Something Is Killing the Children is an ongoing horror comic book series created by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera, who wrote and illustrated the series respectively. All issues are published by Boom! Studios. The comics also spawned a television adaptation at Netflix by Dark and 1899 creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese.
Synopsis[]
It's been a year since Erica Slaughter was last seen in Archer's Peak. Now, the hunter has resurfaced to take on the case of a girl who's seen a new kind of monster, one with terrifying implications...
But that's not all she'll have to contend with. Erica has broken ties with the House of Slaughter, and that can have deadly consequences. The Order of St. George does not forget and they do not forgive.
While Erica goes on the hunt for her deadliest foe yet, a mysterious figure follows closely behind... bringing with them a storm like she has never seen before!
Issues[]
Volume 1: The Angel of Archer's Peak[]
Something Is Killing the Children #1[]
When the children of Archer's Peak begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to see what they can see. Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it MUST be done.
Something Is Killing the Children #2[]
Children are dying in the town of Archer's Peak and the ones who survive bring back terrible stories. A strange woman named Erica Slaughter has appeared and says she fights these monsters behind the murders, but that can’t possibly be true. Monsters aren’t real... are they?
Something Is Killing the Children #3[]
Things in Archer's Peak are only growing worse. Erica Slaughter is on the hunt, but the children are still dying. Angry and afraid, the inhabitants turn their suspicions on the stranger in their midst, the woman who arrived just as the killings began. Will Erica be able to save the town, or will the very people she is trying to protect turn on her?
Something Is Killing the Children #4[]
The FBI has come to the small town of Archer’s Peak, allegedly to help stop more children from being killed. But when the Sheriff’s department turns their investigation to Erica Slaughter, the FBI is more interested in getting in the way. As the horrified townspeople watch Erica arm herself for a war they can’t see, tensions rise to their breaking point in this penultimate issue.
Something Is Killing the Children #5[]
The time for investigation is over. The hunt begins, as Erica Slaughter brings her namesake to the monsters of Archer’s Peak.
Volume 2: The House of Slaughter[]
Something Is Killing the Children #6[]
Erica may have slayed the beast terrorizing Archer's Peak, but the town is far from safe. As James recuperates from the horrible events of the last issue, Tommy also struggles to find his place in the new status quo of his life.
Something Is Killing the Children #7[]
Erica Slaughter can never rest. The dust of Archer's Peak has barely settled before the monster hunt takes her to a new town. And in Archer's Peak, life will never be the same; James struggles to put his life back together, while Tommy begins to think of a life outside the town he was raised in.
Something Is Killing the Children #8[]
Erica's employers, the mysterious Order of St. George, have taken control of Archer's Peak and sealed it off from the outside world. But can they hope to quarantine the damage caused by the monsters... and Erica Slaughter?
Something Is Killing the Children #9[]
With her mysterious employers looking to recall and reprimand her, Erica's running out of time to save the town of Archer's Peak. Do the answers lie with the mysterious young girl found in the monster's lair who no one can identify?
Something Is Killing the Children #10[]
When Erica's Handler forces a confrontation on the street of Archer's Peak, Erica must decide where her loyalties lie -- to her employers, or to the people who need her?
Volume 3: A Game of Nowhere[]
Something Is Killing the Children #11[]
Erica's gambit to save Archer's Peak has failed. Now, the town is under the full control of the Order of St. George. And if the spread of the monsters can't be contained, then the Order might move to eradicate the entire area...
Something Is Killing the Children #12[]
Time is running out for Erica to save Archer's Peak, both from its monster infestation and from the occupation of the Order of St. George. Will Erica be forced to finally stop being a lone wolf and accept help from unlikely allies?
Something Is Killing the Children #13[]
The monsters in Archer's Peak have surrounded the school where Erica and Tommy make their last stand. Even if the House of Slaughter can save them, will the price of their help be too high?
Something Is Killing the Children #14[]
To save the town, Erica must take on the brood of monsters on her own. And Tommy is faced with a decision that means life or death.
Something Is Killing the Children #15[]
The Order of St. George needs a scapegoat to hide the existence of monsters from the world. Erica's actions will determine what is to become of Archer's Peak, and ultimately, the House of Slaughter.
Volume 4: Me and My Monster[]
Something Is Killing the Children #16[]
The story you demanded begins here: the origin of Erica Slaughter! What shocking events brought Erica to the House of Slaughter? ...and what did she have to do to join the Order of St. George? The secrets are revealed here for the first time in this perfect jumping-on point for new readers.
Something Is Killing the Children #17[]
What turned young Erica into the monster hunter she is today? Discover Erica Slaughter's true origin as she is further initiated into the House of Slaughter. But will she be sorted into the prestigious White Room, or the dreaded Black Room with her new nemesis Aaron?
Something Is Killing the Children #18[]
What secrets lie at the heart of the House of Slaughter? Erica, and her rival Aaron, will soon learn as they are pulled deeper and deeper into the Order of St. George... but the truth may destroy them.
Something Is Killing the Children #19[]
Erica must play the Game of Nowhere, a secretive binding ritual of the Order of St. George, but not everyone wants her to succeed.
Something Is Killing the Children #20[]
Can Erica withstand the final stages of the mysterious Order of St. George initiation? Erica finally faces her official initiation into the Order of St. George, a tortuous process that pits a child against an unrestrained monster... and bonds them to it for the rest of their life. Does Erica have what it takes to earn the Mark of St. George, embody the oath of secrecy each member of the House of Slaughter makes, and take her rightful place among the Order?
Volume 5: The Road to Tribulation[]
Something Is Killing the Children #21[]
After a year since we last saw her in Archer's Peak, Erica Slaughter resurfaces to take on the case of a girl who's seen a new kind of monster, one with terrifying implications. But Erica's broken ties with the House of Slaughter and that can have deadly consequences.
The Order of St. George does not forget nor do they forgive. Even as Erica goes on the hunt, she must keep an eye out for the mysterious figure on her trail in order to survive the coming storm.
Something Is Killing the Children #22[]
Outside London, the shadowy figure on Erica's trail relays information to their enigmatic superior about the rogue agent in the House of Slaughter. Meanwhile, a town finds itself in the clutches of an elusive serial killer, and the only living witness to the crimes is a frightened child. Erica investigates the grisly scene of the most recent murder, ignorant of the hostile forces drawing in around her...
Something Is Killing the Children #23[]
Trapped in the county jail, Erica must use her one phone call to contact someone from her past... but will they come to her aid? Escape may come from a most unexpected place, but with it the revelation of a terrifying new threat that will push Erica to her limits!
Something Is Killing the Children #24[]
While Cutter's machinations continue to unfold at the House of Slaughter, Erica has tracked a terrifying new enemy within a small town in New Mexico. With her past quickly catching up with her, Erica must don the mask once again and head into the heart of the danger if she wants any hope of stopping this monstrous entity.
Something Is Killing the Children #25[]
While Erica's blades are occupied with an entity unlike anything they've faced, she receives a phone call... with tragedy on the other end of the line. As things look dire, someone Erica once saved may have to find unexpected help to return the favor...
Volume 6: The Girl and the Hurricane[]
Something Is Killing the Children #26[]
With the last person in her corner gone and the Order of St. George closing in, Erica finds herself totally alone and without a prayer. Can she take on the terrifying Doppelganger Duplicitype by herself, or is this the end of her story?
Something Is Killing the Children #27[]
Leaving death and tragedy in her wake, a grief-burdened Erica hunts for the terrifying Duplicitype. With nothing left to lose and seemingly no one in her corner, Erica is faced with a choice to reach out to an unexpected source of help, or find herself dealing with both a monster and her human enemies alone...
Something Is Killing the Children #28[]
As Erica closes in on the Duplicitype, another hunter closes in on her! Time is running out for Erica as the ruthless Cutter leaves her with nowhere left to turn. Weakened and unable to flee from a town that's too full of suspicion to trust her, can Erica find a way to save the people of Tribulation before Cutter arrives? Can she even save herself?
Something Is Killing the Children #29[]
It's the final hour for Erica as she has no choice left but to face the Duplicitype and save Tribulation from its reckoning. But Cutter's looming arrival isn't the only thing competing for the rogue Black Mask's attention. Gabi has her own plans–ones that put her in grave danger.
Something Is Killing the Children #30[]
Cutter's arrival makes saving Tribulation an even more desperate task for Erica, but it's do or die, because she's the only one who can keep Gabi safe! And even if she can save the town and make it out alive, she's still a rogue hunter, and the Order isn't known for their mercy...
Volume 7: Showdown at the Easy Creek Corral[]
Something Is Killing the Children #31[]
After narrowly surviving the Duplicitype, Erica Slaughter must still reckon with the murderous Cutter in order to save the people of Tribulation. Separated from Dolly and driven by desperate rage, Cutter won't stop until she exacts her revenge on Erica.
Something Is Killing the Children #32[]
The horror is far from over as the terrifying Duplicitype, the infamous monster that changed Something is Killing the Children forever, remains at large... Meanwhile, Cutter is still in relentless and sinister pursuit! With Tribulation still very much in danger, will Erica finally find the ally she needs, or is betrayal in the cards?
Something Is Killing the Children #33[]
Help finally arrives in the town of Tribulation, but whose side are they on? Most importantly, with Cutter in deadly pursuit and the Duplicitype still very much a threat, what chance does Erica stand?
Something Is Killing the Children #34[]
Erica must finally face the deadly doppelganger-the Duplicitype-but can she survive in the end? And with everyone in the town of Tribulation at Cutter's mercy, who will pay the ultimate price?
Something Is Killing the Children #35[]
Erica's heartbreak in the wake of tragedy turns to rage as she faces Cutter one final time. But who else will fall at the hands of the Order, and how will things change for Cecilia and the House of Slaughter?
Volume 8: Road Stories[]
Something Is Killing the Children #36[]
Something Is Killing the Children returns to reveal more of Erica Slaughter's formative past, set before the Archer's Peak saga.
Something Is Killing the Children #37[]
Years before the foundational Archer's Peak Saga, this standalone story continues the formative look at Erica Slaughter's early days before she became the hunter she is now! When encountering a species of monster she's unfamiliar with killing, what lessons will this young hunter learn as she faces a foe that could finally outwit her?
Something Is Killing the Children #38[]
During the third vicious escapade into Erica's secret past, she finds herself squaring off with a monster worse than nightmares... However, as she struggles to live another day after yet another battle, it becomes clear that an even more deadly monster lies at the heart of it all, and it will take all the new skills she's acquired to track it down...
Something Is Killing the Children #39[]
As Erica takes on a vital mission in a remote and isolated town, witness her terrifying journey into a gruesome challenge that will take a miracle to escape. Charting her path to becoming the legendary rogue monster slayer, fans can expect a closer look at the trial by fire that forged her in this self-contained issue...
Something Is Killing the Children #40[]
The iconic Erica Slaughter has battled nightmares and monsters for over half a decade, but her journey is only just beginning...
References[]