The Penanggalan This story by Mike Mignola was originally published by Dark Horse Comics and
Wizard Press as the lead story in
Hellboy Premier Edition (March
2004) along with
B.P.R.D.: Born Again which was a promotional for
Wizard available in three different covers: • A photographic cover was available to those who pre-ordered tickets to Wizard World Los Angeles 2004. • A cover drawn by
Guy Davis was available via a special offer to renew or subscribe to
Wizard. • A Mike Mignola-drawn cover was available via a mail-in offer found in
Wizard #148. The edition also included some pages from a sketchbook of monsters Mignola drew for pleasure during his spare time while assisting on the pre-production of the
Hellboy movie in Prague. Hellboy travels to
Malaysia in 1958 where a village devoid of Bomah
shamans has fallen victim to a demonic
penanggalan. A young guide leads him to the demon's cave, where Hellboy is met with a betrayal. Hellboy travels to
Alaska in 1961, where he finds not only the grave of the recently deceased
Hercules (who lived out the final years of his life in anonymity as a school janitor) but a monstrous
hydra. Hellboy's battle with the creature is interrupted by a mysterious lion girl that generates more than a few theories amongst the experts of the
B.P.R.D. Hellboy travels to
Norway in 1963 to seek the legendary troll witch, who, armed with only a wooden spoon, had ridden into battle against a group of
trolls on the back of a goat.
Dr. Carp's Experiment This story by Mike Mignola was originally published in one-shot anthology
The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings (August 27,
2003) and was Mignola's only original Hellboy comic book work that year. Hellboy travels to
Long Island,
New York in 1991, to investigate the haunted house of former Master of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra, Dr. Carp, who vanished in 1902. In a secret basement room, Hellboy uncovers the remains of the doctor's experiments and the source of the haunting.
The Ghoul This story by Mike Mignola was originally published in one-shot anthology
The Dark Horse Book of the Dead (June 1,
2005). Hellboy travels to
London in 1992 to hunt down the ghoulish poetry-reciting grave robber Edward Stokes who is at work in the city's
Hammersmith cemetery. Concurrently, B.P.R.D. agent Pauline Raskin encounters the innocent Mrs. Stokes, who is watching a puppet theatre production of
William Shakespeare's
Hamlet on television.
The Vampire of Prague This story (written by Mike Mignola and illustrated by
P. Craig Russell) was created specially for the collection. Hellboy arrives in
Prague on August 19, 1982, to challenge the former verger of St. Peter's Church, a vampiric gambler who was cursed for playing cards with the dead when he ran out of living opponents. Hellboy must beat him at his own game to end the reign of terror. ==References==