New comics by young illustrators inspired by PRONI's most haunting archives

During the Halloween half-term break, a group of 24 aspiring young illustrators aged 7-13 joined us for an online ‘spooky comics’ programme. 

Throughout the week, the participants were joined by the team from Public Record Office NI and Nerve Centre to explore some of Ulster’s most haunting archives, uncovering real stories of witches, ghosts and ghouls for inspiration to create a series of spooky comics. 

As part of the programme, the participants also got the opportunity to develop skills in lettering, drawing and colouring comics with the help of leading illustrator and writer John D Ruddy, equipping them with many tricks of the trade to apply to their comic book creation. 

The programme resulted in the participants creating a new spooky comic bringing five of PRONI's archives to life that is now available to explore online below.