House of Slaughter #1 Review

Writer: Tate Brombal / Artist: Chris Shehan / Boom! Studios The world of Something is Killing the Children from James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’edera was an elegantly constructed new horror comic that left quite the lasting impression. The adventures of Erica Slaughter’s hunt slowly provided a window into a much deeper lore and the haunting universe rightfully deserved to be expanded. While it’s been a minute since I’ve talked about the series, the series remains one I keep tabs on, and the announcement of House of Slaughter got me very excited for a number of reasons. The world of Something is Killing the Children is enthralling, and any opportunity to expand on it is more than welcome. Hot off the mainline series’ prequel arc, House of Slaughter tantalized us with the back story of one Aaron Slaughter, and I’m thankful that the comic delivered. House of Slaughter #1 opens with the Aaron Slaughter readers familiar with the franchise know and love and new readers will come to appreciate on a hunt. As the in-media res fades to bring us back fifteen years into the past, we follow a young Aaron doing his best as a trainee as opposed to the trainer.

Brombal does a fantastic job of making House of Slaughter approachable to all readers. He writes the younger Aaron in a way that makes him relatable even if the whole “training to be a monster killer” is not exactly a common experience. However, Brombal’s approach to high stake schoolyard antics works incredibly well, and this ite…