What happens when a true-crime podcaster gets a little too involved in the subject matter? Take the jump for an early look at The Slasher’s Apprentice, a five-issue mini-series from Justin Richards and Val Halvorson, coming in April from Mad Cave Studios.
Riley, a horror-obsessed podcaster with a slasher villain fixation, is seeking a new career path: Helping her favorite legendary slasher, The Hopton Valley Killer, regain their long-lost notoriety while learning the ropes herself.
Through a narrative drenched in suspense, dark humor, and clever nods to horror fandom, The Slasher’s Apprentice explores the generational divides between classic and modern horror while examining the obsession and creativity behind the genre’s most iconic killers. Riley’s ambitions extend far beyond being an apprentice—she’s ready to carve her legend, one that will reshape the rules of the slasher genre forever.
In a press release, writer Justin Richards said, “Val and I started working together over 5 years ago and we’ve been quick friends from the start. We spent much of our time during the pandemic going over story beats for our book, watching horror movies together, and bonding over our shared love of all things horror, comics, video games, and Nine Inch Nails. After making our series, Finger Guns, I knew Val and I would continue to work together for years to come. That’s why as soon as I had a big idea for a horror series, I knew I wanted to bring him in on the creation process as early as possible and collaborate even more than we had in the past, by co-writing the series together. I knew together we’d bring more than enough expertise to attempt to create something really rad while also being new and different. Especially with a sacred genre like horror that we both hold dear in our hearts, we wanted to balance paying homage to our favorite things about the genre while coming at it from an angle that we haven’t seen before and presenting new ideas. I think what we’ve cooked up is going to be a lot of fun for fans of slasher horror. Mad Cave has been great about letting us run wild with our ideas and I can’t wait to share the twists, the celebration of horror and most of all the slashes.”
The Slasher’s Apprentice #1 is scheduled to arrive on April 30, 2025.
The Slasher’s Apprentice #2
(W) Justin Richards (A) Val Halvorson
(C) Rebecca Nalty (L) Buddy Beaudoin
When Riley doesn’t give them much of a choice, the Hopton Valley Killer springs into murderous action, putting Riley to the test as she must dive knife-first into assisting with taking out an entire frat party. As HVK seems set to prove why they’re one of the greats, Riley seeks to prove she’s worthy to follow in their footsteps.
