salvo against Magneto. Doctor Strange and Wasp meet particularly gruesome ends, but Wolverine being crisped while having the Adamantium ripped off his bones takes the cake.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: “Kraven’s Last Hunt”

The very idea of humans hunting humans is very scary – some of us can barely eat meat, let alone hunt animals. “Kraven’s Last Hunt” was a six-part, Spidey-series-spanning tale written by J.M. DeMatteis and penciled by Mike Zeck that went inside the deranged mind of Kraven the Hunter. Kraven was embarking on a mission – a final mission – that lands Peter Parker knocked out and six feet under for two weeks while Kraven takes on the identity of Spider-Man and sullies Spidey’s good name. Being buried alive really messes with Peter (as it should), and the trauma haunts him as he battles Kraven.

Thinking he bested Spider-Man in his own sick, twisted sense of honor, Kraven declares this his final hunt and kills himself. It’s truly a tale of psychological weirdness, complete with a dark and stormy night, Vermin, Peter Parker seeing ghosts and turning into a spider… it’s a weird one. But it’s a classic.

NIGHTCRAWLER (2004)

A hidden gem in the Marvel Unlimited library, this unexpectedly spooky saga follows X-Man Kurt Wagner as he investigates an evil, mystic power that has mutilated and killed over a dozen children. An underworld of demons crosses into Nightcrawler’s daylight as a Super Hero, and this tension makes for a taut, noir-ish mystery… with the occasional spontaneous combustion.

The Swashbuckling adventurer-turned-detective sets his sights on a creepy hospital with even creepier connections, all culminating in a hellish, ancient ceremony that reveals the true intent behind the children’s deaths.

And, stick around for the second arc where Nightcrawler improves New York City’s public transport… by exorcising its tracks of ghosts.

MOON KNIGHT (2006)

The Lunar Legionnaire making our list twice says it all. It doesn’t get darker than the modern Moon Knight runs that spiral into Marc Spector’s psychotic center. After being nearly crippled by mercenary Bushman, Moon Knight, on behalf of Spector, permanently removes the “death mask” of his former colleague… by flaying off Bushman’s whole dang face.

But this is way more than a trophy! This severed, floppy facemask is a singular fixation, and the faceless Bushman becomes another disassociated identity to haunt Spector. But it’s this moment where Marc puts a new spin on “nighttime face routine” that we can’t forget, (even if we try).

Kids, make sure you’re 12+ to read this one.

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