The meta horror Where Monserers Lie revealed a gated community where creative monstrous killers lived in between their sprees. It normalized their lifestyles for comedic effect while throwing in gore and matter-of-fact killings as if it was a 9-to-5 gig. The unique series continues on October 16th with Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1, a sequel series crafted by the original creators Kyle Starks and Piotr Kowalski. If there ever was a statement to describe an issue, it’s that the plot thickens greatly.
Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 is a direct continuation of where the story left off. Connor Hayes has an ultimatum to either live with a new batch of killers or die and let his unborn baby go fatherless. Before that, however, we get to meet a bunch of new killers with all sorts of new and very weird killing kinks.
And that’s where the joy is found in this slightly insidious yet totally pragmatic group of killers. Once again, we get to see the different ways they kill and how totally over each other they are. Imagine having a very specific job, but it’s kind of illegal, and thus, for your own safety and ability to continue that job, you have to live with a bunch of weirdos in a similar profession. That’s the general vibe of this series, with a few new wrinkles introduced in this issue.
Variant cover by Christian Ward.
Dark Horse Comics
I’m avoiding spoilers here, but expect some power struggles with the management of site B. Starks has some interesting ways of probing characters, too, particularly Connor, who needs extra convincing not to kill everyone. There’s also a loose end or two that could totally ruin the second hamlet of these killers.
Fans of the horror genre will also delight in some of these killers abilities and personalities, which are in some cases clear surrogates for famous movie or pop culture killers. That adds an extra layer of commentary, as well as tomfoolery Starks and Kowalski can take these characters, probing their powers for comedic or realistic effect.
The art by Kowalski is strong, with many details in the surroundings around the characters and background detail. The sketchy hand-drawn look gives the series a subversive edginess. The little details, be it the busy shelves or a heavily wooded forest around the community, add to the visual storytelling. Can the art look a little simplistic at times? Sure, a hell-dog or two looks a bit basic, but there’s some charm in that.
Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 continues a series that could easily be an offbeat dark comedy on TV, but us lucky comics readers get a truly unique take on monstrous killers. Horror fans rejoice; this is unique, with comedy by way of The Big Lebowski.
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