IDW Publishing 2017
Written by Jeremy Lambert
Illustrated by Chris Fenoglio
Coloured by Brittany Peer
Lettered by Christa Miesner
After stepping through a shadowy doorway in a haunted bookstore, Mia and Ginny have found themselves trapped in Horrorland, the most nightmarish amusement park ever! Chased by Slappy and his gang of ghosts and ghouls, Mia and Ginny have teamed up with a small, fuzzy monster named Irk to try and find a way back home. But when they get trapped in a crypt filled with some barrels of mysterious green ooze, their little friend suddenly becomes a BIG problem...
The sisters are safe and sound in their beds,
Their nightmares a folly, it's all in their heads.
Now wait, I hear something, perhaps it's a scream...
Oh, I'm so sorry, it's not all a dream!
They cannot survive this, reader beware!
Unless I'm mistaken, you're in for a scare!
This has turned out to be one of the most adorable stories that I have had the pleasure to read and if you don’t think so read it for yourself because this issue arc should be a must read. I like the messages that I see here as the girls find themselves being purposefully frightened and must face and overcome their fear to get home safe and sound. Also if you’ve been reading this then you’ll know that the sisters don’t always get along and that is a commonality between siblings worldwide, most noticeably when only one is a teenager then when they both are! So reconnecting with each other strengthening that sisterly bond that needed to happen as well.
Jeremy writes a pretty brilliant story here as he weaves the messages in more subtly than I would have thought possible while still focusing on the thrills and chills. Of course there’s also that whole deal about friendship and accepting someone different than you who could end up being the dearest friend around, or your worst nightmare.
The way this is written and how it flows has been extremely well done. I’ve been impressed with the use of horror in this from an all-ages perspective. That this will resonate with people of all ages, boys and girls, is what makes this a must read. I think at some point people forget that other folks have feelings too and need to be treated with respect and courtesy.
Chris and Brittany do some really nice work on the interiors here. I love the way they can express their creativity and imagination with the “horrors” that we see. Also let’s face it Slappy is one heck of a creepy doll in and of himself and is enough to give me nightmares. The use of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a great eye for storytelling. There is some nice attention to detail going on here as well and when it shows off the crypt of headstones its the stuff that we see, remember and expect so well done. When we see backgrounds the panels are astounding I mean talk about upping the creepy factor and expanding the story! That library for instance was utterly amazing.
The story, the characters and the way the entire story has been told shows us that while Goosebumps may have been popular among a certain age group, they were the ones watching it on Nickelodeon after all, but it’s really something that everyone can enjoy and learn from. Also the concept of the story is fantastic and the ending was great because it kept the surprises going. Though having the Gummy event described was something that was better this way because I actually laughed out loud picturing it in my mind.
Cute, creative and a lesson to learn this is what IDW all-ages bring us and ya know what I couldn’t be any happier about it.