Oni Press announce new horror mystery series CROWNSVILLE

Crownsville is a brand new miniseries from award winning publisher Oni Press. Debuting in November with a double-sized first issue, this grim and disturbing supernatural thriller comes from writer Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia) and up-and-coming artist Elia Bonetti (Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy), inspired by the real-life horrors of the notorious Maryland psychiatric hospital that preyed upon the Black communities of Jim Crow-era Annapolis for decades. 

The five-part series explores a terrifying modern-day mystery rooted in the hospital’s tragic past. The real hospital closed in 2004 decades of controversy and disrepair, but Barnes collaborates with Bonetti to craft a haunting ghost story set in the ruins of the tragedy laden-site. The first issue will arrive in stores November 5th, 2025, with variant covers by Barnes’ Killadelphia co-creator Jason Shawn Alexander, interior artist Elia Bonetti (Darth Vader), Syzmon Kudranski (The Punisher), and Andrea Sorrentino (Gideon Falls). 

Oni Press editor-in-chief Sierra Hahn had this to say about the book:

Oni Press is known for publishing hair-raising horror comics and provocative stories with a strong, personal, and political point of view. Crownsville is a remarkable piece of storytelling that sits alongside our award-winning books. Rodney’s words and Elia’s haunting art combine to tell an unrelenting and riveting story, one that is as important as it is horrifying.

Founded at the turn of the 20th century outside of Annapolis, Maryland, the Crownsville Hospital was a notoriously segregated, all-Black psychiatric institute. After decades of overcrowding and neglect, alongside darker, persistent rumours of patient abuse and illegal medical experimentation, it was finally closed in 2004. Today, it stands condemned, a haunting reflection of the country’s past, and a reminder of the of all-too-real terror inflicted on a marginalized and vulnerable community. In the Barnes and Bonetti’s new series, an unexplained death inside the abandoned hospital is ruled a suicide, causing Annapolis police detective Mike Simms and journalist Paul Blairare to dig deeper, only to discover the reality of the horrors that once took place there, and the powerful connection they share to the ghosts still locked within the hospital’s walls.

Writer Rodney Barnes had this to say about the series: 

Crownsville is the supernatural mystery tale I’ve been dying to tell. From a childhood haunt born in a place of pain, it’s my cathartic effort I’m thankful to share with the world. I can’t wait for folks to get a look at it.

Meanwhile, Oni Press president and publisher Hunter Gorinson had this to say: 

The best kinds of horror stories challenge us to not only confront ghosts or monsters, but also grapple with the pain and terror we inflict on each other. Sometimes that torment lasts only moments, or, as is the case of Crownsville, it can span decades. Together, Rodney and Elia have zeroed in on a masterfully, deeply rendered story that can both induce spiraling, white-knuckle terror and confront the tortured past underpinning a shocking and all-too-true chapter of modern American history.”

Crownsville is now available to pre-order from your local comics shop. A preview of the series can be seen below.