Horror in Star Wars Literature
From ghoulish comic series to legendary spooky tales full of folklore, Star Wars literature is indeed infused with the horror genre.
- Written by Fabio Fiori
- Published onOctober 31, 2020 @ 8:00am
The Star Wars canon has seen a recent resurgence of the horror genre in literature. In the past, readers had a taste of pure horror with Legends novels Red Harvest and Death Troopers—exploring the subgenre of the living dead caused by a plant-based virus and a biological weapon respectively. After Disney purchased Lucasfilm and began a new era of canon, many readers thought that horror—although subtly ingrained within the Star Wars formula from the very beginning—was going to be locked away, never to return in favor of more family-oriented content. But who said horror can’t be accessible?
Beginning in October of 2018, IDW Publishing announced a special 5-issue sub-series of Star Wars Adventures, just in time for Halloween. Tales from Vader’s Castle consisted of new, chilling stories from a galaxy far, far away. What made this series so exciting for the fans was the featuring of some characters and locations within Star Wars that already screamed horror while paying homage to staples of the genre—especially from the Hammer horror franchise. Writer Cavan Scott and Lucasfilm Publishing Creative Director Michael Siglain—both huge fans of Hammer and horror in general—put together a must-have list of stories, from a ghost story to a witch story to a monster story. And if that wasn’t good enough, they even featured Sir Christopher Lee—who as many of you know was the star of many Hammer horror films, especially known for his role as Count Dracula. It was only logical to combine the two Counts (Dooku and Dracula, both played by Lee) in one of the tales to honor his legacy. They accomplished this all while keeping the stories from falling to the mature rating in order to make the series accessible to everyone.
The success of Tales from Vader’s Castle lead to its sequel, Return to Vader’s Castle, again with Scott writing a new set of spooky tales—this time infusing the series with comic and movie influences, from Tales from the Crypt comics to Alien and, of course, Hammer horror. The latter was represented by yet another legend, Peter Cushing, who every Star Wars fan recognize as Grand Moff Tarkin and has played Lee’s opponent in many Hammer films.
The Vader’s Castle series has become a Halloween tradition to many readers, so much so that it is coming back to the comic book shelves with Shadow of Vader’s Castle, this time a one-shot comic issue, written once again by Star Wars horror master Cavan Scott.
The power of creativity is shaped by the experiences of the creators. It is important to understand where one’s creative inspiration comes from—where it originates and how it amalgams with new stories. Scott himself shared his opinion with TatooineTimes.com on the horror genre influencing Star Wars storytelling to this day:
One of the biggest influences in Star Wars is the subgenre of monsters and monster movies. It’s certainly what captivated me as a kid, sitting in the cinema watching Return of the Jedi. Jabba’s palace was such a menagerie of monsters that continued to delight every time you watched the film or studied a grainy still. That was before I saw the spider-legged brains in jars. And of course, we were gifted with the ultimate science fantasy monster in Darth Vader who, in the tradition of all great creatures, has the most tragic of backstories. Dracula is always more interesting when he isn’t just a neck-biting, fang-sinking villain, but has an almost sympathetic past that makes his evil all the more tragic, and that’s what George Lucas developed for Vader, evolving the character from the black-armoured bully-boy of the first movie to a being with surprising depth. Characters and locations within a galaxy far, far away were developed into the horror genre without steering too far from the original formula of the Star Wars universe from day one. You only have to look at the Nightsisters episodes of The Clone Wars to see that. Pure horror and yet, also pure Star Wars. The only difference, I think, is that true horror, for me, is the absence of hope, and Star Wars, even at its most horrific must always have that glimmer of hope to remain true to its core.
More tales of the dark side continued to emerge within Star Wars publishing—this time inside a collection of legendary stories, Myths & Fables. The book contained two dark side tales, Gaze of Stone and The Witch and the Wookie, giving a taste of what will then be Dark Legends—yet another collection of legendary stories, this time influenced by the darkest Grimms’ Fairy Tales. George Mann—author of both Myths & Fables and Dark Legends—took a different approach to the horror genre, focusing on latent evil shrouded in mystery, damnation of the soul, and terror within one’s mind. Each story provides a lesson, or moreso a warning to the readers as they immerse themselves into the nightmares the protagonists progressively experience, page after page.
With Myths & Fables and Dark Legends, Mann gifted the readers with the dark folklore of bedside tales while still paying homage to classic horror themes and characters—from shaping the Grand Inquisitor into a Nosferatu-like foe to turning a Shistavanen (the wolf like species in Star Wars) into a howling creature of the night, resembling the lycanthrope curse. Mann (just like his friend Cavan Scott) shared his thoughts with TatooineTimes.com about the legacy of horror within Star Wars:
Horror has always been a part of Star Wars, as it is in any great mythology. From the very first moment we hear Darth Vader’s rasping breath, see his dark, menacing figure striding through swathes of the dead and dying, we know there’s darkness at the heart of this story. There’s horror, too, in that thin, satisfied smile on Tarkin’s face as he destroys Alderaan. It’s written into the very fabric of Star Wars. Horror is all about tone, and the great thing about the Star Wars universe is that it’s so flexible and well developed that you can write any sort of story within it and it still feels like Star Wars—it’s expansive and robust enough to contain multitudes of different genres and stories. We all understand horror and fear—and so do the characters in Star Wars. It’s easy to relate to those primal instincts when we read about them or see them on screen. It helps to make their world more readily believable, because we know those are real people who have emotional experiences just like we do.
From ghoulish comic series to collections of legendary spooky tales full of folklore, the world of Star Wars literature is indeed infused with the horror genre. One can only hope that the terror in a galaxy far, far away will never cease. And with horror fans such as Cavan Scott, George Mann, and Michael Siglain you will never know what will creep up next. If you are a horror and a Star Wars fan, then make sure to check out these creepy tales and let us know which one spooked you the most by sharing a comment below or by reaching out to our social media outlets.
Happy Galactic Halloween!
Fabio Fiori
Fabio Fiori is the Founder and Creative Director of Tatooine Times. He grew up watching the prequels and loving everything Star Wars. He is searching for the most interesting Star Wars content and tries his hardest to write about it.