Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artwork: Hayden Sherman
Colours: Patricio Delpeche
Lettering: AndWorld Design
Release Date: 25th October 2023

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On sale next month from IDW Publishing, and reuniting the Dark Spaces: Wildlife creative team of Scott Snyder and Hayden Sherman, Dark Spaces: Dungeon expands Snyder’s anthology series with a dark, haunting dose of primal horror.

The premise is a fairly simple one, and is based around Tyler, a retired tech guy who, after hitting it big with one of his widgets, decided to move his wife and son to rural New Hampshire in search of a quiet life.  However, that dream is abruptly shattered when he makes a terrifying discovery during his latest morning jog – a twisted underground dungeon on the outskirts of his property, scrawled with a chilling message: “TELL ANYONE AND YOU AND YOURS ARE NEXT.”

Snyder’s ability to completely and utterly hook a reader right from the very beginning of a new series is pretty much unparalleled in the comic book industry right now, and seeing him paired with Sherman again here for a grounded, reality-based thriller is a real treat. IDW’s Dark Spaces anthology, which Snyder himself curates, has delivered some truly fantastic comics so far, with a pronounced focus on character and emotion that definitely seems to be continuing here with Dungeon.

Some of the storyline beats are admittedly a little familiar, from the vulnerable family to the elaborate torture to the impassioned Federal Agent trying to track down the serial killer before it’s too late. But as with a lot of these stories, it’s the execution which really makes or breaks it, and in that respect, both Snyder and Sherman are able to inject some real freshness into these established tropes. Agent Ali Madoc is a fascinating character, and his link to the grim discovery is beautifully delivered, as is the high stakes of his government role, which is illustrated in chilling detail as he helps defuse a kidnapped child situation early on in the book.

It’s fascinating to see Sherman’s artistic style continue to evolve and adapt to whatever story he’s working on, and he does a great job with the expressiveness of the characters here, as well as delivering the almost cinematic building of tension throughout this first issue. And as we all know, any serial killer is only as engaging as their “hook”, and while the Dungeon itself is initially presented and described in chilling detail, we don’t quite get the full impact of its use until Sherman’s gut-wrenching splash page near the end of the issue.  Seriously, when Snyder said this series “might be the darkest story I’ve ever written”, he wasn’t kidding.

The final pages see the stakes raised significantly for Tyler and his family, and ensures that any reader picking up issue one is all but guaranteed to want to pick up issue two.  A character-focused thriller that taps into some stomach-churningly primal fears, this is a series you owe it to yourself to check out.  Snyder and Sherman are a match made in creative heaven, and the Dark Spaces anthology continues to deliver banger after banger.  Highly, highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5.

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[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]

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The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says
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