Mike Mignola is back, and this time, the Hellboy creator is inviting us into a wholly new universe of eerie, whimsical, and darkly enchanting folktales. Mignola's Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown introduces a fantasy world bursting with gods, monsters, unfortunates, and much mischief. Set to release on January 22, 2025, from Dark Horse Comics, this anthology also marks the debut of Mignola's own imprint, Curious Objects.
Originally inspired by an Italian folktale, Mignola has crafted a series of stories that weave traditional folklore with his signature style of minimalist art and macabre humor. From a pirate girl's Faustian bargain, to a sorcerer's still-beating heart, to a magical corpse arm, the collection offers a treasure trove of dark and fantastical oddities. Think Grimms' Fairy Tales meets Mignola's singular imagination—equal parts wonder and dis-ease.
"It all started with an Italian folktale about a boy who goes bowling with corpses," Mignola explains. "That story became a gateway to creating a new world, not too different from ours a few centuries ago, but with a lot more gods and monsters. Once I began, the stories and characters kept pouring out."
With gorgeous artwork by Mignola, colors by the incomparable Dave Stewart, and letters by Clem Robins, Bowling With Corpses feels like a culmination of everything that makes Mignola's work so unique and enchanting.
Ubiquitous back-cover blurber, Patton Oswalt, calls it, "a world I'm terrified to live in, mostly because I'd never want to leave." Marjorie Liu (Monstress) praises its mix of "wisdom, humor, and quiet longing," while Vita Ayala (Submerged, New Mutants, Static) says "There is a richness of line and depth of story to Mignola's work that transforms it from pictures and words into something almost mythical."
Bowling with Corpses is a 112-page hardcover that drops in bookstores on January 21 and comic shops on January 22. It's a standalone gem that sets the stage for the Lands Unknown universe, with more stories from Mignola promised in the future.
For those of us who've marveled at Mignola's ability to create mythic worlds from a few inked lines and pregnant, ominous shadows, Bowling With Corpses is more than a new book—it's a portal into a realm where the strange feels familiar and the familiar turns strange.
Boing Boing was lucky enough to get our little mutated mitts on an early copy of the book and were offered these exclusive pages to share with our readers.





