Originally Posted by
scribbleMind
I don't think Ghost Rider and Hulk is a 1:1 comparison in this. The Hulk is one of the biggest comic book characters of all time with a huge general audience that was reading the book before horror elements were added to it the way it was. It is easier to add horror elements into a book like that and maintain a portion of its audience than to convince a new audience to take a chance on a horror book. Furthermore, because it is the Hulk the portion that sticks around is likely be bigger than the number of literally everyone who tries a Ghost Rider book. In general, it seems to me that most horror books don't sell well, but if horror is injected into a book like Venom then people will buy and enjoy it. The list of failed horror books go on and on, Howling Commandos, Morbius, Monsters Unleashed, etc. It is a way bigger issue than just Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider is luckier than most, I suspect. I don't think the recent Werewolf by Night series is going to prove lucrative.
Now, this may be due to personal bias, but I do wonder if their failure is often because the horror elements in these books are often so soft and shallow. A lot of times despite being in the horror or supernatural sub-genre the books have a generic superhero tone. Hulk is the most uncompromised horror book since Carnage, I think, and both of those books sell/sold well.