—Ghost RiderHe was in a dark place, but he came back stronger. Parker Robbins. The Hood. It is clear now that this is beyond Johnny's abilities or yours. Halloween is a night for monsters.
Appearing in "Halloween Spirit"
Featured Characters:
- Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) (Possessed by Zarathos)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Hood's Gang
- Halloween Spirit (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Samhain (Referenced)
- Jacob Micawber (First appearance)
- Doctor Strange (Dr. Stephen Strange) (Mentioned)
- The Devil (Invoked)
- Mary Jane Watson (Mentioned)
- Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Realities:
Locations:
- Earth
- United States of America
- Massachusetts
- Bloodstone Curios (Mentioned)
- United States of America
- Hell (Invoked)
Items:
- Dormammu's Cloak
- Hallow Gospels (First appearance)
- Bloodgem
- Ghost Rider's Chain
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Halloween Spirit"
On Halloween night in Salem, Massachusetts, the Hood invades a paranormal book collection to steal a dangerous tome of Hallow Gospels. Brutalizing the shop owner, he summons forth the spirit of Samhain, transforming his lackeys outside. In their motel hideout, Johnny Blaze carves a pumpkin before Talia Warroad senses something is wrong. Johnny feels it too before a knocking at the door becomes a crash and Elsa Bloodstone enters the room. Enlisting their aid, she tells them of the looming threat and shows them to the pumpkin shaped dome encapsulating Salem. Talia reaches into the sinister fog, and pulls back a hideously transformed appendage that attacks her before she can revert it. Casting them in a protective shield to prevent further infection by the Halloween spirit, Talia, Johnny and Bloodstone step into the city.
Inside, Johnny’s other half is uneasy as they walk past crowds of onlookers, transformed into hideous monsters. The Rider summons him a flaming chain to help fight back as the citizens attack the trio. Talia casts a large cleansing spell, reverting many back to human form, before she is abducted by flying beasts. Elsa shoots one with her gun, which brings it flying back to her, knocking aside her firearm. Infusing it with hellfire, Johnny shoots the creature in the chest, killing it. The creature reverts back to human, and Johnny reads the dead gangster’s sins, learning of the Hood’s involvement in the night’s chaos. No longer believing this to be a job for Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider steps onto the scene.
The occult bookkeeper wakes and finds himself tied up. The Hood plucks an eye from the man’s head and consumes it, using his blood to write in the blank pages of the Hallow Gospels. An underling enters with an unconscious Talia and lays her next to the bookkeeper. The Ghost Rider calls forth his Hell Cycle and tells Elsa Bloodstone to rescue Talia before riding off to face the manifestation of the Halloween spirit. Bloodstone shoots down the guards outside the bookshop and heads inside, where books with teeth attack her. Talia’s eyes open and she blasts the Hood to the side, struggling with the villain before Elsa runs in to join her. Somersaulting away from the Hood’s gunfire, she takes hold of the book and slams its pages shut, ending the threat of both the Halloween spirit and the Hood. The crisis abated, Elsa takes custody of the Hallow Gospels, and Johnny and Talia ride off, with a suspicion that the Hood’s presence still lingers.
Solicit Synopsis
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, GHOST RIDER!
• Halloween is a night for monsters…and the Hood is one of those monsters!
• Can Ghost Rider and special guest ELSA BLOODSTONE put a stop to the Hood’s plans?
• Or is this the final Halloween?
• Don’t miss this special issue that lays the foundation for the future of Ghost Rider!Notes
- Elsa Bloodstone got her Bloodstone hand in Marvel Zombies (Vol. 2) #4.