‘Wytches Vol. 1’ review
By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
5/5
Moving on with my ghoulish look at the horror genre, I decided to move away from the campy and go straight into the terrifying. I can honestly say that Wytches by Scott Snyder is genuinely scary, and the perfect gore-fest for all you slasher fans out there.
Combining the best aspects of Insidious and the Blair Witch Project, Wytches takes it a step further by embracing the more classical, bloodthirsty lore of everyone’s favourite Halloween sorceresses. The plot follows the Rooks, an average family—if you ignore the fact they’ve moved to a new town to escape ghosts. Unfortunately for them, their new surroundings don’t seem to suit them much better than the old ones, as they become marked by the dangerous, cannibalistic forces that creep through the dark forests at night. I’ll warn you though, if you’re looking for a happy story, best to turn back now.
Snyder has ways of manipulating his narrative so classical tropes become reinvented. Yes, this book plays to the old “family moving to a new town to escape trauma” scenario that plagues many horror films and books. However, the treatment of the plot and how everything plays out prevents the story from feeling stale or overdone.
Wytches sees Scott Snyder reunite with Batman: Death in the Family illustrator Jock. Together, the two seem unstoppable. There aren’t many artists who can tempt me into getting a graphic novel based solely on my appreciation of their talents, but Jock might soon become one of them. To put it very simply, the art is perfect; gory and dark, it’s an unparalleled extension of the story it’s depicting.
Seeing as my praise for this book seems endless, I would definitely recommend it, though maybe not for the faint of heart.
