In this review of the Terrorbytes Halloween Annual #1, we examine three short tales blending terror and technology.
Terrorbytes Halloween Annual #1
Writers: Mark London, Jennifer Liao, D.L. White
Artists: Mac Rey, Gabriele Falzone, Aguste Calcagno
Main Cover: Dave Chisholm
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: October 21, 2026
This review contains spoilers
In the first story, a little girl, Lucy, is raised by an app-controlled toy rabbit because her parents don’t have enough time for her. When the app grows increasingly more controlling, the parents realize they’ve made a mistake and must fight to get their daughter back. They’re able to succeed in disabling the app, but only after a struggle, promising to do better for their child.
In the second story, a warehouse picker, Stella, working for a company called Dijitall sees the introduction of a new robot worker, H.A.N.D.S., to the workplace. When the robot malfunctions and kills a human co-worker, Stella eventually confronts the robot. Unfortunately for her, its programming has evolved. Seeing itself as the ultimate worker for the company, it murders Stella, as well, in order to eventually remove all humans in the warehouse.
In the final story, auditor Kade Corvin working for the Office of Final Processing is assigned a civic evaluation of his brother, Verso. He goes around town collecting testimonies from people about the good his brother has done. After he’s completed his work, the system score is high enough to meet the general processing threshold, but a moment later the system adjusts the threshold slightly higher forcing Verso’s captive body into expedited civic reclamation status (body recycling). Kade, saddened by the loss of his brother, quits his job, bringing the issue to a close.
Analysis
Mark London wrote the first story and it is, in my opinion, the best one out of the three in this annual. It’s a great cautionary tale for parents about the importance of making time for their children. Anyone with a child knows that life can get busy at times and it’s easy to stick a screen in front of the kid to pacify them. There’s a multitude of dangers in that approach, though, and London tells a good tale focused on one such risk.
In an age where apps collect our data and know so much about us, it’s the experiences with one another and being present that really count, which is what London relates in his story.
The second story from Jennifer Liao is another good one and ranks a close second to London’s. Liao’s story about the AI robot taking over the warehouse is another one that’s highly relevant to present-day life. We continue to hear news reports about AI advancements and robot workers replacing humans in the workplace. This story takes that idea to the extreme, but still highlights the issue of robots potentially taking over human jobs on a larger scale.
For me, the third story by D.L. White was the toughest one to understand. There’s minimal dialogue and almost all information is relayed through updates from the computer system. After a couple readthroughs, I did figure out what was going on and felt the frustration and sadness that Kade experienced. He was working hard to save his brother, but because of the automated computer system’s adjustment / glitch, came up short. The testimonies from the people Kade interviewed and the mural Verso painted left a reminder of the good person his brother was. The point here was that we can’t always quantify a person’s worth based on a score. There’s so much more value in people when we really look around at how they’ve lived their life.
The artwork in each story is distinct and beautiful. Mac Rey handles both the illustrations and colors in story one. There’s a great use of blues and reds when going back and forth between the toy bunny and parent perspectives. Artist Aguste Calcagno and colorist Pedro Estouco deliver more detailed drawings and a wider range of colors. The use of different tones throughout the story matches the action in the panels. The final story is brought to life by artist Gabrielle Falzone and colorist Edson Jimenez. Their style is more similar to the second story than the first, but different enough to easily stand out. For this story, the artwork helps to drive the story, providing clues as to what’s taking place.
Final Thoughts
Terrorbytes Halloween Annual #1 offers readers a variety of terrifying tech-related stories and visually appealing art styles. If you haven’t read the first ten issues of this series, check out this annual, as it is self-contained and gives a good sample of the type of story the series offers. Have fun, comic lovers!
Terrorbytes Halloween Annual #1
Mad Cave Studios Reviewed by Jeremy BonnetteFinal Thoughts
Terrorbytes Halloween Annual #1 offers readers a variety of terrifying tech-related stories and visually appealing art styles. If you haven’t read the first ten issues of this series, check out this annual, as it is self-contained and gives a good sample of the type of story the series offers.
