An accomplished work that explores the horror of being young and cursed.
A demonic inheritance haunts a group of siblings in writer Bunn and artist Bocardo’s graphic novel of gothic horror, teenage angst, and family secrets.
As the story opens, Jamison Kreel lies dead in a creepy funeral home in Boston, surrounded by his seven children from seven different mothers. Drawn together for the first time ever, the half siblings discover that they’re the product of a hellish pact: Jamison made a literal deal with the devil, and, in return, each of his kids inherited infernal powers and a soul-crushing curse. Argyle, Jerold, Dominic, Madison, Romy, Britton, and Luna begin to unravel their father’s sinister legacy as each is haunted by grotesque manifestations tied to their pasts. Jerold is murdered by a demon and, one by one, the other siblings receive cursed packages containing pieces of his body, which then transform their mothers and loved ones into monstrous embodiments of guilt, despair, and regret. United by Britton’s control over her demon, the siblings converge at a Chinatown restaurant and uncover the twisted origins of their existence. A quest later takes them from Boston (via Freiburg airport) to a castle in the Black Forest. Demons, ghosts, and living nightmares close in as they seek answers, vengeance, and possibly redemption; in the end, the “Spawn of Kreel” learn they’re not alone. Over the course of this tale, Bunn and Bocardo deliver a satisfyingly blood-soaked depiction of the myriad dramas of young personhood. Driven by rich, lively, full-color illustrations, the writing is also fresh and realistic, avoiding the trap of inauthentic Gen Z–speak. Classic themes, such as absent parents, growing pains, questions of identity, and general angst come alive (or fall dead) in ways that are sometimes brutal—wrist cutting, cannibalism—and other times slightly camp, involving demons apparently inspired variously by seafood, Gremlins, vagina dentata, 1950s horror tropes, and manga.
An accomplished work that explores the horror of being young and cursed.Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781545817933
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.
In this long-awaited fifth installment of Shannon’s Bone Season series, the threat to the clairvoyant community spreads like a plague across Europe.
After extending her fight against the Republic of Scion to Paris, Paige Mahoney, leader of London’s clairvoyant underworld and a spy for the resistance movement, finds herself further outside her comfort zone when she wakes up in a foreign place with no recollection of getting there. More disturbing than her last definitive memory, in which her ally-turned-lover Arcturus seems to betray her, is that her dreamscape—the very soul of her clairvoyance—has been altered, as if there’s a veil shrouding both her memories and abilities. Paige manages to escape and learns she’s been missing and presumed dead for six months. Even more shocking is that she’s somehow outside of Scion’s borders, in the free world where clairvoyants are accepted citizens. She gets in touch with other resistance fighters and journeys to Italy to reconnect with the Domino Programme intelligence network. In stark contrast to the potential of life in the free world is the reality that Scion continues to stretch its influence, with Norway recently falling and Italy a likely next target. Paige is enlisted to discover how Scion is bending free-world political leaders to its will, but before Paige can commit to her mission, she has her own mystery to solve: Where in the world is Arcturus? Paige’s loyalty to Arcturus is tested as she decides how much to trust in their connection and how much information to reveal to the Domino Programme about the Rephaite—the race of immortals from the Netherworld, Arcturus’ people—and their connection to the founding of Scion, as well as the presence of clairvoyant abilities on Earth. While the book is impressively multilayered, the matter-of-fact way in which details from the past are sprinkled throughout will have readers constantly flipping to the glossary. As the series’ scope and the implications of the war against Scion expand, Shannon’s narrative style reads more action-thriller than fantasy. Paige’s powers as a dreamwalker are rarely used here, but when clairvoyance is at play, the story shines.
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781639733965
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A secret history that toys with the mythos of dark academia while reveling in its excesses.
What happens when students at a school for the paranormal decide that enough is enough?
Best known for video games, queer horror, and a collaboration with Richard Kadrey (The Dead Take the A Train, 2023), Khaw detours to visit an elite school and the damaged young adults it serves. At 21, Alessa Li wakes up with a start to find she’s been kidnapped from home in Montreal and apparently enrolled in college, simply because she’s incredibly dangerous. In fact, the Hellebore Technical Institute for the Ambitiously Gifted is less an homage to Hogwarts than a gory rebuttal dressed in wizard’s robes. The story moves between two timelines; the first offers Alessa’s introduction to her creepy classmates, while the second finds them all under siege later in the titular library. “Appendage to the main campus, it acted only in the faculty’s interest, which seemed to revolve exclusively around fucking us students over,” Alessa explains. Among the 20-odd students, cult member Portia transmogrifies into some kind of insectoid critter every now and then; Eoan sacrifices himself by feeding his own body to the school’s ravenous hosts in order to protect his friends; Delilah is an “immortal sacrifice,” dying over and over again in the service of the gods; while Rowan is a “deathworker” whose destiny is foretold by prophecy. There are some intriguing elements—and it’s often hard to take. Like other postmodern antiheroines, among them Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black (Blackbirds, 2015, etc.) and Julie Crews from The Dead Take the A Train, Alessa’s primary operating mode is pretty much caustic bitch, and her classmates don’t temper it much. Whether the deadpan violence and body horror is excessive is a matter of personal taste, but there’s no denying that the whole thing is pretty squelchy and it’s not always easy to follow. Proceed with caution.
A secret history that toys with the mythos of dark academia while reveling in its excesses.Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781250877819
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Nightfire
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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