Cullen Bunn is one of the most prolific and consistent purveyors of horror comics currently in the industry. For someone delivering such quantity it’s astonishing that his work is never less than good and often reaches greatness, offering up a wide variety of types of horror for readers. From weird westerns with Brian Hurtt to serial killers with Andrea Mutti, humorous monster hunting with Sally Cantirino to trippy past life cults with Danny Luckert, and countless others.
Tyler Crook burst on to the scene with an original graphic novel with Philip Gelatt that delved into the conspiracy surrounding the death of Rasputin, then quickly made a name for himself within the weird and wonderful world of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy universe. More recently wowing the world with the incredible beauty and depth of his storytelling on his own series, The Lonesome Hunters. And in one of the best books this year with Christopher Cantwell. Horror, fantasy, mystery, and crime, Crook brings them to life in a unique way.
Ten years ago, Bunn and Crook came together to create something magical.
“What do you know, you old monster?”
Harrow County: Countless Haints by Bunn and Crook is a Southern Gothic masterpiece. It introduces us to Emmy Crawford, a woman just turning eighteen, whose world is turned upside down as her father and town turn against her, thinking that she’s the reincarnation of a witch they killed eighteen years before. It deals with fate, backwoods horror, and choosing to forge your own path.
There’s an interesting prosaic approach to Bunn’s writing here. A third person omniscient narration that puts the telling of the story at a distance. Which is juxtaposed against the warm and inviting nature of Crook’s artwork. Despite the witch burnings, the Skinless Boy, the diseased animals, and other things that go bump in the night, there’s a comforting feeling to the artwork. It makes you feel safe, even while there are nightmares going on. And I think that’s one of the real charms of the series overall. This book is gorgeous.
The watercolours give the book an earthy tone, underscoring the period and location. Double-page title page spreads incorporating the book title reminding me of Will Eisner’s The Spirit and of some of the best Swamp Thing runs. The shifts to borderless pages for dream sequences and an odd unique word balloon for the inexplicable voice from the Skinless Boy’s skin all add up to some impressive storytelling skills from Crook. It pulls you in and refuses to let go.
“It was playing at being alive. But Emmy knew what she had found. A haint.”
One of the compelling things from Bunn and Crook’s opening arc of “Countless Haints” in Harrow County is that it doesn’t make you question about anything supernatural. There are questions about Emmy’s ties to the witch Hester Beck and of her place in the world, but the ghosts and goblins, the haints that go bump in the night, are there from the beginning.
What it does make you wonder, though, is whether or not the townsfolk are right about what Emmy is. There’s a creepiness to the artwork and Emmy’s behaviour that causes a tingle in the back of your head, that Emmy could turn. That maybe, despite her protestations and positioning herself as a force for good, maybe she is fated towards being an instrument for Hester’s revenge. And it’s this doubt, this conflict, that helps propel you in reading even more into the series. Especially as it builds out the lore and characters of this world.
Harrow County: Countless Haints
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist & Letterer: Tyler Crook
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 13 – August 12 2015
Available collected in Harrow County – Volume 1: Countless Haints, Harrow County Library Edition – Volume 1, and Harrow County Omnibus – Volume 1
Read past entries in the Classic Comic Compendium!
Check out other recent review pieces from The Beat!
English (US) · 