Dread the Halls // Review
The December holidays have been irrevocably etched into the popular consciousness. Like anything else that has been pounding into the collective culture, it has been an easy target for horror in Dread the Halls. Writers Jordan Hart and Chris Ryall explore the horror of the holidays with artists Lee Ferguson, Jimmy Kucaj, Walter Pal and Fabio Vera’s. Ghost Carolers, Santa Claus, the Kraków’s and more are given time on the page in a decidedly dark and supernatural look at the holidays. It’s a pleasant and reasonably inventive mix of different horror ideas that serves as an enjoyable sampler of terror with which to enter December.
He’s using her earbuds. So she tells him to blast dubstep metal. He’s a bit confused by this, but there’s no time to explain. The ghost carolers have arrived. Elsewhere, an encounter with a ghost in the woods takes a completely different turn on December 24th. Also: a couple of boys look to capture Santa. Lays and get a bit more than they might have expected. A few others look to find a far more understandable target for supernatural holiday capture as they look to take down the legendary Krampus. The supernatural lurks in the cold shadows at the end of the year.
Hart’s “Dead Notes,” is a particularly inventive look at the unique and haunting horror of Christmas songs. Ryall’s “Gone Fishin’l plays to a much more visceral kind of terror as a beloved folk hero is caught in much the same way as a traditional fish. Hart’s “Northerners” moves against traditional ghost story tropes with remarkably sharp cleverness. The Yuletide romance between the living and the dead marks a high point in a largely enjoyable collection of holiday horror tales. It’s a fun and festive strolll from on cover to the other amidst the snow and the supernatural.
Walter Pax delivers the darkness to the page in “The Northerners” with starkly-rendered black and white pages. Fabio Veras’ work on “Ghost Carolers” is a particularly strong visual signature with the golden notes of the ghost song ringing out against the shadowy darkened of a cold December evening. Thus contrasts beautifully against the brighter, more garish darkness of Lee Fetguson’s “Gone Fishin’l Jimmy Kucaj’s Krampus story is delivered to the page with some of the more traditional superhero-style comic book art, but the whole visual package of the series fees quite well modulates in a marvel entertaining series.
On the whole, it’s a very well put-together series of holiday horror stories that manage to stay pretty far away from the slashe nature of traditional Yuletide homicide horror stories. There are some truly clever bits of storytelling that are bent around some traditional imagery in a way that feels quirky refreshingly new in a number of different levels. The progression of stories feels quite strong with each story leading quite naturally to the one that follows it. It’s an admirable collection that feels like a welcome addition to comic book holiday horror. Lots of fun in this one.
