Review by Booklist Review
Simmons' debut, a wordless tale about three teenagers who stumble upon a house in the woods and, with it, their doom, stands out for its intricate, layered, and expressive art. The story is simple, and though it's certainly horrific, Simmons spares readers from cheap shocks and overt supernatural elements. When the teenagers meet, the art picks up undercurrents of jealousy among them. When they find the house, large panels open up the scene to show a spectacularly detailed two-page spread of a partially submerged, ruined edifice. As the teens press forward toward their end, decreased panel size and darkness make their pain and desperation palpable. This is obviously not an upbeat read, but it's beautifully handled and gripping, and it will capture the imaginations of readers who like horror movies as well as those looking for a complex, involving visual experience.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Simmons's first solo work is a moody, claustrophobic, haunting tale, told completely without words. Three teenagers meet in the middle of the woods to explore an old mansion and discover its secrets. Their curiosity and fascination with the mystery of the abandoned place is quickly replaced with dread and rising panic. Simmons takes full advantage of the page to dwarf these characters with their surroundings. Their emotions are expressed by the growing distance between them, as one girl draws enviously away from the burgeoning romance between the other two. The pen and ink drawings are filled with wonder: discovering an underwater town, watching the sunset from the roof. But it is no coincidence that in the latter half of the book, the black on the pages overwhelms the white as the house literally swallows them whole. With a simple story, Simmons has stretched his abilities as an illustrator to create a creepy comic that is quick to read but slow to shake. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 10 Up-With a cover depicting a menacing portrait of an old man, House is forbidding from the outset. The wordless story begins with an eerie calm that is reminiscent of the opening scenes of a horror movie. Tension builds as readers wait to find out what will go wrong. Three teens meet at an abandoned mansion in the woods and explore dusty hallways and moldering rooms. Two of the friends kiss, and the awkward discomfort and isolation of the third add to the unsettling air of the adventure. The house slowly gets the better of the explorers as one by one they are separated, injured, and become lost in a maze of dark passageways. At first glance, their problems do not seem insurmountable, so their sudden change of fortune is almost as disquieting as the unfortunate result of their curiosity. The illustrations begin as a few black lines on a field of white, gradually becoming darker as the scenario becomes more grim. The dark shadows trap the characters on the page, and the final scenes are almost entirely black, with only pinpricks of light illuminating the lost friends. Recommend this one to fans of cult horror movies and horror novels, and to those who prefer their graphic novels wordless.-Heidi Dolamore, San Mateo County Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
