The birth of a child is a moment of joy, but also of a lot of insecurity, especially when it’s the first one. Fortunately, the internet helps with practically everything, except for warning about the true terror of parenthood: children’s songs. Between repeated plays of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Baby Shark,” author Lucio Luiz, father of twins, realized that most of these songs are already scary by nature, needing only a small push to become horror stories.
That’s how The Wheels on the Bus and Other Horror Stories (released in Portuguese as Atirei o Pau no Gato e Outras Histórias de Terror) was born: fifteen children’s songs transformed into horror comics, each one scripted by Lucio Luiz and drawn by a different Brazilian artist. The cover is by Rodrigo Mazer, and the book’s lettering, layout, and design are by Flavio Soares.
- I threw a stick at the cat — Carlos Gritti
- Itsy Bitsy Spider — Thiago Krening
- Finger Family — Laudo Ferreira
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star — Flavio Soares
- The cockroach says she has — Samuel Bono
- Baby Shark — Rodrigo Mazer
- Five Little Ducks — Chairim
- If You’re Happy… — Mario Cau
- Bingo — Wagner Willian
- One Elephant Went Out to Play — Ana Pepper
- The More We Get Together — Luiza Lemos
- Johny Johny — Little Goat
- March, soldier Paper Head — Caio Oliveira
- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes — Caio Zero
- The Wheels on the Bus — Isaque Sagara
Three stories in the book are based on children’s songs that are very popular in Brazil, but which are not well known in other countries: “I threw a stick at the cat” (also the title of the Portuguese edition, for being Brazil’s most popular children’s song), “The cockroach says she has,” and “March, soldier Paper Head.” English-language versions exist for the last two under other names (“Mrs. Cockroach” and “Paper hat soldiers,” respectively), but the literal translation of the Portuguese name was used instead, since it made more sense for the stories.
The book was a finalist for the 2024 Ignatz Award, a major American independent comics award, in the Outstanding Anthology category: the first time a Brazilian publisher competed directly, with its own publication, for this award. In Brazil, it was also a finalist for the Prêmio Aberst de Literatura (crime or horror comics category), the Troféu HQ Mix (best comics adaptation), and the Prêmio Angelo Agostini, in both the best release and best writer categories.
Listen to the original songs
Listen below or use the QR code to open the Spotify playlist on your phone:
