From the Bookshelf of I Read Comic Books…

Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints

Cullen Bunn (Writer),

Tyler Crook (Illustrator)

Start date: January 1, 2016

Finish date: January 31, 2016

Discussion: BotM Discussions

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What Members Thought

Jan 25, 2019 Nancy rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, graphic-novels

Harrow County is an eerie southern gothic fairy tale, and after recently reading Bone Parish and now this, Cullen Bunn is becoming a favorite author of mine.

The opening pages begin with the hanging of suspected witch Hester Beck. As she is hanging from a tree while lit on fire, she swears revenge and tells the surrounding crowd that she will be back. This old burnt hanging tree is on the edge of the property of teen Emmy and her widowed father. Emmy is about to turn eighteen and is helping her f Harrow County is an eerie southern gothic fairy tale, and after recently reading Bone Parish and now this, Cullen Bunn is becoming a favorite author of mine.

The opening pages begin with the hanging of suspected witch Hester Beck. As she is hanging from a tree while lit on fire, she swears revenge and tells the surrounding crowd that she will be back. This old burnt hanging tree is on the edge of the property of teen Emmy and her widowed father. Emmy is about to turn eighteen and is helping her father with a calf’s birth when a traveling salesman and his granddaughter Bernice arrive on the farm. The two men speak privately about their worries that Emmy could be a reincarnated Hester, and that her birthday will reveal a hidden evil. Later when Emmy is exploring the nearby woods, she discovers her first haint, a skinless boy that speaks to her. It is his later warnings that alert Emmy that danger is near, and her seemingly kind father doesn’t even trust her. A showdown occurs, and secret alliances are revealed. Who can Emmy trust? Her father? Bernice? The skinned boy? Can she even trust herself?

The story has a lot of potential, as Emmy is shown as a young woman who is trying desperately to understand the mysteries of her possible origin and the decades-long secrets that the townspeople have. This is a much better adaptation of that sort of story than the disappointing Wytches. The title hints that countless more ghostly haints will be discovered, and how Emmy reacts and utilizes them will certainly be intriguing.

Illustrated by Tyler Crook, he creates an atmospheric southern locale with believable and varied townspeople. His dark woods scenes are my favorite, with his spooky corners that could harbor sinister haints. He opened each new chapter with a two-page spread that somehow incorporated the words Harrow County into the background, and I enjoyed looking for how he would do it each time. His artwork is reminiscent of Emily Carroll’s work in Through the Woods, and the comparison holds up because both Carroll and Crook draw their characters young-looking with an apple-cheeked motif. In this case, Emmy was drawn way too young-looking. At eighteen years old, she should have been drawn as a young woman and not so childlike, but other than that complaint, the artwork is a perfect match for the story.

As this was the first of an eight-book series, I aim to visit Harrow County more in the future and see what awaits Emmy!

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2019/01/2... ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2017 Shannon Appelcline rated it really liked it

Shelves: comics, comics-indy

Definitely a horror comic. It feels very Southern Gothic and is full of ickiness and spookiness. There's some nice background here and our central character is interesting, as is her father. But, it doesn't feel like we've gotten to the plot yet, just the setup. So it'll take another volume to see where this is actually going. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 26, 2018 Dimitris Papastergiou rated it liked it

Shelves: comics, horror, mystery, read-in-2018

I liked it. It's good. The story is ok. The artwork is awesome!

Makes me wanna see what happens next, but overall expected it to be much better from other reviews etc.

Not going to tell you what happens in it, just read the description and if it's something you think you'd like, read it. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 23, 2018 Douglas Gibson rated it really liked it

Spooky and eerie (but fun!) read! Full of bright fall colors and creepy images. I did not see the twist coming and I am always happy when a book surprises me.

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 01, 2023 Katherine (Kat) rated it really liked it

3.8/5 Stars
Rounded up to a 4.

1 like · Like · see review

May 11, 2017 William added it

More witches, but the premise is interesting. The artwork is creepy and the writing is minimalist and effective. I enjoyed this and look forward to further volumes.

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