Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness is raking in an astonishing $930 million at the box office. Its unique use of horror (courtesy of director Sam Raimi) is to thank for this impressive box office feat. Of course, the MCU has dabbled in horror from time to time before this.
Still, one would be wrong to assume that this is a rarity for Marvel as a whole. Ever since their Journey Into Mystery line way back in the 1950s, Marvel has always had a fascination with the macabre. A fascination that extends into their stories in the 21st century.
Night of the Living Deadpool (2014)
Night of the Living Deadpool sees the Merc with a Mouth amid a zombie apocalypse. However, this isn't quite the action-packed, quippy gore adventure people expect. In this universe, Deadpool is the last living hero, as the rest have been overcome by the living dead one way or another.
While Deadpool remains his usual quippy self, there is an underlying sense of dread throughout the story. As he delves deeper toward the source of the nightmare, the quips slow, and Deadpool's crazed optimism gives way to a saddened introspective of his own life.
Franken-Castle (2010)
Franken-Castle is a surprisingly campy run from the usually serious Punisher storyline. After his death at the hands of Daken, Frank Castle is resurrected by Morbius into a walking, talking patchwork of rotting skin and steely muscle. Together, he and Morbius fight off the gigantic mechanical zombie Robert Hellsgrad, a self-proclaimed monster hunter.
Franken-Castle is the epitome of the "Rule of Cool." The classic horror elements harken back to Marvel's history with the occult back in the 70s, with stories such as Tomb Of Dracula and Werewolf by Night having classic monsters deal with "modern" day society. Plus, it's called Franken-Castle, the name just fits.
Curse of the Mutants (2010)
Curse of the Mutants starts off the 2010s with a storyline that pits Count Dracula's powerful son Xarus against the mutant superhero team, X-Men. Xarus, after betraying his father Dracula and killing him, sets his vampire army on the X-Men, in a grand scheme to rid vampires of their weakness to direct sunlight.
The story is a good old-fashioned race against the clock as different mutants get infected by the vampire strain. The vampires are terrifying in their numbers and powers, and their unsettling bloodlust is something that even the seasoned X-Men have never had to deal with before.
Absolute Carnage (2019)
Absolute Carnage takes Carnage to the maximum level and goes full cosmic horror in its scale. A symbiote worshipping cult resurrects Cletus Cassidy to become the harbinger of their dark god, Knull. This is the story that reveals the symbiote was the product of an eldritch god the whole time.
Absolute Carnage explores just how depraved and evil the symbiote can be, and it all leads back to them being the progeny of a god of ancient darkness. One such story deals with this best, as Agony, Riot, and Phage terrorize a young girl by psychologically tormenting her with the "idyllic" family life she's always wanted.
Fantastic Four: Road Trip (2020)
Fantastic Four: Road Trip is a one-shot story that goes on a shockingly different route from modern Fantastic Four stories. On a seemingly mundane and well-deserved vacation, the Fantastic Four go on a road trip to a peaceful cabin out in the woods. However, the ever-busy Reed decides to bring along one of his side projects.
When the experiment goes awry, it starts to transform the Fantastic Four's bodies in horrific ways. For queasy readers, this is a great way to test their resolve. as they get to see the Thing's rock skin "peel away", the Invisible Woman turns into the Disappearing Woman, Reed becomes a pile of plastic mush, and Johnny screams in agony as his fire starts to affect him.
Sub-Mariner: The Depths (2009)
Sub-Mariner: The Depths is a very different one-shot for the ruler of Atlantis. In the 1950s, a rescue team sets out to find a group of explorers who had become lost when looking for evidence of the fabled Atlantis. Soon, they find out their way in over their heads as a mysterious being stalks them at every turn.
Sub-Mariner: The Depths takes the tenacious Namor's story down several notches by making him a silent and eerie underwater stalker. Biding his time, the pale king stares down the rescue team, daring them to come closer. When they do, the comic quickly turns into a slasher movie, as Namor picks off the team one by one.
The Spider's Shadow (2021)
The Spider's Shadow is a "What If?" story set in a continuity where Spider-Man decides to embrace the symbiote. After nights of restless nightmares and guilt from all the lives he failed to save, Peter lets go and lashes out against Hobgoblin in a symbiote-fueled fury. Now, New York City's villains live in terror of the Spider-Man.
The Spider's Shadow explores the very fiber of Peter's character. His weaknesses are explored in detail, giving a roadmap of what happens to the world when Peter decides to let loose. It is a terrifying contrast to the quipping optimist that Peter usually is. Still, it's also a great character story for Peter Parker at his darkest moments.
The Cancerverse Saga (2010)
A saga that begins in The Thanos Imperative, the story focuses on the results of a universal tear where something sinister has begun to seep through. On the other side of the tear is a place called the "Cancerverse". In this world, "Life won." What that means for that universe is that everything, no matter how rotted and corrupted, is incapable of death.
With life unrestrained, life soon turned into cancerous growths that began to consume every molecule of space within it. It's a threat so immense that the heroes even took on the help of a resurrected Thanos, showing just how hopeless the situation has gotten. Fans of Lovecraftian visuals and horror will find the Cancerverse a fascinating sight.
Immortal Hulk (2018)
Immortal Hulk follows Bruce Banner as a nomad once more, away from the Avengers and the stress of superhero life. However, a convenience store robbery ends with Bruce being shot in the head, along with the life of an innocent little girl. In the day, Bruce is a corpse. At night, however, it is his time. The Hulk's time.
Immortal Hulk is one of the most successful runs in recent modern history and for the best reasons. Immortal Hulk weaves several horror elements into its story. The cosmic horror of gamma energy, the body horror of transforming into the Hulk, and the classic monster horror of a Hulk terrorizing those who harm Bruce Banner.
Marvel Zombies (2005)
Marvel Zombies is the mascot of modern Marvel horror. After an alien virus infests an alternate Earth similar to 616, the denizens soon turn into ravenous cannibals, consumed by an eternal hunger. Most horrifyingly of all, the zombies keep their powers and intelligence, making them just as, if not more dangerous than they were in life.
Marvel Zombies is the longest-running horror line in modern Marvel, with the most recent story being as recent as 2019. The universe shifts in tone from wacky black comedy to existential cosmic dread at the tip of a hat, and if nothing else, it's cool to see Marvel Heroes looking like messed-up Deadites.