Twenty Years Later, the Nightmare Begins Again!

JULY 22, 2026 (PORTLAND, OR) — Terror can’t be contained, and Mad Cave Studios resurrects one of horror’s deadliest nightmares with HAMMER HEAD, the brutal new five-issue series from acclaimed collaborators, writer Ed Brisson (Predator, Ghost Rider) and artist Damian Couceiro (Wolverine & Kitty Pryde, X-Force), with colors by Dee Cunniffe and letters by Patrick Brosseau.

For 20 years, Jules has been hiding from her past. As the only survivor of the Hammer Head killing spree, she carries the guilt and trauma of having watched as everyone she loved was brutally murdered. Every couple of years, Hammer Head rises from the dead to continue his reign of terror anew, and with each repeated massacre, Jules falls deeper into the warm embrace of her own dark coping mechanisms.

When she’s thrown into prison with no trial and no hope, Jules finds herself part of a dark ritual built to force her back into the past that she’s spent her life trying to escape.

The debut issue features Cover A by Damian Couceiro, Cover B by Justin Coffee, Cover C and Cover D by Bjorn Barends.

“When I first got into comics, my plan was always crime and horror. While I’ve managed to write plenty of crime, I’ve only managed to dabble in horror here and there—mostly in short stories in Hellraiser, Creepshow, and Hello Darkness—though I guess you could argue that my Ghost Rider run was horror-based. Still, I’ve somehow never done a straight horror project—until now.

With Hammer Head, we wanted to create something that had the same feel as an ’80s slasher movie, but without feeling derivative. I wanted something that felt fresh, something that played with the tropes of 80s slashers in an interesting and new way. Something that people wouldn’t see coming. Something that would horrify readers when they finally discovered what was REALLY happening.” —Ed Brisson

Blending supernatural horror with classic slasher thrills, Hammer Head is perfect for fans of Friday the 13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Centered on the lone survivor of an endless cycle of massacres, the series delivers a fresh take on the unstoppable killer through the lens of trauma, survival, and the horrors that refuse to stay buried.

Hammer Head #1 goes on sale October 7, 2026, with Final Order Cut-off on September 14. Contact your local comic shop to preorder your copy or order directly from Mad Cave.

Mad Cave Studios will be exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 from July 23-26 at Booth #2806. Stop by to learn more about the publisher’s latest licensed favorites and acclaimed creator-owned titles.