Collected Content
New Ghostbusters (Issues #1-4, pages 7-86)
The opening arc introduces the substitute team taking over while the original Ghostbusters are trapped in another dimension. Issue #2's Retailer Incentive cover is reproduced on page 6 as a frontispiece.
Trains, Brains, and Ghostly Remains (Issues #5-8, pages 87-166)
The second arc follows the New Ghostbusters and begins integrating supernatural threats tied to transit and the city's layered history.
Happy Horror Days! (Issues #9-12, pages 179-250)
A holiday-themed arc spanning issues #9 through #12.
Mass Hysteria! Prelude (pages 251-264)
Two prelude stories bridge the earlier arcs into the climactic event:
- "The Old Days" (from Issue #11), pages 251-257
- "Field Trip" (from Issue #12), pages 258-264
Mass Hysteria! Part One (Issues #13-16, pages 265-345)
The first half of the eight-issue climactic event, collecting issues #13 through #16.
Mass Hysteria! Part Two (Issues #17-20, pages 347-432)
The concluding half of the "Mass Hysteria!" event, collecting issues #17 through #20.
Backup Stories
Scattered through the collection are backup strips presented between arcs:
- "Tee Time Terror" (from Issue #10), pages 167-169
- "Blah Blah Blob" and "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn" (from Issue #5), pages 170-172
- "Visitation" (from Issues #7 and #8), pages 173-177
- "The Real Ghostbusters: In the Box" (from Issues #1-4), pages 433-441
Art Gallery (pages 442-463)
The back matter includes:
- Designs of The Collectors (from Issue #6), pages 442-443
- Erik Burnham's pin-up pages (from Issue #9), pages 444-446
- A comprehensive cover gallery spanning pages 447-461, reproducing regular, variant, subscription, and retailer incentive covers for all 20 issues, plus front covers for trade paperback Volumes 6-9
- A Harold Ramis tribute page (page 462)
Cover Design
The physical book itself is designed around the iconic Ghost Trap. The front cover is a bird's-eye view of a closed Trap. Opening the book, the inside front cover shows the perspective of looking up into the Trap's opening from the inside, and page 1 continues the conceit with a view looking into the Trap's interior. The sequence resolves on the final pages: page 464 depicts a Trap circuit board, the interior back cover displays a full Trap schematic, and the back cover shows the underside of the Trap housing.
Crew
| Role |
Name |
| Writer |
Erik Burnham |
| Pencilers |
Dan Schoening, Evan Shaner, Erik Burnham, Blair D. Shedd, Felipe Torrent, Erik Evensen |
| Colorists |
Luis Antonio Delgado, Andrew Harmon, Samuel Plata, Ester Salguero, Anna Chher |
| Letterers |
Neil Uyetake, Gilberto Lazcano, Chris Mowry |
| Editors |
Tom Waltz, Justin Eisinger, Alonzo Simon |
| Front Cover |
Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado |
| Introduction |
Dan Aykroyd |
Development
On January 30, 2015, Erik Burnham publicly confirmed the Mass Hysteria hardcover and announced it would collect the entirety of Volume 2 with an introduction by Dan Aykroyd.
On July 18, 2015, Dan Schoening posted the full art used as the credits page background, a crowd scene featuring ghosts from across the Volume 2 run. The image includes an unobstructed view of the Constable Ghost, who is partially cropped in the printed hardcover.
On July 20, 2015, Schoening posted the Trap schematic artwork that appears on the interior back cover.
Easter Eggs and References
The opening pages contain numerous in-universe and real-world references:
- Page 2 features a bag of Stay Puft Marshmallows and a box of Cheez-Its, both visible in the first film. A coffee mug references Egon's Cobalt line from Ghostbusters II (the mug first appeared on page 16 of What in Samhain Just Happened?!). A business card for Ray's Occult Books and a disassembled Trap with its schematic beneath it complete the scene.
- Page 3 includes a bag of Wise Potato Chips (seen in the first film and intermittently through the series) and a calculator left on four digits reading "Zuul."
- Page 4 presents a crowd of Volume 2 ghosts drawn by Dan Schoening: the Judge Ghost (Issue #16), Stingy Jack (Issue #9), Gareth Dibello (Issue #2), the Vegas Ghost (Issues #7 and #8, its first appearance drawn by Schoening), the Jail Jaw Ghost (Issue #1), the Sinterklaas Ghost (Issue #11), the Grendel (Issue #3), the Five Points Killer (Issue #13), the Phantom Train Conductor (Issue #5), and the hat of the Constable Ghost (Issue #10).
- Page 5 contains Dan Aykroyd's introduction, in which he acknowledges Ivan Reitman, the late Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and John Daveikis, who contributed concept art when the project was first pitched to Reitman under the working title "Ghost Smashers."
Three covers from the original monthly run are not reprinted in the hardcover: the Issue #1 Second Printing cover, the Issue #10 Subscription Cover, and the Issue #17 Subscription Cover. (The placement of the Issue #1 covers on page 448 does approximate the second printing's placement.)
References
- IDW Publishing, Ghostbusters: Mass Hysteria hardcover (2015)
- Fandom Ghostbusters Wiki, "IDW Publishing Comics: Ghostbusters: Mass Hysteria"
