Cavan Scott returns to the dark corner of the Star Wars universe that started with Tales from Vader’s Castle. This time, we are in the Original Trilogy era after The Empire Strikes Back at Jabba’s Palace. With Tales from the Rancor Pit it’s a similar format, a framing story with three nested stories. Scott writes the entirety, but each story has different artists (excluding the cover art by Kelley Jones and Michelle Madsen). The location of Jabba’s Palace is an underrated spooking setting, but, unfortunately, this graphic novel is far less entertaining than Tales from Vader’s Castle. Still, some individual stories are more fun than others.

**Spoilers for Dark Horse Star Wars: Tales from the Rancor Pit**

4. In the Lair of the Dragon Sluge 

Art by Rafael Pérez

Color Art by DJ Chavis

Canon Era: Age of Rebellion 

The Story: Han Solo is currently frozen in carbonate at Jabba’s Palace. But before that, he was freezing during the early days of establishing a Rebel base on Hoth. Princess Leia is directing fellow rebels to get a communications tower up and running before nightfall when a loud BOOM courtesy of Han and Chewie startles her. Then, they hear a roar and decide to investigate, leading to a series of unfortunate encounters.

The Monster: We get wampas, giant dragon sluges, and a giant spider. For a frozen planet, there are a variety of creatures hiding in the caves that the Rebels look to call home. Luckily, Han, Leia, and Chewie have plot armor and will not meet their end here. But they don’t know that. 

The Lesson: This lesson is the least clear in this story, which is why it’s last. It unfolds like a standard monster story that ends ominously. I guess there is always a bigger fish in the sea.

3. Undead or Alive 

Art by Andy Duggan

Color Art by Roman Stevens

Canon Era: The High Republic

The Story: Ty Yorrick, the former Jedi/current saber-for-hire who makes her living hunting monsters, has an offer from an old colleague. Dro-Nal-Pru leads a mercenary army that Ty once joined before she walked away. So naturally, she has reservations about taking a job from her former boss, now the marshal of an encampment on Salstan. There is a monster trying to break through the energy fields of the city, so Pru offers a nice sum to get rid of the creature. Little does Ty know that Pru has also hired another mercenary, Gren, who also had a falling out with the marshal. Gren gets scratched by the creature (the Xunji) and becomes a Xunji herself. Realizing they might have been set up, Ty can kill two birds with one stone, defeat the monster, and teach her former boss a lesson.

The Monster: Add the Xunji to the list of creatures that invoke disturbing body horror (vampires, zombies, werewolves). A contagious disease contracted by intravascular inoculation that changes you is rooted in real-world fears, and horror can be the ultimate creative outlet to express those anxieties. The Xunji here is never a real threat to Ty, but the monster hunter avoids killing the beasts she hunts as much as possible. And that does not bode well for her enemies.

The Lesson: Pru tries to rid himself of his enemies using a creature he does not fully understand. In doing so, he gets more than he bargained for and reminds readers that it is probably best to let go of old grudges. 

2. Ghost of the Machine

Art by Juan Samu

Canon Era: Fall of the Jedi 

The Story: During The Clone Wars on the distant world of Malenko, a Separatist General, Kazameer, sacrifices his droid army to save himself from Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Deepa Bilaba. Kazameer built a secret base on the Malenko despite the tales of the world raising the dead, especially of those who had been wronged. Kazameer does not believe in those stories, and even if he did, droids are not alive, so there is nothing to worry about, right?

The Monster: One could argue that the monster in this story is General Kazameer himself, who dumps his broken droids in the catacombs of the citadel he adopts as his headquarters. Yes, those droids returned to life and haunt him (from a certain point of view), but they have every reason to be upset. Like many Separatists, Kazameer sees the droids as disposable, which makes the realization that they could even have spirits to bring back unfathomable.

The Lesson: The lesson here is in the copy: be careful what you sacrifice. However, it is also a reminder of what made Jedi like Anakin and Obi-Wan so important during The Clone Wars. Great leaders inspire loyalty by showing that you have your team’s back. The 501st respected Anakin Skywalker because he was on the frontlines with his men. And, even though battle droids are not organic beings, they are still putting their existence on the line for a battle they have no choice but to participate. It’s easy to send others to fight your battles if you are not around for the consequences.

1. Tales from the Rancor Pit

Art by Nick Brokenshire

Canon Era: Age of Rebellion 

The Story: Captain Vaclav is on the verge of being fed to Jabba’s rancor for “telling tales” to the Hutt’s enemies. Vaclav tells three stories from three eras to try and save himself and satisfy Jabba’s taste for a twisted tale.

The Monster: I guess this depends on whether you like any of the stories Vaclav tells, as sitting through a dull tale can be its own form of torture. However, assuming one of these stories hits, the looming threat of being dropped to a painful death is pretty monstrous. But telling three stories while hanging upside down only for Jabba to drop Vaclav still makes this the most horrifying tale.

The Lesson: Never find yourself hanging upside down in Jabba’s Palace above the rancor pit.