If you are in search of a creepy gory horror comic this is for you. This is a very disturbing graphic novel that will have you feeling horrified, queasy, and thinking about how war gets the worst out of people, maybe we should all stick to pacifism.
I don't want to say too much, because everything will spoil you, and it's better to walk in blind (haha) if you want the fear to creep up your spine. If you love Delicatessen by Jeunet, then you know where this is heading, shack things up with a dose of the video game "Little nightmare" and you've got a winner for the fans of blood-bath-stories.
Admittedly too much for my stomach, but the whole thing is very very well done, the drawings adding a lot to the scary factor.

3.5 stars.

Empty Eyes is a fascinating and creepy little comic. Set towards the end of the First World War, the story follows two young children alone in an orphanage except for the evil older child they are trapped under the control of and some seemingly very creepy dolls. The art has a great creepy vibe to it. I do think I would have enjoyed it more if there had been more time to build the story, but it's still enjoyable. It's a great story for spooky season or for anyone who enjoys their horror stories on the more historical side.

Holy. Shit.
Empty Eyes is incredible. I didn't realise how hard it'd go on the gore and horror, I thought it'd be a bit more metaphorical, but it does not pull punches.
I had a ton of fun reading it but it's not just fun. It's heartbreaking to think about how people have to survive in the worst conditions. The artwork is perfect for the tone and story, though I do wish Maurice's design was a little different but visually, he's great.

I'm going to get a physical copy when I can.

I have been on the hunt for a good horror comic and this really hit the spot! It was creepy, gory and bittersweet all at once. The story took quite a few turns that I didn't see coming at all and there were some really solid scenes. A quick but enjoyable read!

Review to come early October to blog/goodreads. RATING NOT CORRECT BUT NETGALLEY DEMANDS A RATING.

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

So this turned out to be way weirder than I had expected given the cover. I am still not sure what to rate so this one will go unrated. I mean, I just don't know if I liked liked it or just liked hated it? It is so confusing, but this book was just too much for me.

We have a cannibal dude who is the son of the boss of the orphanage. Not that his dad can do much, and neither can anyone else except him and two orphans. The rest is dead and gone. Lying or sitting in places (which yes, is fucking disturbing). I am still not entirely sure if they all went naturally or not. I mean, there is talk about typhus and such, so who knows. Given everything with the son he was already a psychopath before (given what he says to his sister I lean to that) or he turned into one (I am still leaning to the first one though). I wasn't a fan of the guy. I mean, WTF dude, murdering people who come in for help or want to help you? I get you need food, but um.. No? Eww. No. Fuck no. I never liked the son, not just because he was a fucking psychopath, but also because he thought he was the boss. He thought he was everything. He forced two orphans to do his bidding and even eat along with him. I would have run away, then again, given how NOPE that guy is... maybe you won't get far. :|

But things really get weirder and weirder. Apparently psycho dude has a nice collection of eyes. And the orphanage has a nice collection of dolls. What do you get if you combine the two? A fucking nightmare fever dream that I just wished would end very soon. HOLY CRAP. I am already terrified of dolls, but making them empty-eyed and then filling them with eyes and them then walking around? With blood dripping out of their sockets? WELL FUCK. NO.
And as the story continued things just got weirder and weirder and what the fuck am I reading. Like, I literally was disturbed. Disgusted and disturbed.

Yes, my stomach was NOT approving of this story. Holy NOPEballs. There is A LOT of gore. Not just body horror, but also chopping people up, plucking out eyeballs, burning, and more. I hadn't expected it to go this way otherwise I would have just said, thanks but no thanks.

I wasn't such a big fan of the orphans, I don't know. I just wasn't a fan of them. Though the boy did get a bit in the better lists as the story continued and he tried to get out and take his sister with him. Tried to make plans.

The ending was just a fucked up mess of things. So many things happened in there and [spoiler] I wondered why the hell the soldiers believed the fat cannibal son over two skinny as heck orphans. I guess even in war people make assumptions based on how people dress. *sighs* Things really escalate and I was shocked.[/spoiler]

That last panel. That was just the cherry on the top of WTF-ness.

The art was pretty good though.

But yeah, I am just so messed up about this story it was one big WHAT THE FUCK just in book form. I am still not sure. If you like gore? Like cannibalism? Like dolls with bleeding eyes? Like disturbing scenes? I guess you could try it.

Short and creepy graphic novel. Set in 1917, in the middle of the first world war, somewhere in Europe, in a Nurk Orphanage. Only three children survived the typhus outbreak. And now they have to survive the extreme conditions.

The illustrations are excellent, nicely colored, but also very creepy. Expect some gore.

Thanks to Europe Comics for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review, and all opinions are my own.

This graphic novel is so different than the usual horror I read. At first I thought the dolls would be the typical cliche scares a horror would throw at you, but it soon turned out that the scariest thing in the story didn't look as scary. And I loved that twist! I think this might be the first time where I felt myself to be on the side of dolls, things that usually scare me enough to hide underneath my blanket. Most of the time you read a horror story through the eyes of the victims, now you also got to see a few scenes through the eyes of the "bad guy". Therefore I think the story was original and creepy. The art style was very pretty to look at, while it also gave the right amount of goose bumps. The ending did go a bit fast. Suddenly a lot was happening, so I had to reread a few things.

I am very curious about the story behind this orphanage and the Nurk family!

I would highly recommend any horror lover to read this graphic novel during spooky season!

This was a haunting and very graphic story, which I really enjoyed. It was really dark and twisted which I honestly wasn't expecting at first.

The story follows a pair of siblings who are living in an orphanage during WWI. They are tasked with finding meat aka recently deceased soldiers. I was not expecting cannibalism, especially not it being commited by young children so it was pretty horrifying to watch the kids go out and look for dead soldiers to eat for survival. This book was definitely an experience.

The book was not hard to follow and the art was absolutely gorgeous, and definitely captured the unease and horror of the plot.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for a copy of an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story was so creepy. If you hate eye-related gore, this is definitely not the book for you as eyes play a huge part in the creep factor. The art really is incredible though, all the panels are completely painted!

Well that was haunting.
Maurice is such a creepy little shit
Poor Otto
The line about Ofelia being more dead, so sad

The art was pretty. The story itself was super creepy yet it kept me wanting to read. I’m surprise I enjoyed this as much as I did.

This was a amazing read highly recommended the art is very colorful and bold creepy lil story but a amazing read

A deeply creepy and unsettling graphic novel, Although I generally enjoy horror, this turned out to be a little too much for me and I didn't end up finishing it, but I'm certain that this will be a hit with others who enjoy this particular kind of horror more than me.

trigger warning
<spoiler> war themes, mention being orphaned, cannibalism, grief, mention of lethal illness</spoiler>

WWI: Two children are inviting a lone soldier they meet. Join us, they say. We have a hot meal, they say.

Properly creepy. Plot, characters, illustration style - every aspect is likely to give you the shivers.
Has the perfect length for the amount of plot this volume contains, adding any more would mean introducing a drag.

Make sure to check the trigger warnings. If you're okay with them, I'd recommend this.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

I have never read any of Diego Agrimbau’s work prior to this, and now I very much look forward to exploring his back catalogue. As a horror fan, I really enjoyed this graphic novel. As someone who hates eyeball stuff, I absolutely hated it, but you know, in a good way.

Set at wartime in 1917, between Poland and Russia sits the bombed out Nurk Orphanage, the vast majority of its occupants dead from disease and consumption. With only three survivors, brother and sister Otto and Ofelia, and Maurice Nurk.

Maurice has long ago lost his mind. Having no other true option, the children have to resort to cannibalism. Instead of just surviving off of the frozen bodies of the dead, Maurice forces the children to trick wounded soldiers into returning to the orphanage with them, so that he can gruesomely murder them himself. Then taking time to cut out and preserve the eyes of the dead before processing them for food.

His sister has long ago accepted her fate and Otto feels so incredibly alone. Until one day when he discovers a room full of porcelain broken porcelain, all of them missing eyes. And Otto knows just how to get them back.

Original and well illustrated, Empty Eyes was creepy and gross, and an all around fun trip, Definitely would recommend.

Thank you so very much to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Empty Eyes is the best Halloween-ish read of this year so far. It's freaking creepy. Has it all: alive porcelain dolls, cannibalism, corpses, gore, and violence, but so well drawn and written that makes it awesome.
During World War I an orphanage is struck by typhus but only 3 survive. Some will be free others will be punished.

Set in 1917 during World War I.
We follow Otto and Ofelia that lives at the Nurk Orphanage, but the Orphanage is nothing like you've ever seen before.
The art is dark but beautiful!
If you're looking for a dark and creepy grafic novel, this might be something for you!

I recieved an e-arc of this manga from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was GRUESOME! (very gore-y) If you are creeped out by dolls then I definitely do not recommend you read this. This manga is the story of orphaned siblings during the height of WWII and what they are forced to endure and do in order to survive. The dolls are vessels of the orphans that didn't survive. I don't want to say too much but for a short 90 page manga, it still managed to creep me out and had me empathizing with our main character. A little too potentially realistic for comfort (minus the dolls part). I could see this being a situation that could occur to orphan children during such a time as WWII; it certainly wouldn't be the first time in history this kind of thing was done. Very good, very creepy/gruesome artwork.

This was such a heartbreaking and haunting story, and I absolutely loved it. It combines the horror of living (ish) dolls and the horrors of war. The artwork and words combine to make a phenomenal story that will make you want to keep the lights on at night. Reminded me a little of Hannibal Lecter's backstory. I would definitely read more by this team.

Otto and his sister Ophelia are out searching, searching for what we don’t know. Until they see a wounded soldier, they offer him shelter and something to eat. Him thinking they have food he goes thinking nothing of it, oh no, there we meet Maurice the surviving son of the owners of the orphanage. But he had ideas of his own to survive the war and hunger. He kills the adults and makes Ophelia cook and they eat them like cannibals except Otto. Otto is a caring young boy who doesn’t want to eat the people they kill. He is afraid of Maurice. Rightful so, he going mad. He kept the bodies of his families along with their eyes and all of the ones he killed or died. But Otto goes to he room where all the childrens dolls were, the dolls asked for the eyes that were collected. He gives the dolls back their eyes from all the containers he found, which give the dolls their spirits back and they want revenge. Omg this comic is great for the Halloween time to read. This is a bit distrubing with the graphic nature of the killing and the removal of eyes, Why the eyes, which I though, wasn’t it once said the eyes are the windows to the soul?