While The Sandman had plenty of literary aspirations, it was always a horror comic at heart.
Those first eight issues was a sort of horror comic.
Sandmanwas a unique project in that it explored myths and legends from every angle and iteration.
It was a non-linear endeavor, jumping around through time and space as quickly as it jumped around point-of-view.
Cain and Abel and the Witches would soon return in other titles, becoming iconic Vertigo staples.
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From the earliest issues ofSandman, the titles horror roots were evident.
The Faustian deal is the first of an endless series of horror tropes utilized inSandman.
The very name of the prison for the insane was lifted from the works of H.P.
Lovecraft creating a perfect synergy of horror elements from pulp literature and comics.
At Lucifers side was Mazikeen, a demoness who had half her visage rotted and peeled away.
This willingness to shake the fabric of myth and legend was seen inSandmans next stop, Arkham Asylum.
He is a horrid creature, two mouths where his eyes should be and absolutely no morals.
We provide some sort of substance to them, and in this way we are no more than cattle.
For the Corinthian, that sustenance would be human fear.
Along with beings like the Corinthian, there were contemporary nightmares to focus on.
One of the most memorable of these modern terrors was the serial killer conventionfeatured in The Dolls House.
What do serial killers talk about at a convention?
Do they enjoy dancing?
What do they like to drink?
Indeed, their casual intrigues are some of the most notable moments of the issue.
This casual approach to the serial killer archetype somehow makes them even more frightening.
The convention shows that nightmare is not limited to the Dreaming.
The nature of dream is change, from wakefulness to sleep, from reality to dream logic.
Horror and dreaming are similar states where a person has no control.
Volume three ofSandman, Dream Country,was an exploration of the different possibilities of dream.
The unlikely protagonist of the story was Element Girl, an almost forgotten DC heroine.
In the tale, Element Girl longs for death as she grows weary with her freakish metahuman anatomy.
The constant irony of The Sandman is that Dream potentially brings horrors but Death always brings mercy and release.
Gaiman humanizes them, filling the demons with unfulfilled desire and ambition.
They become more than just boogiemen, but dreamers themselves.
The same idea of the likable but chilling archetype is embodied in the witch, Thessaly.
The main characters of the story are Barbie and Wanda.
Her death and subsequent funeral are heart breaking and stays with a reader.
All of the people in the whole world no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside.
Thousands, maybe, Wandas tragedy is that these worlds were marginalized and deemed impure.
In this story, human judgment became the monster as equal to the Corinthian in its destructive power.
Fables and Reflections is volume six ofSandmanand is an ambitious non-linear look at power throughout history.
Each story not only focuses on the nature of power, but also the horror myths of many cultures.
The Song of Orpheus is particularly embedded in horror tradition as Dream must sacrifice his son, Orpheus.
Orpheus is forced to endure a beheading and an eternal existence as a sentient head.
The creator of that state must be defined by the uncertain roles of dream.
It means that were just dolls.
Its this dichotomy that makes Dream so fascinating.
His family, the Endless also exist in a series of dichotomies, the most disturbing being Delirium.
Delirium takes center stage in Brief Lives, fromSandmanvolume seven.
She is the consequence of being a victim and a constant reminder that even hypothetical beings can know suffering.
The apotheosis of any effective horror story is finality or death.
In Worlds End a group of travelers are stranded in, another horror trope, a strange inn.
There, the stranded travelers tell tales to pass the time.
The first story, A Tale of Two Cities, is clearly in the grand horror tradition of H.P.
The ancient Greek play writers were no stranger to visceral horror.
One reading ofOedipus the Kingor theBacchaeand modern readers will understand where horror tradition stemmed from.
The Kindly Ones appeared in theOresteiaas vengeful spirits that exist to destroy those who spilled familial blood.
They play the same role in Sandman, horrific beasts that are forces of nature.
Through Lyta, Gaiman inserts a character that was not created to exist in a world of cosmic horrors.
Sandmanwas many things; it was a balance between hope and horror, dreams and nightmares.
