Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Publication: IDW Publishing - August 27, 2024
Recommended for readers of crime thrillers and horror.
Warnings: kidnapping, torture, violence
I loved the previous Dark Spaces series about inmate firefighters, Dark Spaces: Wildfire, so I had high expectations for this one, as I often do for Scott Snyder works.
Thankfully, I was not disappointed. While it is a much different crime focus than Wildfire, Dungeons hooks on every page. Terrifying in so many ways but serves that horror carefully and with impressive focus on character. The use of a sidekick is excellent. Transitions between scenes are impressive (use of narrative connections, design of presentation, the coloring). Little pieces of dialogue are cut off and picked up again in a natural, immersive manner. I count this among my favorite crime horror stories, alongside the movie, Seven.
The artist, Hayden Sherman, does an amazing job on presenting nature as a force of weight that threads in with the desperate emotions of the story, such as when the two main characters meet a dead-end and the entire cafe is bearing down on them, and the characters hands are scrunching up his forehead, and the narrative boxes break up the next page into the photos from the villain pressing on the reader and character then snap, breakthrough, and the next page serves a freeing moment of epiphany. Then the boxes are broken up into slivers for hyper focus when they’re investigating the new lead. Every page adds such immense energy that you’ll be hard pressed to step away from this read.
There’s a scene near the climax with the characters surrounded by nature with stark shadows and lighting that had me cheering at the presentation of the raw tension. Avoiding spoilers but that had me pumped with so much terror and hope, when it hit the end, I found it hard to breathe. That lighting on the woods and the house was a godsend moment of relaxation and brief joy, and the shadow on the house as they chat hint at the haunting left behind by the story.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to NetGalley and Scott Snyder for allowing me the opportunity to be horrified by Dark Spaces again.
Scott Snyder on Substack: https://bestjackettpress.substack.com/
Hayden Sherman's website: https://www.haydenshermanart.com/
Interview with Scott Snyder on horror in comics and Dark Spaces: Dungeon, March 2024 (before Issue 4 was released so possible spoilers): https://aiptcomics.com/2024/03/05/scott-snyder-dungeon-qa-2/
Listing on Penguin Random House: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/746770/dark-spaces-dungeon-by-scott-snyder-hayden-sherman/
Listing at Forbidden Planet: https://forbiddenplanet.com/426037-dark-spaces-dungeon/
My review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6690842379
