Southern fried horror: it's what's for dinner. Well, at least when it comes to writer Cullen Bunn and artist Tyler Crook's Harrow County #1, which takes us to a farm somewhere in America's south, surrounded by spooky woods and secrets from the past.
It's not exactly an original story, but it's done so well that by the end of the inaugural issue of this new Dark Horse comic, you'll be cursing the fact that the next installment is a month away.
Harrow County #1 starts out with a history lesson, showing us a flashback scene where a mysterious woman hangs from a tree, supposedly because she is an evil witch. These aren't the Salem witch trials, though, but something in the more recent past.
The story shifts to the present and introduces us to Emmy, a young girl about to turn 18. Her father is one of the men responsible for hanging that mysterious woman, and although that's never mentioned, the locals who live around the farm speak of secrets and something that may happen to Emmy very soon because of what he did.
As with such stories, there are portents of doom, including cows with stillborn calves (save for one that miraculously recovers after Emmy touches it), as well as the devilish tree that sits over the farm and haunts Emmy's nightmares.
We expect Emmy comes into her own upon her 18th birthday: it's a predictable plot line, but we're still curious as to how it will play out.
It's likely that Bunn wanted to honor those southern horror tales and legends that came before this comic, and if that's the case, it's well-done here. He sets up the plot so well that you can't help but forgive its lack of originality.
The plot comes to terrifying life thanks to Crook's illustrations, particularly one of a dead boy (or what's left of him) that Emmy finds in the nearby woods. The art is almost reminiscent of Where The Wild Things Are, but this time, we must fear the beasties and "haints" that dwell in the woods.
Although the pacing is a little off through the comic's pages, it all comes together with a final scene showing a baptism gone wrong, leading into some creepy stuff for Harrow County #2.
Harrow County #1 is available now from Dark Horse Comics.
Story
★★★☆☆
Art
★★★★★
Overall
★★★★☆
[Photo Credit: Dark Horse]
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