‘Intrusion’ is a solid historical fiction monster story

Get to know an unfamiliar cryptid with Heavy Metal’s new one-shot ‘Intrusion’ out this week.

October 5, 2021

It’s that time of year when you randomly pick up Halloween material because your mind and soul urge you to feel creeped out. Enter horror one-shot Intrusion out this week from Heavy Metal Magazine’s Magma Comix, by Ethan Sacks and Marco Lorenzana. It’s a historical fiction story set in the Louisiana bayou in the late 1760s featuring a cryptid you may not have heard of. What’s more dangerous than living in the 1700s? Living in the 1700s with monsters living nearby.

It’s not giving too much away to say there are literal monsters present in this story. Whether they are good or not, or if the white settlers in Louisana are more of a threat than they are, remains to be seen. The story opens with a man settling on a remote stretch of the bayou with his wife and two young sons. A new home is waiting for them thanks to his family, but it’s not the nicest place to live either. The trials of living during this time are evident which means monsters can only make matters worse.

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What makes this story so interesting is a plot device that flips the script so to speak halfway through the book. I won’t spoil a thing here, but Sacks does something that informs the reader of context as far as what happens up until a certain point. This allows readers to view things in a different way and show how the scariest elements may not be the creepy monsters at all.

Credit: Heavy Metal

Lorenzana draws some interesting-looking beasties who look, part alien, part gremlin, and part insect depending on the age. The thin detailed line gives the story a more literal feel. From clothes to beards, these characters look the part of settlers in a dangerous time to live in America. The simpler style doesn’t always work, but the most important element does which is the environment. The forest looks dark and lonesome. The water looks cold and eerie.

If you’re a fan of cryptids and historical fiction, Intrusion is an easy recommendation. It’s a one-shot that puts you in the shoes of a man trying to make it at a time when simply getting enough food for winter could be difficult. Early American history is rife with troubling times and Sacks and Lorenzana capture that haunting lonesomeness with a monster well.

‘Intrusion’ is a solid historical fiction monster story

Intrusion

If you're a fan of cryptids and historical fiction, Intrusion is an easy recommendation. It's a one-shot that puts you in the shoes of a man trying to make it at a time when simply getting enough food for winter could be difficult. Early American history is rife with troubling times and Sacks and Lorenzana capture that haunting lonesomeness with a monster well.

Reader Rating0 Votes

Drops you into another world that was very real and throws in a monster for good measure

The environments and monsters themselves look great

A simpler story for a simpler time -- there isn't a ton of depth to the story

Art can look too simple at times

Good