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Locke & Key: One-Shots
Locke & Key: The Guide to Known Keys
This special standalone issue features an expanded Guide to the Known Keys, an all-new Guide to Failed Keys, and a story of summer-night magic, set in Keyhouse's unlikely past.
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 23, 2011
20 people are currently reading
4422 people want to read
About the author
Joe Hill
493 books28.5k followersJoe Hill's debut, Heart-Shaped Box, won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. His second, Horns, was made into a film freakfest starring Daniel Radcliffe. His other novels include NOS4A2, and his #1 New York Times Best-Seller, The Fireman... which was also the winner of a 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror Novel.
He writes short stories too. Some of them were gathered together in his prize-winning collection, 20th Century Ghosts.
He won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long running comic book series, Locke & Key, co-created with illustrator and art wizard Gabriel Rodriguez.
He lives in New Hampshire with a corgi named McMurtry after a certain beloved writer of cowboy tales. His next book, Strange Weather, a collection of novellas, storms into bookstores in October of 2017.
He writes short stories too. Some of them were gathered together in his prize-winning collection, 20th Century Ghosts.
He won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long running comic book series, Locke & Key, co-created with illustrator and art wizard Gabriel Rodriguez.
He lives in New Hampshire with a corgi named McMurtry after a certain beloved writer of cowboy tales. His next book, Strange Weather, a collection of novellas, storms into bookstores in October of 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
June 17, 2017
If you haven't read Locke and Key series yet, you sooo should, before there's TV series out everybody will be watching and you will be the sad sod who haven't read the series yet. As much as Stranger Things was childish (yes it was, duuh, but I loved it nonetheless, so don't boo me), this one's probably gonna be too, but I expect it to be good, at least.
As for this story - it was beautiful and sad in the first part, and in the second one we get to learn some more about the Keys plus some secrets of Locke family. While it was really good, it wasn't satisfying enough, I expected something more. 4.5 stars.
As for this story - it was beautiful and sad in the first part, and in the second one we get to learn some more about the Keys plus some secrets of Locke family. While it was really good, it wasn't satisfying enough, I expected something more. 4.5 stars.
November 13, 2015
picture if you will a sick child. the child is brave, the child is loved. the child longs for adventures his frail little body will never allow him. the child will die in agony. picture if you will a father. if you were the father to such a child, what would you do? you are a father who has done things, who can do things, magic things. and yet there is no magic cure. but perhaps you can do something yet: create a fantasia, create a perfect childworld. bring back ghosts from the past. take your child backstage of the world's theatre and show him that there is wonder there too. take your precious child to the moon, and beyond!
Hill constructs a sweet and ever so sad fable - a paean to what can never be and what may still be, in dreams, in a father's hopes and fears for his child, in places a child may go but will never return. Rodriguez matches him with art that is by turns winsome, grounded, and just a little bit phantasmagorical.
good stuff!
this review is a part of a longer article collecting all of my reviews of the Locke & Key series so far, posted on
Shelf Inflicted.
Hill constructs a sweet and ever so sad fable - a paean to what can never be and what may still be, in dreams, in a father's hopes and fears for his child, in places a child may go but will never return. Rodriguez matches him with art that is by turns winsome, grounded, and just a little bit phantasmagorical.
good stuff!
this review is a part of a longer article collecting all of my reviews of the Locke & Key series so far, posted on
Shelf Inflicted.
June 5, 2022
Muy normalito lo mejor el final que va explicando las llaves su uso y cuando se fabricaron?
Por otro lado la historia ha sido muy simple.
5/10
Seguiré con el resto de los one shots
Por otro lado la historia ha sido muy simple.
5/10
Seguiré con el resto de los one shots
January 14, 2016
I'm glad I only paid $1.99 for this as it was somewhat disappointing. The extra story is touching but I was expecting more new information about the keys and it wasn't really there. The guide to the keys was in the back of several of the volumes. In the other hand it's short and you get an extra emotional key story.
June 7, 2015
The main story with Ian and his dad and the moon wasn't all that engrossing, but the various diary entries at the end about the different keys and how the Locke family used them was pretty interesting.
Loved the illustrations, especially the ones inside the moon.
Loved the illustrations, especially the ones inside the moon.
July 6, 2022
This one-shot issue had two stories one of the Locke family in 1912 where one of the sons is dying and nothing seems to help so he is taken someplace to provide him comfort and then the second part is the actual guide by various key makers about the keys, a few entries are in German as well so obviously those were out of bounds for me. Now seriously stepping away and would continue the remaining issues if any later.
I have always loved comics, and I hope to always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics, Diamond Comics, or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I love comics to bits, may the comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
I have always loved comics, and I hope to always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics, Diamond Comics, or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I love comics to bits, may the comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
February 5, 2020
There are just the six volumes of Locke and Key, so if you want to stretch out your read, check out the interludes, this one being the first.
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First 'Moonwalkers' is set in 1912 with African American Harland Locke and Caucasian (brother!) Chamberlin Morse Locke looking for some solution for the terrible life of young Ian Locke. The solution... a new Key! An nice introduction to the Locke history. 7 out of 12
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Secondly, and by far more important the Guide to Known Keys list all the known keys their creator and the rationale for their creation - which it could be argued makes this a must-read? The whole Key concept is a blast and Gabriel Rodriguez's art is as important to make the concept work so well. 7 out of 12.
.
.
First 'Moonwalkers' is set in 1912 with African American Harland Locke and Caucasian (brother!) Chamberlin Morse Locke looking for some solution for the terrible life of young Ian Locke. The solution... a new Key! An nice introduction to the Locke history. 7 out of 12
.
Secondly, and by far more important the Guide to Known Keys list all the known keys their creator and the rationale for their creation - which it could be argued makes this a must-read? The whole Key concept is a blast and Gabriel Rodriguez's art is as important to make the concept work so well. 7 out of 12.
.
November 21, 2022
I would have given this five stars if not for the stupid language in the key descriptions, it ruined the whole thing for me really pretty annoying..
Read
September 21, 2021"Are feelings true? Are the things you understand in your dreams that disappear when you wake — are those things true? What's true in the dust and hard light of day may not hold in balloon, late at night, close enough to the moon to reach out and touch it."
November 24, 2021
This is a review of ONLY Locke and Key: Open the Moon.
I read this a few days ago while testing out a new graphic novel/comicbook reader app on my phone. The app worked great - this graphic novel? Meh.
Spoilers and stuff below.
I really love the Locke and Key series. I own all of the main series, and have enjoyed the show immensely. But this just felt a little bit too twee for me. It was incredibly short, for one, and I had to think about it longer than it took me to actually read it to make sense of it... and that's... well it's not great. Maybe it's just me, but it was not immediately clear what the Moon was, and knowing that these are magical keys that can do anything, I thought maybe it was a place that Little Boy Locke (I forgot his name) would be able to visit to alleviate his pain/illness before returning home to his life. I did not immediately realize that the Moon was becoming his, what, afterlife? We know that the ghosts of the Lockes are around, so I didn't think anything of their being in the Moon.
Anyway, I mean, the writing and the artwork are still great, but the story just didn't do much for me. It seemed needlessly heartstring twangy. I guess a key would have likely been created for such a purpose if the Locke keymaking business was real, so it's not super farfetched to imagine a parent doing something like this, but it just didn't work for me as a standalone story. Probably if I had read it as part of the whole collected Guide to the Known Keys... but I didn't. So here we are.
I read this a few days ago while testing out a new graphic novel/comicbook reader app on my phone. The app worked great - this graphic novel? Meh.
Spoilers and stuff below.
I really love the Locke and Key series. I own all of the main series, and have enjoyed the show immensely. But this just felt a little bit too twee for me. It was incredibly short, for one, and I had to think about it longer than it took me to actually read it to make sense of it... and that's... well it's not great. Maybe it's just me, but it was not immediately clear what the Moon was, and knowing that these are magical keys that can do anything, I thought maybe it was a place that Little Boy Locke (I forgot his name) would be able to visit to alleviate his pain/illness before returning home to his life. I did not immediately realize that the Moon was becoming his, what, afterlife? We know that the ghosts of the Lockes are around, so I didn't think anything of their being in the Moon.
Anyway, I mean, the writing and the artwork are still great, but the story just didn't do much for me. It seemed needlessly heartstring twangy. I guess a key would have likely been created for such a purpose if the Locke keymaking business was real, so it's not super farfetched to imagine a parent doing something like this, but it just didn't work for me as a standalone story. Probably if I had read it as part of the whole collected Guide to the Known Keys... but I didn't. So here we are.
March 9, 2021
Antes de dar un paseo por los diarios de la gente que forjó las llaves. Te dieron una vuelta por “abre la luna” y me parece una bonita historia...
“Tras las bambalinas de la vida”
“Tras las bambalinas de la vida”
July 26, 2017
Nothing compared to the main story line.
If you're new to Locke and Key, it's probably more fun to find out about the keys progressively through the main series.
If you're new to Locke and Key, it's probably more fun to find out about the keys progressively through the main series.
December 19, 2020
I thought it will be a real guide to the Known Keys...it turn out a short touching story "in the Moon" that already in the volume of Locke & Key: Heaven and Earth and then the Guide is the same already presented in the end of each of the 6 main Volumes...
I wished at least it's a page for every key so it'd be easier to read/decipher the hard to read handwritten description of the keys.
I wished at least it's a page for every key so it'd be easier to read/decipher the hard to read handwritten description of the keys.
December 22, 2017
While this story could be a stand alone, this story is better understood if you have read the issue "Small World", as this has the family found in that story. We meet Chamberlin Locke and his wife Fiona and their four children. This story centers on their sickly son Ian, who is prone to convulsions, who can’t be cured by the magical mending cabinet in their home. Ian, his father and family friend Harland board a special hot air balloon to take them to the other side of the moon. This beautiful but melancholy story reunites loved ones, and Ian’s parents make a heart rending sacrifice for Ian.
August 23, 2020
An excellent short story addition, "Open the Moon," with a Bradbury, Little Nemo, and Georges Méliès influence. The rest is nice but inconsequential.
September 5, 2018
The first part was a non-typical emotional and sad story that pulls at your heart strings (and not a dark one), while the second part was the actual guide. It is a good supplement to the story as a summary of the known keys, but the best part for me was the story preceding the guide.
October 20, 2020
This is a review of the entire series.
The story follows the Locke siblings; the curious young Bode, his rebellious sister Kinsey and his mature brother Tyler. After their father is tragically murdered in a mysterious home invasion, they move to their ancestral home in Lovecraft (a very suitable name for the hellish place they're moving into) with their alcoholic mother. The Locke house holds many strange secrets, keys that unlock forbidden powers and ancient evils never meant to be released. It turns out that the murder of the Locke family's father may not have been a coincidence. There are higher forces at play, manipulating the living from the shadows and orchestrating the downfall of the entire world.
This was a great surprise. I've been reading manga my entire life, but I confess that I never got into American comics and graphic novels (until now that is.) This series managed to win me over and open up an entire new medium of fiction to me. I was impressed by how realistic and human the characters are, there are so many unique people that are developed with utmost respect and is an example of diversity done extremely well. It really does rival the best of Stephen King and other big horror writers of the same ilk. It's got body swapping, spirit battles, mind-bending powers, ghosts and demons, heavy metal culture, blood and guts, tears and trauma, it's a thrilling ride all the way through.
Every volume packed a handful of punches. Volume 4 was the weakest of the series but even that one had a strong finish that eventually led to an even stronger ending. Suffering and grief is portrayed with rich emotion. The character development is moving. The villain is merciless and is actively involved with the plot at all times. All the side characters play a big role in the climactic finale and they all get the satisfying resolutions they deserve. Great series.
***
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The story follows the Locke siblings; the curious young Bode, his rebellious sister Kinsey and his mature brother Tyler. After their father is tragically murdered in a mysterious home invasion, they move to their ancestral home in Lovecraft (a very suitable name for the hellish place they're moving into) with their alcoholic mother. The Locke house holds many strange secrets, keys that unlock forbidden powers and ancient evils never meant to be released. It turns out that the murder of the Locke family's father may not have been a coincidence. There are higher forces at play, manipulating the living from the shadows and orchestrating the downfall of the entire world.
This was a great surprise. I've been reading manga my entire life, but I confess that I never got into American comics and graphic novels (until now that is.) This series managed to win me over and open up an entire new medium of fiction to me. I was impressed by how realistic and human the characters are, there are so many unique people that are developed with utmost respect and is an example of diversity done extremely well. It really does rival the best of Stephen King and other big horror writers of the same ilk. It's got body swapping, spirit battles, mind-bending powers, ghosts and demons, heavy metal culture, blood and guts, tears and trauma, it's a thrilling ride all the way through.
Every volume packed a handful of punches. Volume 4 was the weakest of the series but even that one had a strong finish that eventually led to an even stronger ending. Suffering and grief is portrayed with rich emotion. The character development is moving. The villain is merciless and is actively involved with the plot at all times. All the side characters play a big role in the climactic finale and they all get the satisfying resolutions they deserve. Great series.
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...
My Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/SorbelloHorror
My Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/michael.sorb...
February 16, 2014
This single comic length addition to the universe created by Hill and Rodriguez serves as handy little recap of the various keys and their functions, as well as adds one extra key via a short story following some of the Locke ancestors. Not necessary for those who are reading straight through the series, but for someone like me, who had taken a break of a few months while waiting for Volume 6: Alpha & Omega to drop, it's ideal.
August 23, 2012
Do you like to cry? Cause this story will make you want to cry. I read this before I read volume 5 of the series and it took me right back into this world. I world where even the least nefarious events, are still tinged with bitter sweet aspects. Its a wondrous story with magic and flight, and personal tragedy. Its great, just don't read it on a day your feeling bummed.
December 6, 2012
No new keys here, particularly after reading Clockworks, but the little one off story, "Open the Moon," was truly beautiful. As a dad, it moved me nearly to tears, and that doesn't happen very often. Loved it.
January 13, 2016
OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!
Esta historia corta (que ocurre muchos años antes de la saga original) es demasiado hermosa y triste :( Me gustó demasiado demasiado, y esa última imagen es pero DEMASIADO TRISTE :( !!!!
Esta historia corta (que ocurre muchos años antes de la saga original) es demasiado hermosa y triste :( Me gustó demasiado demasiado, y esa última imagen es pero DEMASIADO TRISTE :( !!!!
January 11, 2020
Una historia muy triste, de hecho sentí que me daba mucha nostalgia el leerla. Nos topamos con un padre desesperado por tener la estabilidad de su hijo y para eso debe generar un gran sacrificio. Vale la pena leerlo por muy corto que sea.
June 15, 2018
Le bajo una estrella porque es muy corto y me gustaria seguir leyendo.
May 30, 2022
Too bad I can't read all of the keys' descriptions.
January 14, 2016
It was good, but I was expecting something different.
June 11, 2021
"Awe" and "How sweet" are not usual emotes that one associates with the Locke & Key series, but nevertheless - "Open the Moon" draws forth those sentiments from me. In addition to that short backstory, The Known Keys provides deeper insight into the Locke family that simply enhances the amazing world building by Hill and Rodriguez. If you think it was just alright, re-read and pay attention to A. the eyes and B. the diary entry authors, they tie in magnificently.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2017
A fantastic short story set in this world of Locke & Key, and the guide to the known keys is very entertaining and interesting to know more about the ancestors of the Locke family.
Una fantástica historia corta ambientada en este mundo de Locke & Key, y la guía de llaves conocidas es muy entretenida e interesante para conocer más sobre los antepasados de la familia Locke.
Una fantástica historia corta ambientada en este mundo de Locke & Key, y la guía de llaves conocidas es muy entretenida e interesante para conocer más sobre los antepasados de la familia Locke.
October 1, 2019
This was such an interesting sneak-peak into the history of the Locke family and also some keys we haven't seen (yet?). I especially enjoyed the opening story about The Key To The Moon. It was so bittersweet, but ultimately heart-warming!
4 stars only because there were some passages in German that I couldn't read.
4 stars only because there were some passages in German that I couldn't read.
April 8, 2020
The main story found in this one-shot is contained in the Heaven and Earth volume. It is probably the strongest of the stories in the collection. The rest of this contains the key guide found in the back of the normal volumes plus a handful of new or imagined keys. This was fine, but there is no need to get it if you have read the main series and the Heaven and Earth collection.
December 18, 2020
Normally I don't review one shots. Open the moon, I think, might be the best short story or one shot I've ever read though. Off the top of my head I can't think of a better one. It is more than outstanding. 5 stars.
You do not need to have read the locke and key series to enjoy this book. But it helps.
You do not need to have read the locke and key series to enjoy this book. But it helps.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews