Comics
Review: ‘Hoax Hunters’ #7
Hoax Hunters #7 picks things up quickly and presents readers with a promising mystery worth solving. With a new story arc, this is the perfect time to jump in on the “Hoax Hunters” series. If you are a fan of horror and paranormal stuff, this series is definitely for you.
WRITTEN BY: Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley
ART BY: Axel Medellin
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: February 13, 2013
At Reality Con, the Hoax Hunters, a group of paranormal debunkers, were challenged in public by the Hoax Hunters Hunters. While their every move is being recorded by the Hoax Hunters Hunters, the Hoax Hunters must disprove the legend of the Haunchyville gnomes. The truth is that the Hoax Hunters are real paranormal investigators trying to stop the spread of the supernatural. With one of their members missing, the Hoax Hunters must stop the Albino King before the merciless killing machine strikes again. If they survive the ordeal, they might have a chance to prove the flesh-eating gnomes do not actually exist.
The writers, Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley, do a great job providing back-story to one of their protagonists, while crafting a suspenseful thriller. In the opening pages, Moreci and Seeley let the readers sink into Ken Cadaver’s mind as he is being mentally tortured. The Albino King is reading into Ken’s mind, breaking through his barriers, and seeing what makes him tick as a corpse. While Ken is in tremendous pain, he is also reliving parts of his past, memories he tried so hard to block. In order to truly hurt him, The Albino King is manipulating Ken’s heartbroken memories of a true love lost.
The Hoax Hunters Hunters are an interesting group because they are a bunch of normal people thrown into an extraordinary situation. At first, the team thought they were trying to prove the Hoax Hunters were a sham. The Hoax Hunters Hunters had no idea that the Haunchyville legend was real and that they were walking into a deadly trap. With a traitor amongst them, the Hoax Hunters have to protect these foolish but innocent people who hated them.
The highlight of the issue is artist Axel Medellin’s depiction of Ken’s interrogation. By foregoing shock value, Medellin is aiming for the emotional truth behind the torture scenes. In creative page layouts, Ken is reliving events from his tragic life while screaming in tremendous pain. The Albino King isn’t the one causing harm, Ken is doing that all his own. Medellin makes great use of flashbacks, transitioning the panels from the past to the present.
Medellin provides little details to his designs to make the characters stand out. In the design of the Albino King, Medellin adds tattoos to the back of his head. When Regan uses her supernatural powers, there is a weird lettering surrounding her fingertips. What makes these details so important, Medellin is letting the readers know that the supernatural has its own language.
This latest paranormal mystery takes a major twist in “Hoax Hunters” #7. The “Hoax Hunters” series started off with an interesting premise and has expanded its mythology with such engaging characters.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by Jorge Solis
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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