My Rating
‘Twas the Night Before the Hunger
Jughead slowly gets up off his gaming chair and shuffles off towards the front door. The sounds of multiple doorbell chimes have been replaced by frantic knocking. He wasn’t expecting anyone. Maybe he ordered a pizza and forgot. The online shooter tournament must have distracted his thoughts.
On the other side of the door is a heavily armed Betty and Archie. Jughead’s face turns into a frown as his anticipation for an extra cheese supreme is lost in the onslaught of Betty’s bossy rants. Archie gives his friend a nervous smile as he steps back in slight pain. He has strained his back carrying one of Betty’s heavy squad level machine guns.
The beast known as Krampus has been spotted in Riverdale and Betty wants the creature’s head on her wall. Archie just wants to chill. Jughead laughs. Boy does he have a story to tell his friends. He beckons the two monster hunters inside for a soda pop.
How did Krampus find his way to the most active monster hunting small town in America? What the hell kind of machine gun is Archie carrying anyway? Will Jughead ever fill his “hunger”?
Cat Got Your Tongue
Sheila Wu was Riverdale’s newest foreign exchange student hailing from the Nordic sentric country of Iceland. She was not very well accepted amongst the other teens at Riverdale High, especially the more trendy rich kids. Sheila had her own sense of style.
She was a self taught seamstress and loved to dress in loud colors and eclectic patterns. Her bizarre pet cat seemed to enjoy its owner’s clothing, becoming more excited the wilder Sheila’s designs became. Some of her classmates took notice of the animal’s behavior, but it didn’t amuse them.
One night a bored Veronica, Cheryl, and Reggie decided to do a little bullying. What’s the old saying? When the cat’s away the mice will play? The three rich kids targeted Sheila and her newly sewn jacket. It would turn out to be the worst mistake they ever made.
Why does the newbie student keep calling her cat jólakötturinn? How many colors can Sheila fit on a pea coat? Why is Veronica such a dick?
Wrath of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Those crazy Elf on the Shelf dolls are everywhere nowadays. Reggie turns to the one sitting on the counter at Pop’s diner and grimaces. He hates those things with every ounce of his rich bread soul. Midge yells at him from across the booth table. Reggie returns to his argument.
Why is she being so difficult? So what if she is dating Moose? She owes Reggie a favor! It’s not like he is asking her to go steady again. Reggie just needs a quick date for his parents’ swaray. No biggie. Just a few laughs, maybe a couple kisses. Midge shouts a big NO at the top of her lungs. The whole diner turns to look at Reggie’s embarrassing situation. The young woman gets up and storms out. Reggie follows.
He begins to walk down main street towards the hardware store. There is another one of those damn elf toys in the window staring out at him as Reggie walks by. Those things should be dumped into a pile and burned! A few blocks later another elf on the shelf stares at him from the bakery window.
Reggie turns and gives the toy the double eagles. As he turns to walk across the snow covered street, he bumps into the hottest looking redhead he has ever seen. She giggles as he asks her name. “Candy,” she responds with a smile. Yes she is, Reggie thinks, eye candy that is…
Can the Christmas spirits throw even the nastiest individuals a bone once in a while? Is Reggie the product of nature or nurture? Why do all those shelf elf things have to be so ugly? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
I have mixed feelings about this Christmas edition of the Chilling Adventures comic. Archie Comics advertised this as an epic battle between Werewolf Jughead and the legendary Krampus. I’m a huge fan of the Krampus mythology and werewolves in general. The fight was a big letdown in my honest opinion. Come on Archie publisher, what gives? One and a half action panels? One and a half…action…panels?
Anyways, we get three separate storylines set in the Riverdale horror universe. This one-shot focuses on Nordic horror folklore, which is a refreshing change. We get Krampus, the Yule Cat, and some pesky Huldufólk. In general I did enjoy the read but have one question. Why are Veronica, Cheryl Blossom, and Reggie such over the top lowlives in the horror setting?
Despite the Krampus battle bait-and-switch, I’m giving Chilling Adventures Presents four out of five stars. Yule Cat is the breakout star in this issue. Look out Salem, you have competition!
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