Presenting a New Kind of Tense and Turbulent Ghost Story from Otherworldly Creators Michael W. Conrad & Dave Chisholm
Oni Press – the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to unearth the cursed covers for PLAGUE HOUSE #1 – a dark and turbulent four-issue descent into fear from acclaimed writer Michael W. Conrad (Wonder Woman, Double Walker) and 2024 Ringo Award-winning artist Dave Chisholm (Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound) debuting in comics everywhere April 2025!
In addition to the issue’s main cover by Dave Chisholm, PLAGUE HOUSE #1 will feature variant covers from Brian Level (Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions), Noah Bailey (Wonder Woman: Black and Gold, Tremor Dose), Nathan Ooten (Neptune), and Alex Eckman-Lawn (Mouse Guard: Legends of The Guard, Art Brut). Each cover highlights a different form of terror, informing the world of PLAGUE HOUSE from an all-new angle.
“A cover has to stand out on the shelf, it has to pop, it has to have something that separates it from the rest of the stuff out there,” said artist Dave Chisholm. “For an issue #1, it also helps if it accomplishes all or some of the following: 1. Generate a sense of mystery, an intrigue. 2. Convey, either literally or symbolically, some sort of thematic content of the story. 3. Introduce the readers to the main character. 4. Operate as a ‘style guide,’ or a ‘style container’ in a way—so readers have an idea about the form and design on the pages in the book. And, listen, I know there is literally nothing revelatory about this list. The challenge is actually making the thing that hits these criteria!”
Thirteen years ago, Orin McCabe was a family man living a privileged life in the suburbs. Today, he’s condemned to death row for murdering his entire family in an unexpected fit of hammerwielding brutality. In the aftermath of his heinous crime, it’s fallen to a trio of eclectic, but dedicated, ghost hunters—Jacob, the holy man; Holland, the skeptic; and their leader, Del, a true believer in the occult and worlds beyond—to surveil the abandoned McCabe home in search of proof for the existence of the undead . . . and whatever supernatural source may have possibly fueled McCabe’s inhuman massacre. But this ill-matched and uneasy squad of investigators is about to discover something much more terrifying than any ordinary spirit. . . . Something much more pernicious, much more contagious, that if not contained, could take full advantage of America’s unquenchable appetite for violence and deliver a plague of blood unto us all . . .
“Plague House is a story about a haunting, but not one we’ve seen before, and not one that can easily hit its marks as deftly, horrifyingly, and compellingly as it does,” said Senior Editor Bess Pallares. “Michael and Dave have invested a tremendous amount of care into crafting this story, and I think their longtime and new readers alike will be pleasantly surprised by this fresh and devastating take on a classic horror story. The covers from Brian Level, Noah Bailey, Nathan Ooten, and Alex Eckman-Lawn are a testament to how singularly upsetting this tale is, and with every possible warning right there on the front of the book, you can’t help but flip the page and open the door to Plague House.”
“Hauntings are like a spiritual infection, a cosmic disease afflicting the places where tragedies have taken place,” said writer Michael Conrad. “What do they demand of us? What are we willing to do to sate their hungers? Plague House offers as many questions as answers.”
Whether you favor blood, ghosts, or an unsettling, eerie look into darkness, PLAGUE HOUSE #1 will pop off the shelf and drag you into its dusty corners in April!
Plus: Alongside PLAGUE HOUSE #1, don’t miss the complete line-up of genre-colliding new titles coming from Oni Press for Spring 2025:
• MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE #1 by Justin Jordan & Chris Shehan | February 2025
• OUT OF ALCATRAZ #1 by Christopher Cantwell & Tyler Crook | | March 2025
• FREE FOR ALL #1 by Patrick Horvath | March 2025
• PLAGUE HOUSE #1 by Michael W. Conrad & Dave Chisholm | April 2025 • THE GODDAMN TRAGEDY #1 by Chris Condon & Shawn Kuruneru | May 2025
PLAGUE HOUSE #1 (of 4)
WRITTEN BY MICHAEL W. CONRAD
ART & COVER BY DAVE CHISHOLM
COVER A BY DAVE CHISHOLM
COVER B BY BRIAN LEVEL
COVER C (RETURNABLE) BY NOAH BAILEY
FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY DAVE CHISHOLM
VARIANT COVER (1:20) BY NATHAN OOTEN
VARIANT COVER (1:50) BY ALEX ECKMAN-LAWN
ON SALE APRIL 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PGS | FC
IOD: 2/27/2025 FOC: 4/2/2025
About Michael W. Conrad
Michael W. Conrad is a writer currently living in Portland, Oregon. Michael has worked on a number of books at DC Comics including Wonder Woman, Batgirls, Nightwing, and more. Elsewhere, Michael has written stories for iconic characters including Godzilla, Dracula, and Boris Karloff. Michael’s creator-owned work such as Tremor Dose, Double Walker, and Neptune have revealed a level of oddity that has captivated audiences looking for experiences unlike anything else on the shelves today. You can find Michael on Instagram and Twitter at @michaelwconrad
About Dave Chisholm
Hailed by Comics Beat as “one of the most exciting comic auteurs working in comics today,” Dave Chisholm is a graphic novelist and musician currently living in Rochester, New York, where he received his doctorate in jazz trumpet from the Eastman School of Music in 2013. His expertise in music as well as his formal inventiveness within the comics medium has resulted in a string of critically-acclaimed music-centric comics and graphic novels including Spectrum (2024-25, Mad Cave Studios, made in collaboration with Rick Quinn), Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound (2023, Z2 Comics), Enter the Blue (2022, Z2 Comics), Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker in California (2020, Z2 Comics), and the groundbreaking graphic novel + original soundtrack Instrumental (2017, Z2 Comics). In collaboration with writer Michael W. Conrad on Plague House (Oni Press, 2025), he’s bringing that same formal inventiveness to the horror genre.
Chisholm also has a passion for education and teaches comics and music at the Hochstein School and the Rochester Institute of Technology.