Wytches Volume 1 by Scott Snyder

Wytches Volume 1

by Scott Snyder

“It's fabulous. A triumph.”-Stephen King

“Dark andbrutal... Wytches are like nothing horror fans have ever seen”-USA Today

Everything youthought you knew about witches is wrong. They are much darker, and they are muchmore horrifying. Wytches takes the mythology of witches to a farcreepier, bone-chilling place than readers have dared venturebefore.

When the Rooks family moves tothe remote town of Litchfield, NH to escape a haunting trauma, they're hopefulabout starting over. But something evil is waiting for them in the woods justbeyond town. Watching from the trees. Ancient...and hungry. CollectsWytches #1-6.

“The mostterrifying comic you've ever read.” -MTVNews

“Dark and brutal...Wytches are like nothing horror fans have ever seen” -USAToday

“Very, very scary...Much like the works of Mary Shelley and the other writers of the VillaDiodati..." -PasteMagazine

“Snyder hastackled horror before, but Wytches sets out to be an entirely new levelof scary." -ComplexMagazine

“An awesome andat times terrifying tale.” -IGN

Reviewed by pamela on

4 of 5 stars

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Snyder's 'Wytches' is a fascinating blend of the uncanny, horrific and intensely familiar, brought together in a perfect pitch of dread and tragedy. He perfectly blends elements of a familiar genre, with the truth of human failings for an ending that was simultaneously poignant, horrific and hopeful.

This is not just a work of skin deep horror. Its depth lies in its ability to question our human nature. In some wonderfully written personal articles toward the end of this graphic novel, he begins with the question 'who would you pledge?' Do we all have a price? Something that we would sacrifice the life of another human being to achieve? And indeed, is there anything that we would sacrifice our very lives to save?

Snyder borrows from established works, and there are elements of Dahl's 'The Witches', a general feel of Stephen King, the bleak colour scheme of 'The Blair Witch Project' and even moments reminiscent of 'Twin Peaks' or 'Children of the Corn'. And yet despite owing so much to all these influences it never feels derivative or unoriginal.

The art style is wonderful. It is chaotic, dark and claustrophobic. Each panel is crafted with obvious love and talent and really made the reading experience something else. It's content was horrible without being overtly and grotesquely visceral. This allowed the art and prose to stand on its own feet rather than relying on shock tactics.

I'm looking forward to volume two and definitely recommend this book for anyone who's a fan of Snyder. This appears to be a deeply personal work for him, and is enjoyable on its own, but also for his personal essays collected at the end which talk about his love for this project and how he began his love affair with all things horror.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 20 July, 2015: Finished reading
  • 20 July, 2015: Reviewed