Reviews

Buncombe Graphic Novel Review: Locke and Key-Welcome to Lovecraft

Reading things that are outside your norm is always beneficial, even if you don’t like what you choose or if you loved the break from your routine.  For me, graphic novels are the outlier in my reading since I stick to novels and, sometimes, a few specific topics in the world of nonfiction. I was recommended a horror-type series of graphic novels by the talented Joe Hill (the son of the great, Stephen King).  This was a fun series and the first collection moves fast in getting into the story.

While I’ll try to avoid spoilers, beware that some may sneak in.

In this first collection of the beginning 6 novels in the series, we meet the three Locke children, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode.  Their father is killed and they move to Keyhouse, in a place called Lovecraft, Massachusetts. The home is a family dwelling, that has belonged to the Locke family for decades.  

Image from Amazon.

There they begin to discover keys and doors that allow supernatural things and fantastic abilities.  The problem is, the teen that murdered their father has been contacted by a spirit that helps him escape jail and make his way to Keyhouse.  There the murderer begins to look for a specific key that the spirit asked for but the youngest Locke, Bode, has the key and gives it to this mysterious, and malevolent, spirit he finds in a well on the property.  

This same spirit is the one that led the murderer to the property and once the spirit is free, it kills the teen it had led to the Lockes and begins to wreak havoc in the town of Lovecraft and with the Locke family.  Its intentions are much darker as we begin to learn this spirit has ties to the Locke family and intends to unleash more than just consequences of the past.

This series is finished so I recommend getting your hands on the compilations rather than seek out each issue, one-at-a-time.  This is a beautifully drawn series with moments of horror, unique storytelling, and a fun read for anyone that may be fan of the horror genre but looking to break away from nooks.