Comics are a perfect medium for telling horror stories. Their in-your-face and imaginative nature allow creators to imbue their macabre tales with a visceral quality, a sense of danger and even sexiness. That intoxicating, fun combination is why the monstrous antiheroes of Chaos! Comics (which debuted back in 1994) are enduring fan favorites. It also inspired Tim Seeley to create Hack/Slash, another cult favorite horror comic that is just as alluring, bloody and fun as the Chaos! Comics he read growing up.

This December, fans of both franchises are in for a treat, because Seeley and artist Raphael Lobosco are teaming up for Hack/Slash vs. Chaos, a miniseries from Dynamite Entertainment that sends Cassie and Vlad on a globe-hopping adventure and puts them in the crosshairs of their resurrected and greatest foes -- and the monstrous antiheroes of Chaos! CBR spoke with Seeley about his life-long love of Chaos!, the deep-cut characters from both Hack/Slash and Chaos! continuity that appear in the book and the larger impact he hopes the series will have on both franchises.

CBR: So Tim, you have a history with Chaos! Comics as both a fan and a creator since you pitted your Hack/Slash characters against Evil Ernie during that series' original run, and you even helped revive the larger Chaos! Universe for Dynamite. So, what is it about these characters and the Chaos! universe in particular that makes them so interesting to play with? Do you have a favorite Chaos! character?

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Tim Seeley: The really simple answer is that Chaos! is Jack Kirby, plus heavy metal, plus horror movies, and that's pretty much the perfect equation for entertainment right there. It's a big, crazy universe full of heroes who are conflicted monsters and outright villains, and a good deal of them are in their underwear! I go back and forth on my absolute favorite, but I think Purgatori is my favorite to write and draw.

Cassie and Vlad recently returned to action in the Image Comic series Hack/Slash Resurrection, which you edited and Tini Howard wrote. So, how does it feel to be back writing your creations? In the aftermath of the Chaos! revival, do they still have a history with Evil Ernie or any of the other established characters they'll run afoul of?

Yeah, this series takes place in Hack/Slash continuity, meaning the previous meeting with Evil Ernie way back when counts. And that lets me give this even more emotional weight and history. It's a blast to pick up where Tini left off and riff on her work. It ends up being a testament to the original concept behind Hack/Slash that it's so flexible. And I think Cassie and Vlad fit pretty seamlessly into the Chaos! universe... they're conflicted monster heroes themselves! And Cassie could trade wardrobes with Purgi or Chastity.

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[Laughs] With the Chaos! characters you've got an undead, demonically enhanced/possessed killer in Evil Ernie and his button Smiley, a vampire assassin in Chastity, a vampire goddess in Purgatori and, in the Chosen, a team of monstrous teens who are monster hunters. So, it feels like you've got a fun range of horror stories to play with in terms of your cast of characters. What does that mean for the action that Cassie and Vlad become embroiled in? What sort of places will they visit in this story?

This story will take us from one end of the earth to the other, and in-between. Each issue will focus on one particular "versus," as Cassie and Vlad discoverer a magic sword which can allegedly send all undead back to the underworld, including Slashers, vampires and zombies. And, of course, the Chaos! characters, being mostly undead, are not super hot on this idea. And we really lean into the idea that Cass and Vlad are pretty under-powered to handle some of these characters. These aren't little misunderstanding superhero tussles... these are down and dirty monster wars!

The solicits suggest that this series will also have some interest to longtime Hack/Slash fans in that some Slashers Cassie thought she dispatched for good are once again walking the Earth. What can you tell us about these returning characters? How deep a dive are you taking into past Hack/Slash continuity?

I'll be using as many as I can! Obviously, some of them are more personal for Cass and Vlad than others, but we'll start Issue #1 off with Cass and Evil Ernie against the killer from the Suicide Girls crossover, so no cut is too deep here.

What about the larger Chaos! mythos in this story? Will any familiar faces from that universe make their big return here?

I'm digging back into my back issues to pull out as many Chaos! characters as possible. The big stars will be Chastity, Purgatori and Ernie, but we'll see Cremator, the Chosen, Rath, some Valkyries and as many others as I can get in there.

You're working with artist Raphael Lobosco and, based on the preview art I've seen, he looks to have a great handle on Cassie, Vlad and Ernie. What's it like working with Raphael?

He did Hack/Slash v. Vampirella and was my first choice for this series. He does a lot of mood and shadow to go with his bombastic fight scenes.

Finally, a story like this feels like it could be a nice set up for future Hack/Slash stories and Chaos! tales. Is that part of the plan here?

Well, Hack/Slash: Resurrection ends with Issue #12 and leads into the Chaos! crossover. But, yes, the plan definitely sets up a new status quo and allows for some crazy stuff to follow.