While most holiday tales focus on sugarplums and goodwill toward men, Oni Press is bringing something darker down the chimney this year with Yuletide, a horror-tinged holiday adventure from writer George Northy and artist Rachele Aragno.
This three-issue series of double-sized issues counts down to Christmas with a story that’s more interested in the eerie, ancient roots of the season than its twinkling lights and festive cheer. And we’ve got an exclusive look at some pages from the first issue.
Set in Christmas, Pennsylvania—a town that bills itself as “the merriest place on Earth”—Yuletide follows a group of teens who find themselves caught between their town’s obsession with America’s biggest holiday and something far more sinister lurking beneath the tinsel and tradition.
“I’ve long been fascinated by the dark, strange, obscure Yuletide monsters from various cultures, from Germany to Iceland to Wales. The way these demons have been buried and forgotten felt like the perfect metaphor for how we often bury our own darkness and personal demons throughout the holidays,” Northy said. “If Buffy taught us ‘High School can be Hell,’ then Yuletide will show that the best way of dealing with our own holiday demons isn’t by pretending they aren’t there, it’s by facing them together.”
Check out the preview and the solicitation for the first issue below, and look for it to arrive at your local comic shop Oct. 15.
YULETIDE #1 (of 3)
WRITTEN BY GEORGE NORTHY
ART BY RACHELE ARAGNO
COVER A BY ITO
COVER B BY RACHELE ARAGNO
COVER C BY JO MI-GYEONG
FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY ITO
ON SALE OCTOBER 15, 2025 | $4.99 | 40 PAGES | FC
Have you ever wondered why our brightly colored and joyously cheerful Christmas festivities are held at the peak of winter’s frigid darkness? That is no mere coincidence—and now the truth about the monsters the yuletide holds at bay will finally be revealed in a gleaming gift of epic holiday adventure from creators George Northy (EC’s Shiver SuspenStories) and Rachele Aragno (Leonide the Vampyr)!
Welcome to the small town of Christmas, Pennsylvania—the merriest place on Earth . . . or so they’d like everyone to think. When December rolls around, these folks pull out all the stops for America’s biggest, brightest holiday display . . . but not everyone in Christmas, PA, is so enthusiastic. Teens Jake, Abe, and Wyn are more interested in the dark side of the holiday that their parents like to pretend doesn’t exist . . . The ancient legends of mythic monsters and pagan pandemonium that are deeply tied to the festival’s long-forgotten origins. So when their hobby leads them to an abandoned wing of the local Christmas museum to investigate, they’ll discover an ancient relic that, when activated, will bring a furious procession of yuletide horrors long since banished from our plane—and with it, a darkness that has been waiting centuries for its chance to overtake the world!
In the tradition The Goonies, Hocus Pocus, and Goosebumps, the countdown to Christmas starts now as Yuletide presents the first three extra-sized, 40-page issues unleashing a monstrous new kind of holiday tale for readers young and old!
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