Here comes another anaology horror series from Archie Horror!

Die and Dash is the story that brings readers to the Chocklit Shop that has turned from cheerful 50s nostaglia to something far more sinister as when Nick and Sherry get caught trying to dine and dash.

First off, I loved the choice to have Nick St. Clair and Sherry, both characters that have been one shot ones. So I was surprised to see them and then even more surprised to see them as a couple but hey, it’s cool. One of the fun things in the Archieverse are the endless couple permutations one can do.

So as they try to dine and dash, Pop catches them and enlists their services as his last employee couldn’t cut it in the work enviroment. In fact, he may be the dead one on the floor. It was quite abrupt and suddenly ends there. . . At least I thought so but Sherry and Nick’s story continues in between the other stories culminating in a killer ending that emphasizes the message–No one can escape Pop.

I mean the Terminator-esque red eyes was a big clue to that but just adds to the surreal landscape of this piece.

Night Shift has awesome art by Chris Panda that provides a sharp contrast of the bright colors of Kevin and the shop in comparison to the wiggling zombie-tongue creatures he is forced to serve during the night shift. It is genuinely freaky, and leaves you fearful for Kevin.

Soylent Teen continues the trend with betty being the unsuspecting final teen or final teens in this case when she finds out that Pop is serving Riverdale’s honor students to a cabal of cannibals. Not only is it darkly funny but new character, Stacy Banks takes the spotlight as she saves the day.

My one nitpick with the issue is one that I have brought up time and time again with these one shot is that it presents interesting stories but with the limited page length, it feels rushed and lacking in true horror because they only have 3 to set the scene, build the horror and do the twist. I understood I was supposed to feel creeped out but sometimes I was just confused.

While it was an interesting theme and I enjoyed the stories, I wish they would move away from the one shots. Make it a two shot if only so we can lengthen the stories and have more time to admire the art and the creepy situations the characters get into.

Also is it me or was it a bit of a lost opportunity not to feature a man eating plant like the Little Shop of Horrors this was named for?

3 stars. Decent but missing out on a bigger spark.