The horror anthology series delivers another duo of devilish delights, with a bullied child getting revenge through a scarecrow, and an ambitious business woman discovering that success comes with a price.

One of the greatest joys of the horror comic wraparound device that serves this show is the adverts for mail-away goods. How many times in my youth I’d look longingly at the Bazooka Joe prizes, X-ray specs and sea monkeys in American comics. This edition has ads for an actual-size Creepasaurus Rex and a genuine Monkey’s Paw… no good can come from that!

In the first story, The Companion, written by Matt Venne from a short story by Joe, Kasey and Keith Lansdale, Logan Allen plays Harry, a miserable child who is constantly beaten by his older brother, Billy. He hides out by the river, his only friend seemingly being Smitty, but his moment of peace is broken when the vicious sibling catches up with him. Crossing a field, Harry discovers a skeletal scarecrow, which unknown to him can come to life if activated. David Bruckner directs a traditional revenge tale, upping the creep factor when the beast tries to break into the farmhouse. The resolution is predictable but satisfying, the real monster getting his comeuppance.

In Lydia Lane’s Better Half, Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) plays a highflying CEO, appointing employee Tom as new CFO, much to the chagrin of lover Celia (Danielle Lyn). The story, by Greg Nicotero and John Harrison, witnesses Celia and Lydia having a fight before the former is accidentally impaled on a ‘Women in Business’ award – I always thought these glass and metal shard trophies were potentially lethal. Thus follows the collapse of Lydia as she tries to get the body out of the building and gets stuck in the lift during an earthquake – literally losing her head in the process. Roxanne Benjamin directs this blackest of comedies with the lightest of touches, never doubting whose side we’re on.

Verdict: Simple morality tales with gruesome resolutions; crime and meanness don’t pay – remember that, kids.8/10

Nick Joy