Batman: Haunted Knight


Batman: Haunted Knight is an anthology trade paperback published by DC Comics in 1996. It reprinted three one-shot specials from the previous three years. Each of the stories was written by Jeph Loeb and featured art by Tim Sale. The popularity of these three stories led to the three miniseries Batman: The Long Halloween #1-13, Batman: Dark Victory #0-13 and Catwoman: When in Rome #1-6.

Plot

During the story "Fears", Batman is hunting down and trying to capture the Scarecrow. As the title suggests, fear plays a large part in the story, with Batman nearly dying of fear while trapped in a large, poisonous thorn maze.
"Madness" tells the story of Captain James Gordon's daughter, Barbara, being kidnapped by the Mad Hatter and forced to participate in a twisted tea party with other kidnapped children. Batman and Gordon finally save Barbara and bring down the Mad Hatter.
"Ghosts" is a Batman universe version of A Christmas Carol, with Bruce's father Thomas Wayne taking the place of Jacob Marley, and the three spirits being Poison Ivy, the Joker, and a Grim Reaper figure who turns out to be Batman's ghost. The message from the spirits is that Bruce should not let Batman take over his entire life.

Background

The graphic novel reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #1, Batman: Madness - A Legends Of The Dark Knight Halloween Special, and Batman: Ghosts - A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special written by Loeb and art by Sale respectively. These stories were specials and spin-offs of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight series.

Collected editions

The entire series has been collected in trade paperbacks, an absolute edition, and a deluxe edition:
Category:Comics by Jeph Loeb
Haunted Knight
Category:Horror comics
Haunted Knight
Category:1996 in comics
Category:Superhero horror comics