Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery #4

Ben Templesmith's cover for this fourth chapter of the Cal McDonald mystery series is genuinely unsettling — a grotesquely oversized flea rendered in sickly greens and browns dominates the frame, surrounded by dark splatter against a rust-hued background that suggests something very wrong is spreading. The chapter title "Bubonic Nights" tells you all you need to know about the direction Steve Niles is taking this supernatural noir, and Templesmith's painterly, visceral artwork makes the threat feel uncomfortably tangible. A strong penultimate chapter from the 30 Days of Night team, delivered with the kind of grim atmosphere Dark Horse horror fans had come to expect in 2003.