Horror comics have been around for a long time, but in 2013 Archie Comics delved into new territory. Afterlife With Archie was the springboard for several horror incarnations of the familiar gang, including a Jughead werewolf comic and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The latter has now become a hit show for Netflix with the final season dropping at the end of 2020.
The comic, which went on hiatus after issue eight has now been solicited to resume in October of 2021 and it will be picking up exactly where it left off. While the television show was great, the tone and setting were made more TV-friendly—Greendale feels modern but is missing a lot of current technology making it feel timeless, and the horror elements of the comics are made less horrifying. The comic, however, has no qualms about featuring cannibalism and gore.
10 Sabrina's Father Brainwashed Her Mother
In the Netflix series, Sabrina is orphaned by a plane crash which may or may not have been orchestrated by Father Blackwood. Sabrina's parents intended her birth to unite witches and humans. Sabrina's origin in the comic, however, is much darker.
Edward Spellman's history shows that he flouts witch law and he marries a mortal by having a lesser demon impersonate Satan and give permission. Diana then births Sabrina and is forced to give her up at one year. Edward has her committed to a facility after burning her mind out with magic, to spend the rest of her days.
9 Ms. Porter Gives Diana Her Sanity Back
Madam Satan, who is called by Evangeline Porter in the comic, is a particularly devious witch who intends to get back at Edward Spellman for marrying a mortal and spurning her. Playing the same role that Ms. Wardwell plays in the Netflix series, Ms. Porter manipulates everyone around her to her own end.
In a particularly evil moment, she convinces the facility where Diana Spellman is living that she is a sister whom they have heard much about. At the end of her visit with Diana, she gives her the gift of mental clarity. A suddenly lucid Diana Spellman cannot convince the hospital staff of her sanity.
8 Harvey Is Murdered After Witnessing The Dark Baptism
On the Netflix series, Sabrina is able to bring her friends into the world of witches and magic, informing them of her double life. It drives a rift between her and Harvey, but the group is able to remain together in a way that the comics version of Sabrina cannot have. In the comics, Sabrina must keep the parts of her life separated.
At the urging of Ms. Porter Harvey traipses into the woods and finds Sabrina signing her name into Satan's book on her sixteenth birthday. Harvey runs from the clearing at Sabrina's behest and finds himself stumbling down memory lane, remembering a time from his youth when he ran from the same woods. Harvey is prevented from reaching the town and exposing the witches when a witch poses as Sabrina using a glamour spell and proceeds to kiss, kill, and eat the young heartthrob.
7 Sabrina Is Forced To Lie To Harvey's Mom
One thing that both readers of the comics and viewers of the Netflix series enjoy about Sabrina as a character is her earnestness. On the show, she will do absolutely anything for her friends and is always looking for a way to make life right for those around her. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic features a Sabrina who is less entrenched in either of the worlds she inhabits than in the show.
Sabrina has always lived a double life of a sort, but lying to Harvey's mother about his whereabouts—when she clearly saw him eaten—weighs heavily on her conscience. When Harvey's mother pulls out an engagement ring that Harvey had intended to give Sabrina, it pulls her down even further, making her more susceptible to the suggestions of Ms. Porter.
6 Martha Kinkle Murders Her Husband
The Netflix series is no stranger to murdering characters. Several regular characters are killed and there are some very gut-wrenching situations created accidentally by Sabrina that force her friends to experience death in horrible ways, but the comic takes it to a whole new level.
When the doorbell rings weeks after Harvey has disappeared Martha Kinkle is certain it is her son and gets up to open the door. When he attempts to stop her, a rightly suspicious George Kinkle finds himself beaten to death with a lamp. Granted the scene is silhouetted, which lowers the overall impact of the violence, it is still very visceral to see Martha murder her husband.
5 Edward Spellman Eats George Kinkle In Front Of His Wife
The issue of cannibalism is glossed over in the television series; the characters skirt the issue in creative ways, but it is possible they actually eat the dead. The comics have no such qualms about witches consuming human flesh. It is present in nearly every issue.
When Sabrina attempts to resurrect her boyfriend the spirit that she gets instead is that of her father, Edward Spellman. Spellman finds his way to the Kinkle home, wearing Harvey's face. Martha Kinkle kills her husband in order to let her son in and is then confronted with the fact that it is not Harvey, but Edward Spellman wearing his skin. While the reader doesn't see Spellman consume George, the aftermath is clearly visible and Spellman does not dance around the subject.
4 Salem's Story Of Becoming A Familiar And His Witch Lover Feeding Their Child To The Devil
Salem tells Ambrose's familiars the story of his being transformed into a cat by the Dark Lord himself. It is a tale that starts in a familiar way, but quickly deviates when Salem—then the man Samuel—suggests that his lover steal away to the woods to have her baby and then "do what she will with it."
This dark turn shows a callousness to human life that is not present in the show. It also sets up for the moment where the Dark Lord eats the baby from Abby's womb. While the reader doesn't have to see the graphic depiction of this act, the illustration of a goat with blood dripping from his lips surrounded by witches achieves a haunting effect.
3 Edward Tells Father Constant He Can Summon The Dark Lord
In issue seven the reader is regaled with Edward Spellman's tales of how he became so important in the Church of Night. These tales mostly revolve around trickery and conjuring, but when Edward comes to tell Father Constant that he can conjure the Dark Lord there is something in the illustration that should give readers a moment of horror.
While most instances of cannibalism in the comic occur to people who are already dead or they are killed by witches and eaten off-panel, this time the reader sees a nude woman bound on the table and a hungry coven surrounding her. Not only is cannibalism not front and center in the show, but the sense of helplessness in this woman's impending death is never the focus of the show.
2 Edward Gets Swallowed By The Witch Tree
Hilda and Zelda Spellman confront their brother about the false conjurings he's used to gain power and trap him in a witch tree. This scene shows how Hilda and Zelda deal with the abuse of magic, which is some of the better characterization they receive in the comic.
The art of this scene is in how terrifying the tree itself looks. Edward cannot simply be killed, lest he become a martyr, so they allow him to be taken to limbo by a tree where other witches have been hung. The tree opens a gaping, vertical, toothy mouth, and pulls Edward in to leave him in the dark. The only characters that the audience sees trapped permanently are demons. The fact that this is told by the character being trapped makes it more terrifying.
1 "Harvey" Returns From Meeting Sabrina
After meeting Sabrina while pretending to be Harvey—and the confrontation with Hilda and Zelda—Edward returns to the Kinkle home with a wealth of new information. The reader sees Mrs. Kinkle tied to a chair and it is obvious that she has been partially consumed.
The sheer amount of cannibalism in the comics is something that the TV series just doesn't include in a concrete form. There are some references to it in passing, but it doesn't occupy the front of the audience's mind the way it does a reader of the comics. The darkness of the show comes more from putting the characters into moral dilemmas than it does the sheer body horror the comics rely on.