by: Stephanie Shamblin Gray

The holidays are upon us and with that comes no shortage of family drama and shopping frenzies. Do yourself a favor while out shopping for gifts and stop by your local comic shop to check out some of these hot picks for December.

THE STRAIN #1

Who loves Guillermo Del Toro's movies, but doesn't have time to read novels? Soon we will have the chance to check out David Lapham's comic envisioning of Del Toro and Chuck Hogan's novel, THE STRAIN. We all want to learn about the vampire outbreak from all of these masters of horror, and at only $1, you can't go wrong picking up the first issue of this title.

David Lapham (W), Guillero del Toro (W), Chuck Hogan (W), Mike Huddleston (A/Cover), Steve Morris (Variant cover), and Dan Jackson (C)

When a Boeing 777 lands at JFK International Airport and goes dark on the runway, the Center for Disease Control, fearing a terrorist attack, calls in Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and his team of expert biological-threat first responders. Only an elderly pawnbroker from Spanish Harlem suspects a darker purpose behind the event--an ancient threat intent on covering mankind in darkness.

32 pages, $1, in stores on Dec. 14.

WITCH DOCTOR: THE RESUSCITATION

One of the best new brands of the year returns with a one-shot sure to please and disgust (not necessarily in that order). The creative team of Brandon Seifert and Lukas Ketner bring to us another crazy tale of our favorite resident witch doctor, Dr. Vincent Morrow in WITCH DOCTOR: THE RESUSCITATION.

Written by Brandon Seifert, art and cover by Lukas Ketner.

You wake up in a bathtub of ice with a surgical incision on your side but the hospital says you've still got two kidneys! Where do you go for a second opinion? Where else but Dr. Vincent Morrow, the Witch Doctor! Summer's medical horror smash hit returns with a tale of black magic and organ-swapping. And it's a great jumping-on point for new readers, so don't miss out -- ask your retailer to preorder a copy for you!

32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Dec. 14.

VALEN THE OUTCAST #1

After a recent title change due to copyright infringement from OUTCAST to VALEN THE OUTCAST, the latest offering from Michael Alan Nelson will be hitting shelves with the same great zombie Conan-like action!

Written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Matteo Scalera, cover by Liam Sharp and various.

Special $1 full first issue! The King is dead -- long live the Dead King! King Valen Brand was a just king and a great warrior until he was killed by a Necromancer in battle and resurrected as one of the walking dead. Now he's considered an abomination in his own realm, an outcast with only one purpose: to restore his lost soul!

22 pages, $1, in stores on Dec. 7.

INFESTATION HARDCOVER

Did you miss INFESTATION, one of this year's hottest comics and possibly the biggest cross-over ever? Here is your chance to read the whole story with this collected, hardcover edition that also features 22 pages of never before printed material, previously only available as a POCKET GODS digital download.

Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and Mike Raicht and Scott Tipton and David Tipton and Erik Burnham, art by David Messina and Giovanni Timpano and Nick Roche and Gary Erskine and Casey Maloney and Kyle Hotz, cover(s) by Ashley Wood.

IDW's first-ever mega event is collected in this hard cover collection as something goes horribly awry in the IDW universe: a dimensions-spanning zombie outbreak of epic proportions, which threatens to tear many of IDW's biggest realities asunder! The infestation spreads through the TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE, STAR TREK, and GHOSTBUSTERS universes. Zombie apocalypse looms and the remaining members of CVO are running out of options...

260 pages, $34.99, in stores Dec. 27

For more great December horror comics, check out Sandman's thread here.