“The Witching Hour” is a comic anthology that celebrates the supernatural with nine tales which are written and illustrated by some of the biggest names in comics.
The cover, done by the phenomenally talented Jenny Frisson, draws your attention with the promises of nine tales of mystical horror. Instead we’re given nine tales of monsters both magical and mundane. I loved how each writer encapsulated something different. The range of stories they build go from using monsters to showing that the most horrifying thing is sometimes the imagination which lies within ourselves.
Often with anthologies there are noticeable peaks and valleys in the quality of writing or art. Although I found Vertigo's The Witching Hour consistent most of the way through, I did find the most exciting stories happened towards the beginning of the book. It is a shame they didn't reorganize the stories better so that it maintained its pacing which would’ve helped keep my interest to the end. There’s nothing wrong with the last few tales, but it just felt like they needed more time to develop. On that note, I am going to discuss a few of my personal faviorite stories from “The Witching Hour”.
"Rise" by Mariah Huehner and Tula Lotay is a straightforward tale of vengeance and possession. It follows the story of an unlucky backpacker who is possessed by an evil spirit. The story succeeds beautifully on the strength of the narrator's unique take of the situation they’re in. It’s Lotay's delicate lines and layers of ethereal colors in the art that imbue a kind of melancholy to the wry story which I found very moving until the unfortunate conclusion.
"Birdie" by Lauren Beukes and Gerhard Human takes us on a journey with a young witch in Capetown. The witch has the ability to see events from the past via objects which she receives from birds. I enjoyed the darker theme that was presented of real monsters hiding beneath familiar faces.
"Legs" by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Ming Doyle was my favorite of the anthology's stories. It has just has the right amount of elements to make a memorable horror story in a few short pages. It wonderful exploits a common phobia to great effect and even has a surprise twist that's delightful disgusting.
"Little Witch" by Ales Kot and Morgan Jeske, casts a dreamy spell-like atmosphere for a moody, sentimental story about memory and family. This is one of the few tales that focus on a more direct message of love, loss and depression. These are the themes that our titular narrator struggles with. Jeske's panel composition and contrasting warm and cool colours builds emotional tension from the beginning till the end.
Those are a few on my favorite tales from the “The Witching Hour” anthology. I highly recommend picking this wonderful anthology up to experience some truly unique stories this Halloween season.
4 personalities out of 5 personalities from a multiple-personality afflicted pumpkin.
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