Horror fans and collectors of physical media have a new reason to look back at the 1990s with dread. The Nasty, a celebrated graphic novel series that explores the infamous “video nasty” moral panic of Britain, has been released as a complete digital collection.
Written by John Lees and illustrated by Adam Cahoon, the story serves as both a love letter to the slasher genre and a dark exploration of how fandom can bleed into a terrifying reality.
Set in Scotland in 1994, the narrative follows eighteen-year-old Graeme “Thumper” Connell. While his peers are moving on with their lives, Thumper remains deeply embedded in horror culture, even maintaining an imaginary friendship with a masked killer from his favourite film. Alongside his social circle, “The Murder Club,” Thumper’s obsession takes a dark turn when they encounter a legendary, banned VHS tape that the British Moral Decency League has fought to suppress.
The series has gained significant critical traction, earning a spot on the New York Public Library’s Best New Comics of 2024 for Adults. It manages to balance the nostalgic aesthetic of 1990s video shops with a more serious critique of censorship and the “Satanic Panic” that gripped the UK during the era of the Video Recordings Act.
The complete series is currently available at a significant discount on DriveThruComics, priced at $9.99, down from its usual $19.99.
Describing the project’s intent, the creative team explained in a statement:
The Nasty is a story about the perception of evil, the power of genre, the love of fandom, the need to create art, oh, and crap-your-pants TERROR!”
For those who grew up in the era of magnetic tape and tracking issues, or for younger fans fascinated by the history of horror censorship, the collection offers a blend of The Ring’s supernatural dread and the coming-of-age camaraderie seen in films like Empire Records.
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