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Red Leaves
A time long ago, it was said that during the war, the dead walked amongst the people, infecting those they loved the most. They were driven only by the animalistic desire to return home.
Siberia, Soviet Union, during the Winter Campaign. A mother and daughter wait shrouded in loneliness for the father's return, who was sent to the battle raging Finland. The two have been alone for months, hundreds of miles from the closest city when a terrible presence and overwhelming paranoia begin to surround their home and their daily lives.
Red Leaves takes you on a bleak journey into folklore and the frightening secrets that the great mother Russia holds in her belly.
Siberia, Soviet Union, during the Winter Campaign. A mother and daughter wait shrouded in loneliness for the father's return, who was sent to the battle raging Finland. The two have been alone for months, hundreds of miles from the closest city when a terrible presence and overwhelming paranoia begin to surround their home and their daily lives.
Red Leaves takes you on a bleak journey into folklore and the frightening secrets that the great mother Russia holds in her belly.
- GenresHorrorGraphic Novels
64 pages, Hardcover
Published July 12, 2022
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 3, 2023
I liked the art quite a bit, but the story felt uneven.
January 4, 2025
Picked up this self-contained story because I'm drawn to comix with historical Soviet settings and the black and white artwork looked promising. Its Italian author is an incredibly prolific writer, with a ton of horror and sci-fi books under his belt already. This one is set at the end of 1939 during the brief Soviet Army invasion of Finland known as the "Winter War." (Not to be confused with the much longer "Continuation War" between the Soviets and German-allied Finnish from 1941-44. Anyone interested in the day-to-day reality of that fighting should check out Finnish author Vaino Linna's autobiographical novel "The Unknown SoldierThe Unknown Soldier") Deep in Siberia, a wife and child await the return of their conscripted husband/father, who's off fighting in Finland.
As they fight against loneliness, the wife drinks more heavily and the daughter retreats into stories. Meanwhile, something is preying on and mutilating animals in the surrounding area. The story shifts between daytime, dreams, and hallucinations both at home in the lonely cabin and in the army camp in Finland. What's real and what's a fever-dream becomes hard to discern as the story goes on -- but it's an interesting interpretation of the Slavic vampire (wurdulac, verdilak, and various related spellings), who are driven to drink the blood of their own family... Readers who are interested in this kind of thing should definitely check out the 1839 Alesky Tolstoy (not to be confused with a later Russian author of the same name who wrote primarily science fiction) gothic short story "The Family of the VourdalakThe Family of the Vourdalak", various translations of which can be found online.
The black and white artwork by Italian artist Fiorelli is excellent at capturing the mood and tone of the story, and the sparing introduction of red ink to signpost the supernatural is really well done. I didn't love the human characters, they look a little too wide-eyed and cartoony and don't match the era or mood. But otherwise the art is pretty strong, especially the full-page panels that capture the characters in the natural landscape.
I do wish that historically-set comix like this were a little stronger on fact-checking some things. For example, at one point the father is given morphine for a wound, but the Soviet Army of that era didn't have access to morphine. He also fires a Nagant revolver, but that was only issued to officers. I'm also unclear why the Christian crosses we see throughout the book are Western style and not Eastern style. But those quibbles aside, it's a pretty creepy story for those who enjoy such things.
As they fight against loneliness, the wife drinks more heavily and the daughter retreats into stories. Meanwhile, something is preying on and mutilating animals in the surrounding area. The story shifts between daytime, dreams, and hallucinations both at home in the lonely cabin and in the army camp in Finland. What's real and what's a fever-dream becomes hard to discern as the story goes on -- but it's an interesting interpretation of the Slavic vampire (wurdulac, verdilak, and various related spellings), who are driven to drink the blood of their own family... Readers who are interested in this kind of thing should definitely check out the 1839 Alesky Tolstoy (not to be confused with a later Russian author of the same name who wrote primarily science fiction) gothic short story "The Family of the VourdalakThe Family of the Vourdalak", various translations of which can be found online.
The black and white artwork by Italian artist Fiorelli is excellent at capturing the mood and tone of the story, and the sparing introduction of red ink to signpost the supernatural is really well done. I didn't love the human characters, they look a little too wide-eyed and cartoony and don't match the era or mood. But otherwise the art is pretty strong, especially the full-page panels that capture the characters in the natural landscape.
I do wish that historically-set comix like this were a little stronger on fact-checking some things. For example, at one point the father is given morphine for a wound, but the Soviet Army of that era didn't have access to morphine. He also fires a Nagant revolver, but that was only issued to officers. I'm also unclear why the Christian crosses we see throughout the book are Western style and not Eastern style. But those quibbles aside, it's a pretty creepy story for those who enjoy such things.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews