Sales of horror comics were booming in the direct market this summer, with unit sales of horror comics up 16% year over year and dollar sales up by 25%.

To look at trends in single-issue horror comics, ICv2 compared the sales of horror comics by retailers using the ComicHub POS system during the period May 1 - August 14, 2025 to the same period in 2024, limiting the analysis to the top 1,000 comics as measured by unit sales.

Within that sample, unit sales of horror comics rose 16% year over year and dollar sales went up by 25%, a sharp increase in last year's year-over-year increases of 13% in unit sales and 17% in dollar sales.  Dollar sales rose faster than unit sales because prices went up: The number of titles priced at $4.99 or $5.99 increased year over year, and the number priced at $3.99 or $2.99 went down.

The number of horror titles in the top 1,000 comics also rose by 9%, with the category accounting for 9.7% of unit sales and 9.2% of dollar sales.

For more from ICv2 Horror Week, see "ICv2 Horror Week 2025."