Wytches, Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder, Jock, & Matt Hollingsworth

I honestly don’t know how this graphic novel/comic series eluded me until now. I picked this up at my public library, intrigued by the cover and title (especially after seeing Stephen King’s blurb on the front!). This book blew me away; my expectations being highly exceeded.

This series is about the real witches in the woods. Forget what you thought you knew about Salem; this series turns the focus towards the true evil. Sailor, the main character, was bullied in school and has massive anxiety, and her family hopes to start over after a traumatic event as they move to a new town.

But this town holds dark secrets.

The artwork of the series roped me in immediately. It’s colorful, vivid, unique, and, though busy, it adds so much to the story to the point where if it was any other style, it wouldn’t work as well. It definitely adds to the creepiness of the book, and I’m just absolutely in love with it.

I was immediately enraptured by the storyline of this volume, and cannot wait until volume 2 is released. It definitely is horror, that Stephen King kind of horror that creeps up on you and messes with your head a bit but also shows monsters when it makes sense to show them. The combination of psychological horror and monsters is my absolute favorite kind (thanks to King for my introduction to this genre), and it definitely shows that Snyder was inspired by King, yet still crafted a story uniquely his own.

I also really enjoyed the author’s notes at the end of the volume. He describes how he got into the horror genre as a kid (and how it helps his anxiety, just like how I use it to calm my own anxiety) and his personal inspirations for the book. It just made me fall for the series even more.

If you love horror, or are even just interested in getting more into horror, definitely go find this book! Those who don’t care for horror may still enjoy it, but I’m biased because I love this genre so much, so it’s hard to be a judge of what non-horror readers may like.

Rating: 5/5 stars (duh.)

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