The horror (comics)! The horror (comics)! #5
Back again like the proverbial bad penny, or the inevitable sequel that follows the "Final Chapter" in a horror franchise. This time it's a pick that all the hermanos were familiar with before our exploration into the nightmare world of horror comics began...
Wytches
2014’s Wytches is only six issues long. That made me both really sad and kinda glad at the same time. It scared the piss out of me. I’m not sure whether it’s the illustration style, the story, the concept or a sprinkling of everything, but this series took the fear of the woods that The Blair Witch Project and The Evil Dead introduced us to and brought it to its unnatural conclusion. Published by Image comics and created by Scott Snyder and Jock the story follows the Rook family who have had to move town after an “incident” involving their daughter Sailor.
With a name like Wytches you may be presuming this has something to do with the classic horror trope villain, witches, but if you are expecting Sabrina, or the Wicked Witch of the West you’re going to be disappointed...then gripped...then terrified. Wytches has a lot more in common with Robert Eggers The VVitch despite being set centuries apart. If I say anything else I’ll be spoiling, but if I’ve tempted you to try horror comics and you like your horror scary to the point of piss leaving your body involuntarily (Ed- and who doesn't?!), this is your starting point.
I hope I’ve done enough to convince you of the marital bliss that exists between comics and horror and that there are plenty of great entry points for you out there right now. If I’ve not, ring your local comic book store (or mine…), I’m sure they’ll be able to point you in the direction of something that’ll scratch your horror loving itch and have you craving more.
When we came up with the idea for this foray into the badlands of horror comics, the plan was a one-and-done deal: A top five from the world of horror comics. It seemed a shame to cram all of these wonderful comics together so we've spread it out, but even then it didn't feel right...
The thing is, like all good horror, this has sunk claws into us and horror comics aren't ready to let go of us yet.
I mean, how could we stop after vampires, dead presidents and cops with parental issues (thank you Killadelphia), puzzles, missing fiance and a prosthetic eye (Red Mother), body horror and agriculture (Farm Hand), Joe Hill (Locke & Key, Dying is Easy) and something so scary it causes incontinence (Wytches)? How could we stop there?
The answer is: we can't.
No, we can't.
So this was intended to be the last in the series, but we're going to continue dragging back trophies to display for you and next week it will be Ed's turn with:
GIDEON FALLS
Our message with all of these pieces on horror comics is straightforward: support your local comic book store. Gideon Falls, which we'll be looking at next time was bought from Chaos City Comics new online store so even if you can't physically got to a comic book store, then see if there are other ways you can show your support. We're also going to give our traditional shout out to the excellent illustrator Luke Ridge who helped us out with this brilliant gateway list into horror comics.
