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Out of the several horror comic books I’ve read thus far in my life that feature a huge amount of gore and blood, this one takes the cake for being the most disturbing of them all.

A hell house is a haunted house attraction setup by (mainly) Christians to scare the living shit out of you and make you believe in God/not want to go to Hell. These houses show sin, the torments of Hell, and usually end with a depiction of Heaven. They’re around pretty much every Halloween and they’re damn controversial.

Taking the already frightening aspects of modern evangelical Christianity, writers Chad Feehan and Ryan Dixon have created the greatest horror story I’ve read all year. Volume one of Hell House, Hell House: The Awakening, is not solely horrific because of its graphic blood and gore, but mainly due to idea of Christians being right and the Rapture actually occurring.

If this comic were more known, I’m sure the graphic novel would be even more controversial than it already is. In no way does the comic book attack Christians or Christianity, but it does offer a slew of questions and thoughts for the reader to ponder. The comic shows the social aspects of Rapture, while also depicting the hypocrisy of both believers of non-believers, with a tiny bit of added humor, and a massive dosage of irony.

The story follows a Texas high school’s first open night of its hell house. After the students and staff open up their sin-depicting establishment, a mysterious event occurs and eliminates most of its performers. We follow a small group of survivors who are left and see their struggle to leave the hell house while it collapses, and escape the grasps of the unspeakable creatures who are now upon the Earth. The story is comparable to a zombie tale — what would happen if a zombie outbreak happened? How would you handle it? Replace this idea with Rapture and you have Hell House: The Awakening.

The art provided by Tsubasa Yozora fits the mood and emotion of Hell House perfectly. The style is clean yet detailed and gritty. When the blood splatters in the comic book’s later panels, the details and art style blend very well together. The art never comes off as feeling a bit cheesy.

Overall, if you want a damn good comic read for Halloween, buy Hell House: The Awakening. This comic doesn’t push any bars, and the story isn’t too complex to understand, but its done so well that it seems very natural and fresh, as if this has never been done before. This is a definite recommendation for horror fans everywhere.

This book is a vile, deviant piece of trash. If you consider yourself a good Christian or even a good human being, avoid Hell House at all cost. – Reverend Bernard Eaton, WayCross Evangelical Church

5/5