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Graphic Novel Review: Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil, illustrations by George Williams

cover art for Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil

 

Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil, illustrations by George Williams

Oni Press, 2023

ISBN: 9781637152362

Available: Paperback, KIndle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

It’s 1979. Mitch wakes up after a terrible assault near the local Y. His friends scold him for going there alone and take him home to recuperate. There’s also been a murder in the quiet suburb of Columbiana, New Jersey. The body of Pastor Holley’s wife, Kelly, has been found with demonic sigils carved into her body.

 

New Jersey Sheriff Mullen and FBI Agent Garrett partner up to investigate the case. At least, that’s how it appears to the locals. Behind the scenes, they are devising a Satanic Panic cover to conceal their own crimes. They set their sights on a group of queer punks; Mitch, Lupe, Terri, and Jackson.

 

Sheriff Mullen hears a rumor that Pastor Holley records extra sermons for himself, and confronts the priest about them. It takes a little convincing, but Father Holley turns over some of the tapes to be played on the local radio station. A federal agent issues a warning, announcing the lurid details of satanic rituals, and asks teenagers to keep an eye out for anyone different. After a violent altercation between Lupe and the manager on duty at the local grocery store, the authorities quickly pin Kelly’s murder on the teens. When the friends flee to a cabin in the woods, they find the building gone and a bloodstained pentacle embedded in the ground. Mitch knows they aren’t alone out there.

 

I love a good Satanic Panic plot. With a diverse cast of characters, each with a unique personality and story, Let Me Out has a unique angle on the “devil in the details”. There is good LGBTQ+ representation, as well as people of color. There are parents and adults who are not accepting of their children, which is difficult to stomach, but is a painful reality some LGBTQ+ teens face. As hard as it was to confront on the page, I am glad that Nahil didn’t shy away from that. The character designs were really good and well rendered, as were the backgrounds and sweeping landscapes.

 

Nahil and Williams opted to include trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. I know there have been conversations in the horror community about the idea of including these warnings in general. My view is that if it makes someone’s enjoyment of a book better to have a warning, I have no problem with that. For those of us who are library workers, we are probably familiar with Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science. Content warnings align well with three of the five laws: every reader their book; every book its reader; and save the time of the reader. Highly recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on March 11, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Litani by Jess Lourey

cover art for Litani by Jess Lourey

Litani by Jess Lourey

Thomas & Mercer, 2021 (release date: Oct. 19)

ISBN: 9781542027014

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, compact disc, MP3   ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

 

 

Set in the mid-1980s, Litani is a mystery/thriller dealing with the unpleasant subject of child molesters, but the book is couched into language that will work for younger readers.  While written for adults, it has value as a “crossover” title to the young adult crowd. Fourteen-year-old Francesca “Frankie” Jubilee moves in with her mom after her dad’s untimely demise.  She is quickly beaten up by three 10 year old girls. The girls allude to The Game, something many kids know about and fear.  Frankie finds her town to be one with an unpleasant past that centers around children that have gone missing over time.  The story follows a fairly predictable path, with Frankie trying to find the truth, and getting it in bits and pieces.  There’s a minor story thread of Satanism, but it’s really just window-dressing and could have been left out.  There’s a big reveal at the end to explain it all, and everything ends up okay, more or less.

 

The writing is simple and to the point, and the plot devices are familiar: Frankie’s past may have secrets, she makes one friend with a troubled past of his own, she doesn’t get along with her mom due to her being absent from her life for years, etc.  The Game itself is no big mystery, and most of the characters act in a pretty predictable manner. The predictability and basic nature of the writing may not be enough for adult readers to get caught up in the story, but for high school kids, it’s perfect. Entertaining enough to keep teens enthralled, there’s mystery, some excitement, a dead body, characters that kids will understand, and nothing too violent or graphic.  Example: while some of the characters are child molesters, the author wisely doesn’t use any graphic firsthand descriptions of molestation.  Same goes for the Satanic angle: no elaborate ceremonies or sacrifices, just a few pentagrams and candles.  It takes skill to write about vile subjects for a younger age bracket, and Jess Lourey does it extremely well.  The violence is also mild: a couple fights, a rock to the head, nothing over the top.  All of the above and the straightforward nature of Litani make it a good choice for teen readers.

 

 

Recommended for high school readers.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on October 10, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

cover art for Whisper Down the Lane by Clay Mcleod Chapman

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

Quirk Books, 2021

ISBN-13: 9781683692157

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, Audible audiobook ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Whisper Down the Lane, a true-crime based horror novel inspired by the McMartin preschool trial and Satanic Panic of the 1980s, is the second book by Clay McLeod Chapman I have read and it just makes it clear that I should find more of his work.

 

This story is told from two points of view in two different time periods. Richard Bellamy is married to the woman of his dreams, has a chance to raise a family, is employed as an art teacher…and doesn’t have a past. One morning, the discovery of the body of a ritualistically murdered rabbit appears on the school playground with a birthday card for someone named Sean. Richard’s blood runs cold and he tries to track down the sender.

 

The date shifts from 2013 to 1983. Sean is a five-year-old boy who has moved to Virginia with his newly single mother. She’s worried about the typical adult things like coping with her new role as sole caregiver to her son, money, childcare, and putting food on the table, as well as the threat of something happening to Sean. After Sean’s school sends a letter to the parents revealing that his favorite teacher is under investigation, the child tells a little lie that turns into something much bigger, stirring paranoia and suspicion in the minds of the local community and eventually the nation. Allegations of child ritual abuse and Satanic murder capture the nation’s imagination and unleashes a witch hunt on an epic scale. Thirty years later, someone knows Richard’s secret, and wants him to pay dearly for his sin.

 

Paranoia is explored in several aspects. Early in the novel, Sean’s mother is a nervous single mother. Discussion of the large scale paranoia of the public is alluded to, and since the story is told from the perspective of a young child it would be realistic that it be told in this manner. Richard’s paranoia as an adult with the past rearing its ugly head in his direction is a significant representation of this theme. Interestingly, it is the adults in the story who experience the ever increasing paranoia of the world gone mad. Between the police, the therapist, and even his own mother at times, Sean ultimately tells the adults what they want to hear, what the pressure him into telling really. Sean, wanting to appease the grownups around him, makes a false accusation that he doesn’t realize has horrible effects for innocent people. Richard’s paranoia increases as his past catches up with him, effecting his family and employment.

 

The story is fast-paced and compelling, especially for readers interested in the disturbing period of US history that was the Satanic Panic. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on July 9, 2021 by , Reply
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