The monstrous world of Something Is Killing the Children is leaving the pages of its bestselling horror comic and heading for your dining room table. Tiny Onion, the production company founded by comic writer James Tynion IV, has announced something is killing the children: A Gridstorm Game, a new 1v1 tabletop card battler built on Tynion’s series illustrated by Werther Dell’Edera. Designed by Wayves Creative Co., with art supplied by Dell’Edera himself, the project is set to launch on Kickstarter in 2027, giving fans an opportunity to take control of monster hunter Erica Slaughter and her band of Hunters.
The announcement, which Polygon can exclusively reveal, marks another milestone for a franchise that has ballooned well beyond its modest origins. While the game promises to channel the source material’s signature dread, it will do so with considerably less blood than readers might expect from the comics’ savage battles. Players will build decks drawn from an increasingly expansive cast of characters and creatures as the Slaughterverse continues to grow.
A Grid-Based Duel for Survival
Gridstorm centers on a grid-based battlefield, where strategic positioning and character-specific card effects determine which side survives each encounter. Each deck will feature a roster of characters and creatures pulled from the comic’s ever-widening universe, allowing competitors to assemble custom lists built around their favorite figures. The design leans into the competitive card-game format while remaining faithful to the tone that has made Tynion and Dell’Edera’s collaboration one of the most acclaimed horror properties in recent comics history.
“Something is Killing the Children is one of my favorite comics of the last few years. I’ve been dying to share what we’ve been building. Getting to collaborate with James, Werther, BOOM!, and Tiny Onion has been an absolute dream. The way we are integrating comics and gaming is truly something special, and fans of the comic and competitive card games are going to have a blast collecting and building decks full of their favorite characters.”
Michael Walsh, Wayves CEO and co-creator of Exquisite Corpses: The Game
Walsh’s enthusiasm is well-founded. As the co-creator of Exquisite Corpses: The Game, another title that bridges comics and tabletop play through Tiny Onion, he brings direct experience to a project that seeks to fuse two mediums rather than merely adapt one into the other.
The Evolution of the Slaughterverse
The card game arrives at a moment when Something Is Killing the Children has grown considerably since its 2019 debut. What began as a five-issue horror miniseries following a mysterious monster hunter drifting through forgotten American towns has, nearly fifty issues later, expanded into House of Slaughter spinoffs, a novel, a Webtoon adaptation, a DC crossover, and upcoming film and animated television projects from Blumhouse.
Tynion approaches the long-running series with an authorial structure that suits such broad expansion. He recently told Polygon that he views each roughly fifteen-issue arc as its own self-contained Erica Slaughter novel, describing the work as closer to a long-running genre franchise than a conventional monthly comic. In his framing, Erica functions much like Hercule Poirot: a recurring figure who carries readers into new tragedies rather than necessarily dominating every story herself.
“We’ve been playing our cards close to the vest on this one.”
James Tynion IV, co-creator of Something Is Killing the Children
That structural flexibility helps explain why the game’s decision to let players inhabit both sides of the comic’s central conflict feels like a natural extension of the world. By allowing competitors to command either Erica Slaughter or the Hunters, Gridstorm invites participants to explore the moral and narrative tensions that define the series.
A First Taste Before Full Launch
The trading card serves as both a teaser and an early collector’s item, hinting at the art direction players can expect once Gridstorm reaches Kickstarter. For those who have followed Erica Slaughter since the series’ earliest issues, it represents another tangible way to engage with a universe that has proven remarkably resilient across print, screen, and now tabletop.
Looking Ahead
With the game slated for a 2027 Kickstarter campaign, Tiny Onion and Wayves Creative Co. have laid out a clear path from announcement to production. The October 7 trading card and its New York Comic Con availability provide an initial touchpoint for enthusiasts eager to see how the Slaughterverse translates into competitive play.
As the franchise continues to multiply across media, Gridstorm represents yet another frontier for Something Is Killing the Children. Whether it can capture the same critical acclaim as the comics remains to be seen, but its early reveals suggest a carefully considered adaptation that respects both the source material and the strategic demands of the card-game format.
Join the conversation