Cover Image: Dwellings

Dwellings

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Member Reviews

I love horror stories and comics so this seemed right up my alley. The art style is reminiscent of old newspaper comics in a way with a macabre twist which gives this graphic novel a very unique voice and style. My only real issue is that, while some of the stories were interesting there wasn't much cohesiveness between them. They were connected by the place in which they happened/stemmed from but nothing else and some of them were too short to really flesh out what they were trying to do. It was enjoyable for the most part though!

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I am not usually one for horror stories, but I enjoyed this graphic novel horror story. I particularly like the idea of crows following people they expect to kill around to wait for a meal. It is morbid and a fun premise. I will say that some of the tales were confusing because you couldn't tell what reality was. I was also confused about the intended audience. It feels like an adult book due to subject matter, but art style suggests a younger audience.

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This book is amazing. Horror and humor are my two favorite things, and I have rarely seen them combined to such brilliant effect. To add to the effect, the pictures are actually cute, which is such a stark contrast to the horror on the pages. I highly recommend this to everyone who loves horror. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

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A kooky collection of horror short stories presented in a stunning and unique art style. I really loved the art but unfortunately the stories fell a bit flat for me.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced copy of this comic collection.

It's been a while since I've read an anthology book in the style of a horror comic so it was nice to pick this up even though the stories ended up not being my preferred style of horror. I had fun with the art style but I find anthologies lately to rush through each plot to quickly for me, I did enjoy that most of them were interconnected. I liked the formatting of everything though with the newspaper selections as section breaks and the alternative covers are so well done too.

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Unfortunately I didn't care for this one. It really felt like being extreme and outrageous just for the sake of doing it rather than having anything to say behind it. I'm a fan of transgressive fiction (in which there is a point or some sort of message behind the extreme), but the grotesque in this didn't serve any sort of purpose. Your mileage may vary.

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THIS WAS SUCH A GREAT READ. The pictures and stories were amazing. I genuinely was disappointed when this book came to an end.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Don't let the Harvey Comics-inspired look fool you, this ain't no Richie Rich. Behind the charmingly vintage style and nostalgic ads for various gadgets and toys lies a cavalcade of carnage and terror. You've got murder, demonic rituals, vengeful spirits, heaps of blood and gore, certainly not what you expect from your typical Sunday funnies.

Even if horror isn't your jam, one has to admire the creativity that went into making this comic feel so genuinely retro: the faded colors, the thick outlines, the deceptively cutesy illustrations. It all works together to deliver solid scares and suspense.

To be honest, I'm usually not a fan of the trend of "take an innocent thing and twist it into horror for horror's sake," but here some of the stories land well enough that the concept saves it. This comic lands in the unfortunate situation of having its first stories be its strongest, leading it to fizzle out a little disappointingly in the end. There are some instances where characters from earlier tales will pop up in others, which gives a real neat interconnected feel and makes you want to go back to get a better idea of how all these pieces fit together.

I think my favorite bits were the "Aw, Hell" segments, in which a man constantly outsmarts the Devil to get out of going to Hell. These one page comics appear in between the longer stories and are a great goofy pallet cleanser before being thrust into more infernal insanity.

If you're a big horror fan and enjoyed things like Creepshow, this will definitely be up your alley. For those more on the sensitive side, well, there's always Casper.

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3.5 rounded up to 4.

This is a series of short horror that follows characters living in the town of Elwich. The town has a long history of murder, hauntings, and other decidedly spooky things. In modern day we follow characters as they become murderous, investigate demonic rituals, become obsessed, and become possessed.

I really enjoyed the cute and vintage artwork style paired with bloody and horrific stories, and the vintage style advertisements were a fantastic touch. I think the first few stories were pretty great, and were a 4 and a 4.5 respectively, but after that the stories felt more rushed and at times a little confusing which brought down the overall rating. I did like that the stories were connected through some side characters repeating and also background scenes that implied the other stories.

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I saw Jasper Bark post about this comic series about a year ago and had it in the back of my mind ever since. Then I saw it was available to request on Netgalley and I crossed all my fingers, toes, and eyes for approval… and friends, I am happy to report, this is a banger of a series!

Six comic issues are in the first volume ranging from a witness protection couple being found and crows following one of them (I hate birds but this comic gets a pass), to possessions, puppets that protect the wearer, to frequencies that cause hallucinations, and a woman on the run. Even though the characters are drawn to look like children, they aren’t. There’s so much blood and death… sooooo much.

I was so engaged with this series, I didn’t want it to end! The style reminds me of Casper while the kills and blood remind me of Happy Tree Friends. With a comic in between issues (think Spy vs. Spy from MAD), that features the devil trying to win a soul and old time-y like advertisements that relate to the stories, this is a superb collection that any horror fan needs to have on their shelves.

A HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND 5/5.

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Received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
Interesting book! Takes me back to the style of comic book art I read as a kid. I was never much into horror comics, but this one was pretty good. If you love horror, this one's for you.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
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This collection of horror stories was such a fun read! Reading the backstory of the town named Elwich was so fun, so nice to see that it was set in Ontario too! I ADORED the illustration of the stories, reminding me of old comics, like Archie. Unfortunately, some of these stories were just not for me, but I had fun reading them nonetheless. If you like horror involving towns and their lore and how it affects the people, definitely check this out!!

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Dwellings is a beautifully drawn horror graphic novel with a selection of short stories mixed with vintage styled ads thrown into the mix. This is a story about a plagued town and each of the stories gets darker and darker as you go through the book and it really highlights how the macabre can drive people to craziness. I adored the illustrations and how fun this story was.

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Oni Press provided an early galley for review.

Horror is not my usual jam, but something about the cover of this one really attracted me. It had that vibe I used to get as a kid of the 70's from classic Harvey Comic books (Casper, Richie Rich, etc.). On that, I decided to check this one out.

Don't let the art style fool you. This is not a kids' book. It includes adult language, mature themes and violent actions. But that classic humor comics style cuts it down to a more palatable manner. If the artwork had been a more realistic style, I would have quickly been out.

Props too for the inclusion of mock-up ads that are homages to those we used to find in comic books back in the day. Yes, they are fake companies and projects with ultra creepy and horror-themed items. But the care that was put into the ads show me that Stephens has a nostalgic love for the old four-color days.

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A graphic novel divided into six gruesome tales, set in Canada, that will leave you wishing for more. The tone of the book combines amusement with horror details, hence don’t expect jump scares or elevated scary elements.

The drawings show the people as if they were kids when in reality they are adults, so the depiction of gore in a middle grade format is unnerving at best and awkward at worst. This book has topics such as murder, drugs, cults, violence and others. Therefore, make sure to check up the trigger warnings before reading. Besides, the target audience may be people over 15 years old.

The stories are well executed, although they contain gore elements that may be unnecessary. This graphic novel straddles the line between mild horror stories and adult themes, creating a conflict for young readers regarding what they should consume.

Furthermore, this book is funnier than it is creepy. The plot of each story could be a little bit more unnerving, and the pacing could be slower to add more depth to the characters. This is not a graphic novel for everyone and it surely won’t be the favorite of many people but it’s definitely entertaining.

I’m grateful with NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity of letting me read this before its publication.

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I enjoyed most of this graphic novel. It reminds me of the old time comic books that I remember reading when I was younger. Unfortunately, some of it just drained my brain while I was reading it. That being said I think it was a pretty decent read. The artwork was fantastic and really is the reason I kept reading.

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Horror in comics is hard to do. It tends to be big creatures with long claws, and only now and then does it truly veer towards psychological horror, the best kind of horror!! The kind that unnerves you, makes you feel.. off.

Dwellings is real horror. It's a town that is trying to kill you, a town of satanic cults, of non-satanic cults, random stabbings, non-random stabbings, more non-random stabbings, just stabbings everywhere, sad ghosties, mind-shattering crows, children killing children, madness EVERYWHERE, more madness EVERYWHERE, trust no one, not one person, everyone is hiding something, all of this isn't real, you are not real.

And it's great. The lovely cutesy art makes the short but interconnected stories even more horrible (but not in an 'edgy' way).

And I really enjoyed all the advertisements between the stories. You are not real.

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This was brilliant. With the style of art, it makes the story so much more awesome. There’s nothing else quite like it out on the market. Check it out.

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This was a fun, "cutesy" and gory horror comic that weaves together multiple stories taking place in the haunting town of Elwich. That cutesy part made it all the more amusing to experience as it gives a false sense of ease that gets ripped away with each trauma, I mean story. This art style is a great throwback to the Sunday Strip.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for the eARC!

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Objectively, Dwellings is a good horror comic with a lot of brutally twisted stories, resembling the style of old comics. It contains a number of stories with great artwork and newspaper style add ins peppered throughout, which made this more fun to read.

However, personally for me, there was a lack of connection to the characters. Usually, I love a good comic/graphic novel, but recently I have been finding that the ones in the horror genre don’t really do it for me as I find myself quite disconnected from the stories that unfurl.

I tackled this for a month, taking long breaks in between and trying to give it a chance over and over, but in the end, Dwellings just wasn’t for me. I got to the 50% mark and decided that I simply wasn’t intrigued enough to continue pushing on.

Nevertheless, if you are looking for a collection of horror stories portrayed in a great art style, then I would recommend giving this a go!

Thank you to NetGalley and OniPress for providing access to an advance reader’s copy.

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