Patrick Horvath has turned his cuddly serial killer comic Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees into a veritable hit franchise for indie publisher IDW, and now the creator has invited some fresh blood into the bucolic town of Woodbrook.
Horvath has enlisted James Tynion IV, the author of hits Something Is Killing the Children and Exquisite Corpses; Tony Fleecs, creator of cute animals run amok title Feral; and Absolute Catwoman co-writer Che Grayson, among others, to join him in a special original one-shot set in the world of Beneath the Trees.
Artists enlisted in the endeavor include TMNT drawer Dave Wachter and cartoonist Jared Cullum (Usagi Yojimbo).
The anthology is Halloween-themed and is due to hit stores Oct. 7.
Before turning his attention to comics, Horvath was a filmmaker in indie horror, and wrote and directed a segment in the 2016 horror anthology movie Southbound. He understands the appeal of the format.
“One of the best parts about them is having a variety of different creators having fun together,” Horvath told The Hollywood Reporter via email. “It’s an exciting change of pace to open this world up for other people to step into and add their voices.”
Beneath the Trees, with its Dexter meets Richard Scary tones, centers on a brown bear named Samantha Strong, a seemingly mild-mannered hardware store owner who is actually a serial killer, living in a bucolic suburban town of Woodbrook. The six-issue comic was a surprise hit when it debuted in 2024, and Horvath unexpectedly found himself working on a second volume, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring, which wrapped earlier this year. A third volume is in the works. The title has sold over 400,000 for IDW and is the publisher’s biggest-selling original series.
While details for the new comic are being kept under the counter, the story is set in the years after Strong infamously left the town (see the recent volume 2 for all the grizzly, I mean, grisly details). In that time, her legend has only grown, and more and more horrific murders have been tied back to her. Some are her doing, others mere folklore.
The premise sees the town’s citizens coming around a campfire and spilling the beans on some of most terrifying deeds.
“We reached out to creators whose work I really admire and who we felt could tune into the specific wavelength of Beneath the Trees,” Horvath said about the process of finding his collaborators. “In particular, I’ve always tried to keep some sort of balance of keeping it cute, horrific, cozy, and upsetting, and everyone onboard very much understands how to tap into that.”
Fleecs is being paired with Wachter, his artistic collaborator on Uncanny Valley, the duo’s indie comic that was Eisner-nominated for best new series in 2025. He established himself as a writer of hit horror involving talking animals with his serial killer title Stray Dogs and zombie horror Feral, so felt like a natural choice for the project.
“I was a Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees fan before almost anyone,” Fleecs said in a statement. “I read a review copy before the first issue came out and haven’t stopped loudly singing its praises since. Patrick is working in a subgenre of a subgenre. He’s taking something familiar and comforting and adding outrageous violence and pathology and creating something wholly original.”
Stated Tynion: “Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is one of my favorite comics of the past few years, and it’s a pleasure to be invited to have a bit of gruesome fun in this killer, off-kilter world Patrick has created.”
Check out the covers for the first issue, by Horvath, Fleecs, Peach Momoko, and DH Gonzo, below.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
Courtesy of IDW
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
Courtesy of IDW
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
Courtesy of IDW
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
Courtesy of IDW
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