The Heir Brings Irish Folk Horror to Mad Cave Studios

A trip to Ireland to announce an engagement should be a happy occasion, right? Apparently nobody told the family in The Heir. Mad Cave Studios is bringing together Amber Benson and Christopher Golden for a five-issue folk-horror series that takes family secrets, ancient curses and the worst possible homecoming and mixes them into one nasty nightmare.

The story follows Dani, who travels to Ireland with her fiancé Conor expecting to share their big news with his family. Instead, the couple arrives for his grandfather’s funeral. That change in plans is bad enough, but the visit quickly exposes disturbing family history and a darkness that has been waiting for its moment to return.

As Dani digs deeper, she becomes entangled in a story of child abduction, murder and supernatural forces rooted in ancient folklore. Suddenly, her biggest concern isn’t whether the family approves of the engagement. It’s whether she can save the man she’s supposed to marry before everything around them collapses.

Benson and Golden have worked together before, including on the Slayers: A Buffyverse Story audio drama, but this is an original horror project built on their shared love of unsettling stories. Benson has cited Rosemary’s Baby and The Wicker Man as touchstones. That gives us a pretty good idea of the kind of dread they’re after: the slow, sickening realization that the people around you may be hiding something terrible.

Golden says the project originally began as a possible independent horror film before finding a home at Mad Cave. Comics feel like a smart fit for this kind of material, especially when so much of the terror comes from what lurks just beyond the edge of a familiar-looking landscape.

Artist Gavin Fullerton brings a connection to the Irish setting and folklore, with previous credits including The Closet, Bog Bodies and Tuatha. His work should help make the locations feel lived in rather than simply using Ireland as a spooky backdrop. Juancho! handles colors and Becca Carey provides lettering.

The first issue features a main cover by Jamie McKelvie, alongside variants from Mike Mignola, Rebekah Isaacs with Marissa Louise on colors, and Chuma Hill. That is a seriously strong cover lineup for a book that seems determined to make its readers uncomfortable.

I love horror that starts with something painfully ordinary, like meeting the in-laws, and then reveals that absolutely nothing is normal. The Heir has the ingredients for that kind of story, and this creative team knows how to build tension. Let’s see how dark this family tree gets.

Credits: Writers Amber Benson and Christopher Golden; art Gavin Fullerton; colors Juancho!; letters Becca Carey; main cover Jamie McKelvie. Publisher: Mad Cave Studios. Issue #1 on sale: January 13, 2027. Final order cutoff: November 30, 2026.