(I mean, you do have to be pretty ballsy to name your town-o’-hauntings “Lovecraft.”) So while many of the visual and plot elements may be familiar – a family recovering from mundane horrors only to be plunged into the supernatural, an eerie well, a murderer with an unhappy past – they’re used with uncommon style and confidence, in the service of some really solid, gripping, and emotional storytelling. Locke and Key is an incredibly tight, confident graphic novel debut – Hill pretty much flaunts his easy mastery of both horror and the graphic novel.
I went in with high expectations, and came out jonesing for moooore. I’ve been meaning to read his first novel ( Heart-Shaped Box) and short story collection ( 20th Century Ghosts) for a languishing Forever, but Locke and Key Volume 1 ended up being my first foray into his work, after I grabbed it off of Kakaner’s shelf last summer. (might be a bit hard to see, but the papers have a pattern of black keys.)įor those who might not already know, Joe Hill is Stephen King’s middle son, but has eminently succeeded in making a name for himself outside of his father’s reputation. Unfortunately, Bode’s explorations bring him within the reach of an unsavory force dwelling on the mansion’s grounds, with a particular interest in keys and what they can achieve.įirst of all, books with ribbon bookmarks and nicely designed endpapers = win: Meanwhile, 6-year-old Bode explores the house unattended, and soon discovers something of the curious properties of Keyhouse’s doors, and the keys that can be used to unlock them.
Here, oldest son Tyler immerses himself in guilt over his tumultuous relationship with his father and his possible culpability in his death, while middle sister Kinsey struggles with her overwhelming fears and loss of sense of self in the wake of the violent attack. Keyhouse, with its sprawling, dilapidated grounds and many doors, is where their father grew up, and where he insisted – with unaccountable prescience – that his family stay should anything ever happen to him. ( Locke and Key Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft collects Locke and Key #1-6.)Īfter their father is murdered by a disturbed former student, the three Locke children travel with their mother to start a new life in an unlikely haven: the Keyhouse, an ancient mansion on an island named Lovecraft, off the Massachusetts coast.
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