Comics
Review: “The House in the Wall” #1
James Tynion IV & Noah J. Yuenkel’s new Thrillbent series “The House in the Wall” builds an unsettling amount of tension in its opening pages. It is cleverly executed to creep under your skin and redefines the conventions of the horror comic book by experimenting with paneling in really interesting and scary ways.
WRITTEN BY: James Tynion IV & Noah J. Yuenkel
ART BY: Eryk Donovan
PUBLISHER: Thrillbent
PRICE: Free with $3.99 subscription!
RELEASE: June 20, 2014
You know the looming sense of presence you sometimes feel over your shoulder. The idea that someone’s watching you, that creeping sense of dread that you can’t shake? That’s “The House in the Wall” in a nutshell. It’s filled with undefined dread, the type of haunting stuff that you can’t even confirm actually exists, and it’s why it will burrow into the core of your being.
There is certainly a lot to be appreciated here, it’s a relatable story of young angst. Adrift in a sea of students who are all lost in a lecture hall, Ariel can’t seem to stay focused on the task at hand. When she looks up for help, she’s met with an intoxicating presence. An ornate door looms in front of her. Of course, she heads inside.
We learn a lot about her character through what little we see of her here. It’s intriguing to see a character so ready to welcome a strange presence with open arms. However, the supporting cast doesn’t get enough time to properly introduce themselves, but it’s a minor gripe in an otherwise stellar package.
Eryk Donovan really gets to shine in this debut issue. As he’s the one who carefully strings you along this tightrope walk of creeping dread. His uncharacterized students are attentive and reflect your worst fears back at you. The ornate door that leads us to the titular house is intriguing and un-missable. You can’t help but feel yourself drift toward it.
Donovan’s art works wonders with Fred C Stressing’s amazing colors. Together they create an alternative world of horror that feels a lot like our world, but with something slightly off. It’s a beautiful tribute to the works of Dario Argento and other masters of horror who used lighting effects to create a sense of uncanny dread. It’s all here, and will slowly coil around you. At first it feels warm and inviting, if only to betray you a panel later.
“The House in the Wall” is a little too short for my taste. It gives a tantalizing morsel of the greater story before leaving you to deal with your new sense of dread. But, if it’s any consolation, the wonderful story continues bi-weekly from Thrillbent. There is no excuse to miss this book, it’s chilling, intriguing, and I can’t wait to see where things head next.
House In The Wall, along with all the other content on Thrillbent, is available with the $3.99 monthly subscription (also available through the website). To get House In The Wall, and all the other content on Thrillbent, people can click the below link (also available through the website).
http://thrillbent.com/comics/
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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