HAUNTING is a supernatural horror comic series. It is written and created by Phil Falco, with art by Anna Wieszczyk, colors by Andres Samboni, and letters by LetterSquids.
I don’t know about you, but I have spent what is probably way too much time on Kickstarter since COVID turned society on its head. I’m no writer, nor am I an artist, but I adore the people who are. They put so much time and effort into making this thing that is so precious to them become reality. It’s not easy to do when the world is normal and it’s even harder when there’s a pandemic. I couldn’t buy comics to support creators, but something I could do was put money towards them kickstarting their dream. Which is how I happened upon HAUNTING. I was genuinely upset I missed the first issues, but that was quickly washed away by my joy in realizing there was a Backer Tier to get a physical copy of issue 1 along with Issue 2, which the collector in me couldn’t pass up. I love a good horror, I love good supernatural, and this is both of those things.
Since I got to read both issues back to back and because, frankly, they’re both fantastic, I’m going to be reviewing them both. Now, on with the show!
HAUNTING is the story of two teenagers, the first one being Bram. Bram has this annoying quality where he raises the dead everywhere he goes. He doesn’t know how it happens or why, nor can he do anything to stop it. So, like any normal teenager, even though these ghosts are terrifying and literally kill innocent people around him, he just ignores the chaos because as we all know, if you ignore a problem long enough, it will magically go away. Then we have Faith. Faith is a teenager in a small town under the care of a Priest (yikes) and she works the front desk at the local inn. The very inn Bram makes his way to, dragging Faith into the mess that’s been following him.
You can’t really blame Bram for being apathetic. We don’t know for sure, but it seems pretty obvious that he’s been dealing with this his entire life. I’m sure he at one point had people he cared about, but there doesn’t seem to be any way he could have had normalcy in his life because people have died pretty much everywhere throughout history. His ability isn’t limited by time, there are ancient ghosts, there are new ghosts, he can’t escape it. His apathy is something I love and hate, which in turn makes me love him more. I mean, he says and does some stuff where, if I were Faith, I would totally punch him, but then I think, “well, would I really care about that random person being killed if I had to deal with it my entire life? Can I honestly say I would be just as compassionate as I am now?” the answer is, unfortunately, probably not. And I love when a character makes me question my own moral compass like that.
Faith, however, is the moral compass Bram needs. She is terrified yet she stays incredibly grounded and brave. She too has had hardships, though they might not be as severe as Bram’s. she has still maintained a morality that she chooses to believe in. I think what makes Faith so awesome is that she does have an emotional reaction to things that begin to happen to her, but she doesn’t let that consume her decision making. She isn’t helpless. Which is good because Bram isn’t the best sidekick. I wish I could say more but I don’t want to spoil anything, the most important thing you need to know is she kicks butt.
I love these two characters already. I love their dynamic, I love their opposing views, and I’m so pumped to watch them on their adventure. While you may find yourself thinking teens and ghosts aren’t a new story, I assure you, this one is. I haven’t read a plot like this one, Phil Falco has a wonderful story to tell you with Anna Wieszczyk’s art and Andres Samboni’s colors. The character design is great, the ghosts are spooky, and the death is brutal, I don’t know what more you could ask for from a supernatural horror.
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
