Fear Itself

While the multitudes run around this Halloween in witch masks and skeleton getups and bed sheets claiming to be scary, we all know that these images don’t come close to touching the blank horror that lurks in our everyday lives. Death, in fact, doesn’t come as the grim reaper, it comes as a bar of soap in the shower or a speeding bus or an accidentally swallowed lemon drop. Collectively, the staff at City Pages harbors a rich trove of frightening true stories—some might say more than our share. We’ve chosen the most hair-raising for your ghoulish holiday delight and enlisted local comic artists to jolt them to life. Want to see an eyeball cut open? How about the crazed fisherman who picked up Brad Zellar hitchhiking? Well then, keep reading.