As an Amazon Prime member (#nonspon), I now have access to something called “Prime Reading”. They seemed to have joined up with Comixology (#stillnonspon) to bring Prime members the ability to read some comics completely free-of-charge. One of the comics included in this was Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a horror take on our dearly beloved teenage witch from Greendale.
Cover of Book One. You immediately know it’s our favourite witch! – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Archie Horror, 2013-Present
As part of a reboot of the Archie franchise in 2013, Archie Horror was born. With that came the Afterlife with Archie series, closely followed by Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – an occult retelling of Sabrina’s childhood in the 1960’s. It is written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who writes the other Archie Horror series’, drawn by Robert Hack, and is based on Sabrinas occasional appearance in Afterlife. As a lover of Sabrina while growing up; both live action sitcom and the animated show, I just had to read it. Especially because it was free for me to do so via the kindle app. I’ve never read a comic in a digital form (other than web based), and this was an interesting experience for me… once I figured out how to make it go forwards and backwards when I wanted it to. Just a quick side note; please don’t imagine this Sabrina is anything like Melissa Joan Hart – she is anything but good in this iteration.
Edward taking Sabrina from Diana in the woods – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Archie Horror, 2013-Present
I am a girl that scares easily. I find anything with the hint of “horror” bedwettingly terrifying. I am a massive whimp. But I do love the occult, and have read some H.P Lovecraft – so I thought I would give it a shot. Who doesn’t love witches, right? I was so glad I read it. I have not enjoyed a series in a while, and I was hooked from the get go. Our story begins one year after Sabrina’s birth – on Halloween, of course; Edward Spellman (her dad) is waiting to perform a ritual to summon his Dark Lord. Without giving away too many spoilers, he uses his magic to steal his daughter away from Diana, his wife, and turns her into nothing more than a potato – putting her into an insane asylum. A few years later, and even her father is out of the picture, leaving Sabrina in the family unit that we know; herself, Aunt Hilda, Aunt Zelda and good ol’ faithful Salem, the naughty man turned cat. As you might remember from the 90s show, Zelda and Hilda try to get Sabrina to only use her magic for good – in this, it’s almost the other way around.
Ah Salem! Our favourite Man-Cat! – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Archie Horror, 2013-Present
The Spellman sisters want Sabrina to use her magic to best suit the family, undermining mortals for the coven. They are apathetic to her human side, and can’t understand her teenage love for Harvey Kinkle, witches have been denied the right to marry mortals by Satan himself. I won’t forget the scene where Sabrina places her hand on the unholy bible and, instead of raising her hand to the judge, places her hands in the ‘corna’ (which you might know as the Dio-hand-salute from Black Sabbath… the rock hand gesture) instead – signifying the devil over God.
I really want to read the rest of this series. I loved that they included the characters from the original Archie lineup, and really recommend people give it a go! If anyone fancies helping me get more physical copies of Chilling Adventures into the library, then I will gladly accept!
UPDATE 20/09/2017 – Sabrina is getting a TV show from the CW (the same people that make Riverdale). This has been reported on the Nerdist. Link HERE! I am hella excited!
Have you read Chilling Adventures? Do you remember Sabrina when you were growing up? Ever thought of her as a bad witch? Perhaps you hate this iteration of Sabrina and want Melissa back to right this comics wrongs! Leave a comment down below!
(Header Image: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Archie Horror, 2013-Present)
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