Going mad in an old house is a horror genre in and of itself. And nowhere has it been done better than Dark Horse Comics‘s haunting, innovative House of Penance.
Written by Peter J. Tomasi, with art by Ian Bertram and colors by Dave Stewart, House of Penance tells the story of the famed, cursed Winchester House… And Sarah Winchester, the proprietor who lived — and went mad — there. If you’re not familiar with the true story, the heir to the gun fortune kept building out the house in strange directions. It’s still open to this day as the Winchester Mystery House… And is considered one of the more haunted locations in America.
Tomasi and Bertram take that idea and run with it. Unlike in real life, the house grows monstrously over the course of the book, with both the hammering — and the guilt of her gun fortune — weighing heavily on Sarah. Paralleling the cost of firearms with a story of spiraling madness that is equal parts Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, the book is beautifully illustrated by Bertram with stunning colors by Stewart. In the book, we see Sarah’s perspective. But we see the workers, as well, as the non-stop construction begins to take a toll on everyone… The red tendrils of murder and madness swirling everywhere.
If you’re curious about the book (and you should be, it’s creepy and gorgeous), you can check out the trade paperback, collecting all six issues of the series. Or I recommend the hardcover Library Edition, which is more money, but worth it to own Bertram and Stewart’s skin-crawling images.
Bonus: While not strictly horror, if you’re hooked on Bertram’s art after this, I highly recommend checking out Little Bird from Image Comics. It’s more sci-fi than terror, but you’ve still got whirling tendrils everywhere, so it’ll scratch that itch.
It’s spooky season, and you know what that means: time to curl up with a comic book or graphic novel that will scare your socks off. With that in mind, we’re posting a new horror book to check out every day of October, for our 31 Days Of Halloween Comics. Awoooo! Looking for the rest of our picks? Check them out on the Halloween tag.
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