SCOTT SNYDER’S JOURNEY INTO HORROR, PART 2: "NIGHT OF THE GHOUL"
If you’ve read my PART 1 which covered Scott Snyder’s previous horror comic release, you’ll comprehend my meaning when I say that Night of the Ghoul reaffirms my disappointment in We Have Demons. Basically because it proves that Scott actually does know how to write decent, interesting horror.
This first issue sets up a fairly standard but intriguing premise. Mr Innman and his son, Orson, journey to a hospice to visit an elusive director who created the cursed film, Night of the Ghoul. The film was damaged on its first showing when the cinema burnt down, the father had located the remnants of the film and the location of the creator, T.F Merrit, in order to find out more about what happened in the story (Innman even talks like an obsessed fanboy waxing about the creativity and symbolism of what he could glean from it).
Innman having his fanboy moment
The scenes of Innman and Merrit talking are intercut with fragments of the film itself. Set in World War 1, three soldiers are sent on a recon mission to the Italian town of Culla, which is meant to be occupied by German forces. They arrive without incident only to find everyone dead and decaying, as if from some sort of contagion. They camp for the night, before returning, only to find something much worse.
This comic puts We Have Demons to shame, it really shows that Scott is perfectly capable of writing a really engrossing horror story that works with tropes while not necessarily leaving you feeling like you’ve already seen this before. There are plenty of stories dealing with cursed films, having been the natural extension from the cursed manuscript/book/play, but with how they have set up the titular monster and other ominous elements it creates an intriguing setting that definitely has me eager for the next issue.
Thankfully he also got a more suitable artist for this series, to really bring this tale to life. Though Francesco Francavilla has more experience with pulp-hero styles (like his own series The Black Beetle) and covers rather than interior art (having done numerous covers for Dynamite, like Zorro, The Shadow and Flash Gordon), he really shows his talents for cinematic and atmospheric art. He makes great use of light and shadow, and unusual angles to give foreboding impressions that brings more subtly threatening feeling to various panels. There is a nice minimalist, but gritty look to his work which I found unsettling, largely because his subtle details get mixed in with random elements, making it difficult to tell what is a hint or detail and what is just your own imagination looking for patterns. The intercutting between the present and the film is done with a wonderful attention to detail. While the present has lots of strange angles and dark tones, the film is all straight angles in sepia with the film reel style border and burnt edges to illicit another section of the film having been lost to the fire previous discussed. Francesco Francavilla has a real talent for this kind of horror story and I really hope he gets more work in the area, but for the moment I’ll just look forward to his continuing work on this series.
It actually looks like the sort of horror film I enjoy
Overall this is a really great first issue, there is a lot of foreshadowing and very ominous background activity at the hospice that kept the scenes there interesting (since they were largely talking heads eluding to plot points for future events). The scenes of the film itself do try to lend an air of authenticity using the same sort of angles and openly expository dialogue that is fairly common for both war and horror films (since it is imitating both). I’m really impressed and glad Scott Snyder did have a serious horror story to produce, and is working with the right sort of artist to bring it to life.
RATING: 7/10
WHERE TO READ: COMIXOLOGY
