Estuary: A Ghost Story Is a Gorgeous New Horror Comic to Watch in 2026

Oni Press has long been one of the best outlets for comic fans hungry for new horror series, and that trend continues in 2026 with the debut of a new four-issue miniseries called Estuary: A Ghost Story. Set on the Pacific coast, this visually stunning series deals with a marine archaeologist uncovering a terror hidden in an old shipwreck.

IGN can exclusively debut the first preview for Estuary: A Ghost Story #1. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:

Estuary: A Ghost Story is written by Tim Daniel & David “D.B.” Andry (Crush Depth, Morning Star) and illustrated by Maan House (Mine is a Long Lonesome Grave). The first issue features covers by Maan House, Vanesa Del Rey, and Tim Daniel. Here’s Oni’s official logline for the new series:

Atop a rocky cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean sits the Mission at Arbués Point, a 400-year-old Spanish mission made infamous as one of California’s oldest and most haunted historical sites. But beneath its crumbling, tourist-trap facade, a reclusive nun has spent decades within the Mission’s walls, honing her prayers and practice in pursuit of a secret long-buried beneath the majesty of the chapel, and under the dark waves of the tidal estuary below. When marine archaeologist Maris Cristobal accepts the nun’s offer to begin excavating a fabled shipwreck lying in wait beneath the Mission’s turbulent waters, she’ll soon discover that the sins of past and present are about to wash together into a harrowing surge of a vengeance that can no longer be contained…

“Estuary: A Ghost Story is a pretty perfect example of Tim and I writing what we know,” said Andry in a press release. “Both of us hailing from Northern California and growing up in and around San Francisco, Bodega Bay and Monterey, this book captures the haunted vibes, the mystery, the romance and the sense of history of these areas. Myself being raised Catholic, tying the other-worldly elements of Estuary to the very real past of the Missions I grew up making dioramas of, was both natural and cathartic. This was a story that poured out of Tim and I, more like something waiting to be discovered rather than something created.”

“With Estuary: A Ghost Story, we were invited by editor Bess Pallares to be a part of Oni Press’ storied history with a modern gothic tale shrouded in fog, set aflame, and driven over the cliffs of Monterey Bay,” said Daniel. “Artist Maan House and colorist Steve Canon have combined their talents to conjure a book awash with a dreadfully thick atmosphere drenched in Maan’s deep blacks and alight with Steve’s brazen Hammer Horror-esque colors. The mix of the spiritual and the supernatural is thick and present on every page, but a gothic tale is not complete without a touch of romance, and in Maris Cristobal and Hunt Willis readers can expect our unwitting sleuths to discover not only their desire for one another, but a deep dark malevolence lurking beneath the grounds of the old Mission at Point Arbués—an age-old vengeance enrobed in extreme piousness. Estuary: A Ghost Story is a modern gothic tale for the smartphone age.”

Estuary: A Ghost Story #1 will be released on April 8, 2026. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.

In other comic book news, find out which series was selected as IGN’s best comic book of 2025, and see which comics we’re most excited for in 2026.

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