Star Wars has always had some scary moments — think about the monster lurking in the Death Star’s garbage compactor, or the Frankenstein-like transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader — but this year, the franchise is making a real commitment to sending shivers up the spines of its fans. Revealed at Lucasfilm Publishing’s panel at San Diego Comic Con today was a new tome of Star Wars horror unlike anything before.

There have been a number of horror-themed Star Wars projects in the past. In the 1990s, the Galaxy of Fear YA novels took a cue from Goosebumps to put a pair of youths through a gauntlet of Star Wars horrors, including clones, ghosts, and a living, carnivorous planet. The novel Death Troopers, by Joe Schreiber, centered around a zombie apocalypse on board an Imperial Star Destroyer. Even the animated Clone Wars series featured episodes with undead Geonosians and the fearsome Witches of Dathomir, who have become a staple of the franchise.

This fall, the franchise is taking a cue from Tales From the Crypt with Star Wars: Galactic Tales of Terror. The deluxe hardcover will collect Dark Horse Comics’ recent Star Wars horror anthology comics into a single spooky volume, including Tales From the Rancor Pit, Tales From the Death Star, and Tales of the Nightlands. Thrill to chilling stories of ghost pilots, undead Imperials, alien were-beasts, and more, from writer Cavan Scott and a murderer’s row of talented artists. The whole thing will be released on September 22, and will be collected in an oversized deluxe library edition that’ll look perfect on your shelf next to your ancient tomes and grimoires.

What Other ‘Star Wars’ Horror Is Brewing This Fall?

Galactic Tales of Terror isn’t the only Star Wars horror project coming in time for Halloween from Lucasfilm Publishing. Star Wars: Hiding From the Dark, a new YA novel by Kiersten White, is hitting shelves on September 1. It tells the tale of a young girl named Bia who flees her homeworld, the city planet Coruscant, pursued by Imperial forces and a nightmarish black specter we all know to be Darth Vader. Who is Bia, and why do the Imperials want her so badly? You’ll have to crack open the pages of Hiding From the Dark to find out.

Star Wars: Galactic Tales of Terror will be released on September 22.

 

 

via Collider