Welcome to the table,
Storytelling is a fundamental part of my existence. On the days when the pain comes in waves, or the anxiety creeps up like tentacles from a long-dead god I find comfort in stories. When I can’t find a good story I tell myself stories to push through it all. There was a Jim Henson show when I was a kid called The Storyteller that was hosted by the talented John Hurt. In the intro, he said something that to this day feels like an anchor point for me.
When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller.
One of my favorite people on this planet is Cullen Bunn. He’s part of the family I chose rather than the ones I share DNA with. He’s wildly talented. He can mix a drink that is better than anything you can find in any speakeasy across the land. Beyond all of this though, and I say this in the most objective way possible, he is one of the greatest Storytellers of our time.
BOOM! Studios’ Ghostlore asks the question “What ghost stories would ghosts tell?”
The existential ramifications of that question haunt me to my core, but rather than travel down that endless black highway let’s talk about how that question relates to the story that is unfolding on the page.
Brilliantly illustrated by Leomacs, The story picks up the type of church that you can find all over the South. One of those small one or two-room buildings with white wood paneling and tar black roof. The type of building that has a tall cross on the top you can just see peeking over the gnarled trees of the surrounding woods as you drive up an old dirt road to go to Sunday service.
A troubled teenage daughter, a loving mother, a wide-eyed younger brother, and a pious father load into the family care after the father’s evening sermon to head down the road back home. As the tensions build between Pastor Lucas and his daughter Harmony the veil between worlds starts to slip and the car spins out into a horrible accident ending in tragedy.
While Lucas and Harmony try and pull themselves from the wreckage the younger brother Chris begins to share a haunting story from the backseat. With the shift in perspective of the storytelling, the art also shifts, moving from Leomac’s illustrations and Jason Word‘s colors, to Brian Hurtt‘s drawn lines and colors by Bill Crabtree.
The shift of visual creatives helps deepen the tone and draw the reader deeper into the internal story making it all the more haunting when it breaks back to the car crash and the survivors are surrounded by ghosts who are all trying to share their tales.
Prepare for gripping tension and brilliantly woven tales of fright in a series that teaches us when the dead talk, you better listen. Ghostlore #1 is available in stores now.
Until next time, the best seat is always reserved for the Storyteller.
Welcome to the table, Storytelling is a fundamental part of my existence. On the days when the pain comes inCOMICONRead More