H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror #1
“The Dunwich Horror”
Written by Joe R. Lansdale
Art by Peter Bergting
Letters by Shawn Lee

“The Hound”
Script by Robert Weinberg
Art by menton3
Letters by menton3
Covers by Nick Percival, menton3
IDW Publishing
Release Date: October 19, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

I chose H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror #1 to review just because I’m a fan of Lovecraft. I was quite happy to find that Joe R. Lansdale had written the script for the first story in this comic. I’ve met him several times since he lives in the same small Texas town as I do. Both the stories were entertaining and as dark as you would expect from a Lovecraftian piece.

The first story, the self titled The Dunwich Horror is obviously just the beginning to a great horror story. The first few pages contain no dialogue but are there to set the mood. Ambiguously suspenseful dialogue between the characters really does little to assist the reader in understanding what is going on, but it lends itself to the mystery and makes you flip the pages that much faster to try to find out what’s next…just like a good story should.  Peter Bergting‘s art is almost like it was done with watercolors in that he blends features and colors to create a lot of dusk-like panels. The near dark atmosphere is one that always works in horror movies and it seems to do just fine in comics, too. Not much can be said to spoil the story here but it really is one that you need to read to get a sense of the ambiance that Lansdale and Bergting present to the reader.

The second story, The Hound, is comprise mainly of single charcoal stylings on each page with a very ornate script overlaid in white to show the stark contrast of prose and art. The writing is dark, mostly descriptive and morbid, it doesn’t lend itself to easy reading. The harshness of tone is almost overwhelming. This adaptation by Robert Weinberg is exquisite, as is the artwork by menton3. I found it difficult to read, however…the font used actually took me some time to acclimate to reading. Or maybe I need new glasses…who knows?

This comic is a must have for any fans of Lovecraft, in particular, or horror, in general. The art is perfectly molded to accompany the wondrous stories adapted by the writers. I’m positive that it won’t disappoint you, there is something here for any fan of the macabre. Don’t hesitate, give it a whirl.