I received a free ARC, and this review is voluntary.

WOW

As a member of the clergy, the father of the family in the story sees the attendance of his flock diminish, while struggles persist within his personal life, pertaining to his role as a dad for a different congregation - his kids, but his faith still intact. While his daughter drove the family home one night after a sacred gathering, she swerved to avoid hitting what she believed to be a person in the road. Cut to the car crash, confusion abound; camera zooming outward, we see that they are not alone. Surrounding their vehicle is the presence of multiple spectres. Their voices separate, yet intertwined in this echo: calling for help, to be relieved of their suffering.

In folklore, when the spirit of an individual is either corrupted, or so stricken with grief, it can delay the transition from this life to the next. Remnants of them left behind in this plane of existence, wandering the Earth, hoping to be relieved of this obstruction. This story plays that angle to the bone. The plot also touches upon how religion can help serve this transition, or hinder it. We see this in the father, and how his faith is tested in light of these new circumstances, unsure of which direction will lead to salvation.

A compelling story with a powerful message, this graphic novel hits the mark. While not directly asking us to take inventory of our own issues, it does present the question. Are we ready to calm our own troubled waters? Are we ready to Confess?

Ghostlore is the story of a Reverend and his teenage daughter, who stay alone in their family after a tragic car crash. Along with losing their family, they gain the ability to see troubled souls who are desperate for somebody to listen to their story before they can move on. Unfortunately, Lucas and Harmony have a very different strategy towards dealing with these ghosts, which deepens the already existing chasm between them.

Ghostlore is a decent beginning for a horror story, with plenty of gore, demons and evil spirits. I admit it was more focused on gore than I expected, when I generally prefer more subtle horror, so I wasn't a big fan of the art style. I'm curious to see where Harmony and Lucas (especially Harmony) go from here.

I do not read comics often, but I am trying to get more into them. I love how you get written and visual art, making a different reading experience.
However, when I do read comics, I like to have a different experience- something that translates beautifully through the combination of writing and visuals, and unfortunately, that was not the experience I had reading this.

The concept of the comic was that the main characters were able to see and speak with ghosts; that's about it. While this is only the first installment in a series and is not supposed to be a finished storyline, it did not leave me curious about what happens next. I found the plot boring and the kind of ghost-infused story you have read a million times before, and it did little to stand out from the rest of its kind.

However, I did appreciate the visual changes when the comic jumped in time, especially color-wise; I think that worked well and was a smart choice.
Other than that, it did not stand out to me and ultimately left me unimpressed.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is super easy: If you're a SPN fan, you'll love this.
It's a little more graphic than SPN although the core give me the vibes.

I keep saying this and I mean it: Cullen Bunn is hit or miss, and maybe he wants a living wage but him rushing through all these scripts does absolutely nothing for the reading experience. His best titles are where he lets the storytelling breathe, and he's done it before. I'd love to see him do it again. I doubt it'll be Ghostlore, which plows past character development for plot–which is too bad, because he's got two great leads here. If he took a little more time to make them people and not devices, this would be a story to follow. But if all you want is spooky ghosts, their stories, and a mysteeerious dude, here you go.