Small Town Spirits is a short all-ages graphic novel that explores Ireland’s old-fashioned celebrations of Halloween via the Flanagan family. In a town where ancient Irish traditions are still celebrated, every Halloween a series of games is conducted in honor of the spirits of the dead. Every year, the prestigious O’Dell family makes a mockery of the lovable, but laughable Flanagans, dashing their dreams of winning The Spirit Games. But this year, teenage troublemaker Pad Flanagan plans to change everything and tries to trick the spirit of an ancient Celtic hero into training his family for the big event. Instead, he accidentally opens a supernatural floodgate of mischief, magic, and monsters that threaten to destroy his town. Losers will become legends in this frightfully fun folkloric adventure – it comes out May 13th 2025 from Dark Horse Comics.
Small Town Spirits was written by Zack Keller, known for writing the Cuphead series of graphic novels, as well as games such as Batman: The Telltale Series. The artwork for the book was handled by Gabriele Bagnoli, known for various media tie-in projects for Disney, Dark Horse and Boom! Studios. Additional creative team includes colorist Valerio Alloro and letterer Frank Cvetkovic. Keller had this to say about the series:
When I found out that Halloween came from Ireland — just like my family, the Fitzgeralds — I jumped at the opportunity to get reacquainted with my roots by writing this book full of charm, cheer and maximum spooky chaos.
Meanwhile, artist Gabriele Bagnoli had this to say:
Ireland is one of the places I love the most. With this script, Zack made me discover Irish traditions that I knew nothing about. I also got to draw lots of spirits, monsters and mythological creatures — great fun!
The series is perfect for fans of Keller’s Cuphead series or those who enjoy the work of artists such as Jill Thompson. Dark Horse Comics has released an excerpt from the book before it’s launch next week, to celebrate us being nearly halfway to Halloween. The exclusive excerpt can be seen below.
