Horror cinema sure has hit the skids as of late; The Midnight Meat Train was given an abhorrent release by Lionsgate; Warner Bros. orphaned Trick ‘r Treat, and next month will only see two wide releases: Saw V and Quarantine (both of which I have no desire to see), while the bulk of other genre releases are going direct-to-dvd.

With things looking grim down at the multiplex (I think it’s going to get worse before it gets a hell of a lot better), I’ve been looking to get my horror fix elsewhere these days, which means I’ve been catching up on my reading finally.

That being so, I just happened to be cruising around the site of author Robert R. McCammon (Swan Song, Gone SouthThe Wolf’s Hour) and I noticed a blurb that one of his stories, Nightcrawlers (also filmed as an episode on the eighties revamp of The Twilight Zone), is going to be reissued in a graphic novel format anthology entitled Masques; in 1992, Innovation Books issued an anthology full of graphic adaptations of such authors as McCammon, Stephen King (Popsy) and Wayne Allen Sallee (Rail Rider). Some of those tales, however, are now going to be reissued by Checker Book Publishing. No word exactly on which ones will make the cut this time other than McCammon’s aforementioned Nightcrawlers (a personal fave), but it’s expected to hit shelves in January of 2009.

If you’re interested in exploring some edgier material for a change, this might fit the bill for some of you.

The artwork you see above was part of the initial 1992 release, so don’t count on any Frazetta-ish paintings this time, as the publishers still haven’t unveiled what they have planned for seconds.

If you’re as fed up with the lackluster choices at the theater as I am, take a chance on this anthology, then. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Click on the artwork to pre-order a copy.