31 Days Of Halloween Comics: The Nice House On The Lake

Yesterday (October 9) at New York Comic Con, DC Comics officially announced the full slate that will bring about the return of the storied Vertigo imprint. First out of the gate, though? Or rather, already out the gate? If you missed it before, now is the perfect time to read The Nice House on the Lake, written by James Tynion IV with art by Álvaro Martínez Bueno.

The premise starts in a deceptively simple place… A group of friends and acquaintances all gather for a weekend at the nice house of the title. Only problem is, the world has ended while they’re there, everyone else on Earth consumed by a deadly fire. And as becomes apparent over the course of the series, their otherworldly “friend” who saved them may have other ideas for how they live out the rest of their lives.

Gorgeously drawn by Bueno, the book slowly introduces an array of characters, effortlessly jumping from the present, to the future, to the past. And Bueno’s look for the series expands at it goes, with some panel progressions that truly have to be seen to be believed.

But to the point of the whole “Halloween comics” thing, this book is sci-fi body horror at its best, a terrifying and taut book filled with tension as the characters start to unravel over the course of the books, and discover more about how their salvation may be an actual prison.

Nice House on the Lake is also just the first part of a larger series, with sequel Nice House by the Sea marking the second half of the epic story the team is telling. So why not check in now, before Vertigo returns next year, and we discover more Nice House locations in our future?

---

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.

Comic Book Club Live Info:

Want to watch Comic Book Club live? We stream every Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on YouTube and Twitch. Come hang out, and ask questions of our guests (and us!). And you could potentially win a $25 gift card to Midtown Comics. You can check out a current list of upcoming guests and other live appearances on our Shows page.