This first volume of Dark Horse’s Eerie Archives reprints issues 1–5 of the classic Warren Publishing horror comic magazine Eerie. The book is a deluxe, oversized, coffee-table book, and the issues themselves are reprinted in their original black and white, save for the brilliant and dazzling covers of issues 2–5, by Frank Frazetta and Gray Morrow. The stories, originally published on relatively cheap paper, are lavishly reproduced here on wonderfully thick and white paper stock, making this book quite the weighty tome. Overall production values are well beyond first class. The book looks luxuriant and select. Holding it in your hands, it feels substantial and exclusive.
 
The book opens with an informative and rather delightful two-page introduction by the late Forrest J. Ackerman, legendary science-fiction, fantasy, and horror expert, collector, and promoter. Ackerman explains that Eerie was the sister magazine to Jim Warren’s Creepy magazine. The first issue of Eerie premiered in 1966 with an extremely limited print run and a black and white cover. Both the first issue and its original cover are faithfully reproduced within this collection. The range of talented and legendary artists who worked on the five issues reprinted within the volume is extraordinary to say the least. This list includes but is not limited to John Severin, Steve Ditko, Alex Toth, Angelo Torres, Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Al Williamson, Wally Wood, Reed Candall and Gene Colan. The degree of knack, skill, method, and artistry is astounding. The consistently brilliant art also really shines on the ritzy paper stock.
 
The stories will almost certainly appeal to a wide spectrum of horror fans. The book is a proverbial must-have for serious horror readers and collectors. If you’ve no prior experience with Eerie but are perhaps interested in the history and legacy of horror in relation to the comic book medium, this book makes these extremely difficult to find issues available, prettier than ever. If perhaps you’re simply interested in extremely well crafted horror, you’ll find these stories ceaselessly inventive and entertaining. Many of the scripts were written by Eerie editor Archie Goodwin (also noted for many projects he did at Marvel Comics throughout his storied comics-industry career).
 
The inclusion of letters to the editor and horror-themed ad pages throughout is reflective of the overall attention to detail and quality that Dark Horse invested in the production of this book. The brilliant work of the creators is showcased as it deserves to be and the publisher’s presentation of the material is top-notch.