After 2 Years, The 2020s' Biggest Horror Icon Is Back For A Bold New Era

Published Oct 15, 2026, 11:30 PM EDT

Mark has been a comic book journalist for over 15 years and has interviewed comic book creators like Gail Simone and Caspar Wijngaard. And when he's not writing, he's working on beating his record of 1,200 comics read in a year.

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James Tynion’s Something Is Killing the Children is the success that every comic book creator dreams of. The popularity of Boom! Studios’ comic book is thanks to impeccable storytelling, character development, and art. It also helps that writer James Tynion has a knack for creating the kind of tales that can chill a person to their bones without going overboard without a purpose. The series follows lead character Erica Slaughter as she realizes the faults in the monster-hunting organization, The Order of St. George. For example, the title of Something is Killing the Children doesn’t just relate to the monsters. Sometimes, the hunters are forced to kill kids.

Such heinous deeds will naturally take their toll. Rather than wait for something to turn her heartless or into an alcoholic like her mentor, Erica quits The Order. However, you can’t just leave a job like this. Erica Slaughter was hunted, but eventually is presumed dead by The Order of St. Georges. After a lot of traveling, she lands at a place where she earned her right to hunt on her own and encounters someone she saved years ago named Bex. It took a long talk and some honesty, but they forgave each other for their past mistakes. Erica leaves America the next morning, but not before Bex tells Erica that she knows Erica will return. She was right.

The Return Of Erica Slaughter

A year had passed since Bex told her that an evil woman named Cecilia Slaughter took over as the head of The Order of St. George (a title known as the Dragon). While Erica was watching TV, she saw a news report that another group of children had been mysteriously killed. She knew what was killing them, and realized that Bex was right. Erica took a swig of alcohol and prepared to hammer the implant in her head that allowed her to see monsters. It was officially time for her to return.

Bex knew that Erica wouldn’t allow Cecilia to start training kids to become monster killers, especially since Cecilia is more than willing to sacrifice them and train more later. The Order of St. Georges has a noble cause of killing monsters before they can slaughter people. Sadly, the wrong person in charge can lead to kids getting killed. Not just by monsters. The order is known to murder anyone who knows what’s going on or has seen a monster. That was partly why Erica left, and why the previous Dragon liked Erica.

What Does The Dragon Have Waiting For Erica?

Before Cecilia’s predecessor died, he gave a Black Mask named Maxine a letter with Erica’s name on it in Fall of the House of Slaughter. Although Erica was marked as dead, the Dragon knew better (despite playing coy later). He's aware of how resourceful she was and that the body that was retrieved wasn't Erica's.

Later, the dying Dragon goes on to talk about the importance of the Black Masks (the solo hunters), how their founder (George Cutter) was one, and his concern that there aren’t many left. This likely means that he would have voted to put Erica in a position to be his successor. At the very least, he knows that Erica, being a former Black Mask, could return them to their glory.

As of now, there’s no concrete date for when Something Is Killing The Children #51 will be released. Regardless of when that happens, it’s easy to guess that Erica Slaughter’s return will cause a lot of chaos within the Order of St. George, and the letter Maxine has will be the key to the future of the series.