Comics
Review: ‘Ghosted’ #8
An incredibly fun read, “Ghosted” #8 is an entertaining supernatural adventure filled with spooks, witches, and action. With two engaging and humorous protagonists, readers will find these characters easy to root for. The “Ghosted” series takes an amusing approach at poltergeists and ghost-hunting.
WRITTEN BY: Joshua Williamson
ART BY: Davide Gianfelice
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: March 19, 2014
The Teacher of the Dead has been waiting for Jackson Winters, the haunted thief, to arrive at his hidden and ancient temple. Jackson has found himself lost in the jungle and captured by the Brotherhood of the Closed Book. Jackson keeps waiting for Anderson, his ghostly partner-in-crime, to spring him free. But she keeps teasing him as they wait for the Teacher to torture him. Somehow Jackson has to free himself and rescue the damsel-in-distress, Nina, who also has a ghost inside her head.
What really makes the narrative by Joshua Williamson feel so energetic is his sarcastic and witty dialogue. Even when all seems lost, I find it hilarious that Jackson is able to throw a cynical one-liner at the face of danger. I was laughing out loud when Jackson was hoping that the Teacher, the big bad, would be some kind of Bond villain. Jackson expects someone to torture him and throw him into a pit full of giant snakes.
What I really like is the snappy dialogue between the Teacher and Jackson. Like a true Bond villain, the Teacher explains his grand scheme in detail. Williamson then twists the idea and has these two characters play around with each other, like a cat and mouse. The Teacher knows Jackson is talking to his ghost partner and conjures up a spell to make her go away. Even while the Teacher is revealing his master plan, Jackson is secretly planning to steal something valuable from the temple.
Artist Davide Gianfelice is able to portray the two different sides of the Teacher. In his character design, the Teacher is elderly and flailing with his wrinkly skin. The antagonist shuffles his feet as if his bad knees would break at a single moment. But there is something deadly about him when he flashes his teeth, which are sharp as fangs. His fingers have extended nails to scratch your eyes out.
Gianfelice makes great use of the jungle setting throughout the narrative. In a wide shot, Gianfelice illustrates the ancient temple with thousands of stone steps. If you look carefully, the steps form into the shape of a hand. The walls and narrow tunnels are lit by flickering candles. The Teacher’s throne is made up of bones and skulls, the remains of humans who have been eaten by giant snakes.
Readers should definitely be on the lookout for “Ghosted” #8. With its surprising cliffhanger, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
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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