GHOSTLORE #1 Review

Ghostlore #1 is written by Cullen Bunn and published by BOOM! Studios. The book is illustrated by Leomacs, coloured by Jason Wordie and is lettered by Ed Dukeshire. Guest illustrations are by Brian Hurtt and Bill Crabtree. Main cover art (left) is Leomacs with colours by Wordie.

Ghostlore #1 is available now, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold.

Synopsis

We’ve all heard of ghost stories… but what stories do the ghosts themselves tell us? 

An estranged daughter and her pastor father wander a haunted land; they only have the restless spirits, each with its own story to tell, as company along the way. 

After a deadly accident of which they were the only survivors, Lucas and Harmony Agate can see the dead-an overwhelming amount of the deceased, all with their own warnings, cries for help, and malevolence alike. 

But Lucas and Harmony aren’t the only ones with this ability; there are other nearly-deads, some of which have malicious motivations… 

Cullen Bunn of Basilisk and The Empty Man acclaim is joined by superstar artist Leomacs (Basketful of Heads) and guest artist Brian Hurtt (The Sixth Gun)-the first in a haunting lineup of artists featured in each issue-to bring readers the most eye-opening spectral story since The Sixth Sense!

Review

It might be summer outside but I am 100% always geared up and ready for a ghost story fit for Halloween night. So with BOOM! bringing together Cullen Bunn and Leomacs, two masters of horror in their own right, I’m already all in. Fill that story with ghosts and supernatural creatures and I’m not just all in, I’m running out and buying copies for all my friends too.

Bunn’s Basilisk was a series which we followed closely here at GYCO, as was Basketful of Heads which featured artwork from Leomacs. So bringing the two together was definitely an exciting prospect. I’m glad to say the team up doesn’t disappoint as Ghostlore ticks all the boxes in setting the scene for an exciting series to come.

Crucially Bunn isn’t laying all his cards on the table right away. The best horrors unfold slowly, teasing the audience with scares and exposition in equal measure. Here Bunn sets the scene perfectly, taking the appropriate time to introduce us to a pastor Lucas and his fractured family. There’s son Chris who hides a terrible secret and daughter Harmony who has little respect for her father or his faith. Along with his wife, they make up the core of this opening chapter.

There’s an incredible sense of character baked in to the opening of Ghostlore #1. It takes little time to get a sense of who each of these people are and the conflicts which run seemingly pretty deeply between them. So it’s no surprise that the book soon gets down to the business of ratcheting up the horror elements.

Luckily for us Bunn isn’t a write who creates horror just for the sake of it. There’s an emotional context to the events of Ghostlore which connects to Lucas and Harmony. After a spectre in the road causes the family car to crash it seems both father and daughter are able to see the dead. Not just their now departed wife and brother. But also the hundreds of lost souls who appear to haunt the landscape around their sleepy little town. That in itself is chilling enough. But when you visualise that through the artwork of Leomacs it works to spine tingling effect.

In the middle of all this comes the beautifully rendered “Unfolding” flashback illustrated by Brian Hurtt and Bill Crabtree. Framed as a ghost story within a ghost story, told by the spirit of Lucas’ son Chris, “Unfolding” pulls back the curtain on even more supernatural events taking place and features some incredible creature design work.

It seems there are multiple layers to what’s going on in Ghostlore and I love that I leave issue #1 not knowing what all those things are.

Verdict

Get ready to be spooked by the brilliant Ghostlore! With their debut issue Bunn and Leomacs have created a rich world on which to build their story. All the building blocks are perfectly placed for an eerie journey to come.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐