Down and Dirty!

It is Halloween and the children of San Francisco are out trick-or-treating. However, a group of children fall prey to some bullies trying to steal their candy. He webs up one of the bullies and tosses the other across the neighborhood. While Venom is giving the kids back their candy, the first bully cuts loose from Venom's webbing and makes a run for it.[1] The would-be candy thief jumps the turnstile and gets aboard a BART subway train. Thinking that he had gotten away, the lights on the subway train suddenly go out. Suddenly, he is swarmed by tiny laughing creatures that rip him to shreds. As they commit their grisly murder, the spectral image of a goblin watches over them.

Meanwhile, Venom has given up searching for the candy-thief, as he has his own life to deal with. Leaping down to the streets, Venom changes back into Eddie Brock. There a teenager in a Spider-Man costume runs past him, startling Brock momentarily. He realizes that even though he has an uneasy truce with Spider-Man, seeing his costume still causes an emotional reaction.[2] He then happens past a political rally put on by Charles Palentine, who is running for mayor of San Francisco. His speech is interrupted by a man who accuses him of being a crook, but he is suddenly swarmed by other people in the crowd. Eddie briefly considers getting involved, but decides against it as he cannot police the entire city. Further down the way, Eddie notices a late edition of the San Francisco Journal about the would-be thief slaughtered on the BART. The newspaper also has reports about people claiming to see goblins in the city. Brock decides to check it out and hops onto a subway train. On the ride, the lights suddenly go out and the passengers are swarmed by goblins, much to Eddie's surprise. Changing into Venom, he begins attacking the creatures. However, when they begin to shriek, the combined noise causes pain to Venom's symbiote. This forces Venom to leap out of the back of the subway car. Recovering from the sonic attack, Venom wonders where these goblins came from and why are they attacking the people of the city.

While at the campaign headquarters of Charles Palentine, the would-be mayor is proposing a toast when suddenly the shrill laughter of goblins cause all the glass in the room to shatter. When the danger is over, Charles can see Alcatraz Prison from the window that overlooks San Francisco bay. It brings up a memory of a man being beaten in a prison cell. This is followed by the image of millions of glowing red eyes laughing in the darkness. The laughter that shattered the windows of Palentine's office, has also affected windows all over the city. Seeing the damage, Eddie Brock wonders how he can protect the people of San Francisco when the sonic attacks have left him weak as a baby. While on the other side of the country, Morbius the Living Vampire watches as a bunch of men offload a boat under the cover of darkness. One of the men trips and drops one of the crates, it breaks open on the ground, spilling drugs onto the docks. This gives Morbius all the justification he needs to sate his bloodlust and ambushes the men. His superior strength and hypnotic glare give Morbius an advantage over the group of men and he incapacitates them all. Before he can feed on one of the drug dealers, there is a piercing screech that is painful to the vampire. Suddenly, Morbius is teleported away to points unknown.

Back in San Francisco, Eddie spots a young couple being attacked by goblins in their home. Changing into Venom, Brock leaps into the window to help the frightened couple. Unfortunately, the goblins manage to escape by melting through the walls, leaving Venom to wonder how he can stop foes that can do this. While back in New York, a group of demon worshippers has gathered at the Library of Rhan to participate in a mystical ceremony. However, this is interrupted by the arrival of Demogoblin who has come to eliminate the men, considering them sinners for performing this dark ritual. After slaying the men and destroying their collection of mystical books, Demogoblin is struck by the same piercing sound that affected Morbius. Just like the living vampire, Demogoblin is suddenly teleported away. Over the next few days, the goblins continue to terrorize the city of San Francisco, prompting the mayor to order a quarantine of the entire city in order to prevent the goblins from leaving the city. This leads to protests from the citizens of San Francisco, especially followers of Charles Palentine's bid for mayor. In the meantime, Venom has continue his unsuccessful mission to rid the city of these creatures, has been searching the tunnels of the BART system, which has since been shut down during this crisis.

Once again, Venom is swarmed by a horde of goblins, who try to devour him alive. Venom fights back but is stunned by another sonic blast. This causes the symbiote to withdraw, leaving Eddie Brock at the mercy of these creatures. They pick up Eddie and carry him down into a deep cavern below the subway system. He is brought down to the to a cavern where a stone throne stands. There is a piercing sound, like the ones in New York. Suddenly, Morbius the Living Vampire teleports into the chair. Still seeking to sate his hunger, Morbius asks Eddie to look into his eyes, putting him into a hypnotic trance for Morbius can feed.

Continuity Notes

1. Venom is unimpressed that one of the children is dressed as Spider-Man, saying the boy that he should consider a more tasteful costume. Venom has had a long-standing hatred of Spider-Man, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300.

2. Spider-Man and Venom came to an uneasy truce in Amazing Spider-Man #375.