Horror-Adjacent Graphic Novels: "Fly By Night" and "Dire Days of Willowweep Manor"

Fly By Night by Tara O’Connor

I recently rented this work as an eBook from my local library. I selected it for a few reasons: the art style, the premise, and the fact that it was a self-contained work. With that in mind, what are my thoughts on Fly By Night? Read on to find out.

What Worked For Me

I found the art style compelling. It never took me out of the work, despite some of the fantastical turns the story ended up taking.
The work deals with mature themes like: grief, loss, and environmentalism. It also goes some pretty dark places on the personal level; it is heavily implied that the missing girl was raped and killed by her boyfriend.
The character designs for the main cast were fun and popped off the page. With that being said, some of the designs for the adults of the story, and especially the antagonists were a bit bland. This is doubly true for the “final big bad.”

What Didn’t Work For Me

I didn’t love the ending for two reasons. First, cryptids are revealed to be real on a livestream and instead of turning the world upside-down, things more-or-less go back to normal after the “final showdown.” Second, it is heavily implied that Beth’s boyfriend, Isaac, raped and murdered her. He disappears before the MC discovers this, however, and is assumed missing or dead. At the end of the story, though, he turns himself in to the local authorities. I understand why this was included: it’s a nice way to provide some closure to both the characters and the reader; given what he did, though, that doesn’t mean it made sense for this character.
The environmental message of the work rings a tad hollow. Why? It is revealed that “big bad,” who wants the pipeline / the destruction of Pinelands is actually the Jersey Devil; destroying the Pinelands will let him, “be free of his monstrous past,” (allegedly). By ultimately making the threat supernatural in origin, it takes the focus away from the real world people and companies who would use some of the same language and tactics as the cryptid to encourage deforestation and environmental catastrophe in the name of profit. I understand that this is a graphic novel and not a pamphlet on environmentalism, but it still bothered me a bit.
(nit-pick) For whatever reason, the eBook was only willing to display the work vertically. This rendered every panel smaller and harder to see for virtually no reason; every other work I’ve rented from the library has had the option to display horizontally.

Conclusion
This work reminded me of a darker version of Aquicorn Cove by K. O’Neill. While it isn’t a “fun,” romp (given the subject matter), I still found it engaging and read to completion. Ultimately, if the art or the premise draw you in, this one is worth a look.

Check it out here.

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity

The premise is definitely an interesting one: our main character (a teen who loves gothic romance stories) is magically transported to “Willowweep Manor.” While Willowweep appears to be a gothic manor on the surface, it is actually a pocket dimension. Needless to say, shenanigans ensue. With that said, what did I think of the work? Read on to find out.

What Worked For Me:

The premise is definitely out there!
The work has a persistent sense of dry humor. None of it was “laugh out loud,” funny for me, but it can be fun when a work doesn’t take itself too seriously.
I appreciate that the protagonist is a woman of color.
I appreciate that romance is never at the story’s forefront for the main character (except as a brief gag near the beginning of the work)
There is some LGBTQ representation in the story, too, but I won’t spoil where.

What Didn’t Work For Me:

I found the world-building to be somewhat dubious. In short, the work offered no explanation as to why Willowweep Manor took the form the form it did. The manor was there (and presumably took that form) before the main character arrived. As such, since no explicit explanation was provided, the only explanation I could come up with as as a plot convenience (ie to match the main character’s interest in “gothic romance”). With that said, I appreciate that the work at least attempted to lampshade this by pointing out some of the anachronisms in the protagonist’s clothing and Willowweep’s architecture. That wasn’t a sufficient substitute for some kind of explanation (for me), however.
A number of important characters talk about the “rules” of the pocket universe, but nothing specific is ever really offered and no consequences ever really come up for supposedly breaking them. In other words, the work teases at a “hard” magic system, but in the end all “magic” tomfoolery is just as soft as the plot requires it to be.
(nit-pick) Though the work broadly gestures toward “gothic romance,” it feels like its references to it are surface level at best.

Conclusion:

It’s a fun romp with lively characters and a dry sense of humor. The premise is quite off-the-wall, too. With that being said, I was disappointed by the world-building. I don’t need (or even want) every detail of a world explained to me; it doesn’t serve the author or the reader to “explain the trick,” after all. When the level of detail is too threadbare, however, it really takes me out of the experience. That, then, brings me to my final recommendation regarding this story: if the premise appeals to you and you don’t think too hard about the rules of this world, you’re likely going to have a great time.

Check it out here.