Each week, DC Comics will be releasing a free—that's right, FREE—digital comic book issue featuring a sample chapter from one of our 25 Essential Graphic Novels as well as sample pages from the 2014 Essentials catalog. These special issues, which will be available for free for one week, are ideal for new fans looking to learn more about DC Universe and its mature readers imprint Vertigo, and provide the perfect reading guide for those looking to wade the waters of DC Entertainment's extensive library of graphic novels and collections.

This week: AMERICAN VAMPIRE #1!

If you read comics, you know Scott Snyder. If you don’t live under a rock, you know Stephen King. Snyder (BATMAN, THE WAKE) and King (legendary master of horror/nightmare factory) team up for this vampire epic that weaves together decades of American expansion and undead evolution. Cunning, ruthless and rattlesnake mean, Skinner Sweet has himself a bad reputation. As the first vampire conceived on American soil, however, he’s not your usual creature of the night. Stronger, fiercer and powered by the sun, Sweet is first of a new breed of bloodsucker: the American Vampire.

Forty-five years after rising from his grave, Sweet finds himself in 1920s Los Angeles, where the young and beautiful are drawn like moths to the burning lights of Hollywood. Something beyond simple human greed is at work here, however, as struggling young actress Pearl Jones is about to discover. When her movie star dreams are transformed into a bloody nightmare, Sweet provides her only chance for survival as well as the power to take revenge.

Innovative, genuinely scary, and heightened by Rafael Albuquerque’s art, American Vampire is a must-read for fans of horror and supernatural fiction. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to sample this amazing series with VERTIGO ESSENTIALS: AMERICAN VAMPIRE #1, available FREE starting today until December 8^th! You can download your free comic by clicking here.