PORTLAND, OR — Coming soon from Mad Cave Studios—a horror that blends classic slasher tropes with a Creepypasta twist!
Announcing The Slasher’s Apprentice, a gripping five-issue miniseries from acclaimed creators Justin Richards (Finger Guns) and Val Halvorson (Pareidolia) comes to life with vibrant colors by Rebecca Nalty (Vampirella Red Sonja) and lettering by Buddy Beaudoin (Corvus), with a stunning variant cover by celebrated visual artist Trevor Henderson (Dead Mall)—cementing its place as the new standout addition to the Mad Cave horror comics catalog.
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.
“Val and I started working together over 5 years ago and we’ve been quick friends from the start,” said Justin Richards. “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.”
Series artist Val Halvorson, added, “Justin and I are good friends and we’ve been working with each other since Finger Guns. “We’ve been watching horror movies together for years, so it was cool to utilize our shared knowledge to write for The Slasher’s Apprentice and come up with fun scenarios and character moments. I think we work really well together and it felt like second nature bouncing ideas off each other during writing sessions.”
For fans of Hack/Slash, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, and those craving a genre-bending exploration of revenge, legacy, and modern horror—step into the eerie world of The Slasher’s Apprentice #1 on April 30, 2025.
The Slasher’s Apprentice #1 Preview
