The Closet vol 1 by James Tynion IV

Illustrated by Gavin Fullerton, colored by  Chris O'Halloran, lettered by Tom Napolitano

Poor little Jamie is terrified of the monsters in the closet that come out at night and try to eat him. His father, Thom, is trying to convince him that when the move from New York to Portland, the monster will stay here, and he doesn't have to be worried anymore. Behind all this fear is a tumultuous family situation. Thom and his wife fight constantly, but he's trying to make things better. Trust has been broken between them, but they're both hoping the move will offer them a chance to hit reset, and they can remember why they fell in love in the first place. Much to Thom's dismay, Jaime's nightmares keep visiting him every night, and the monster didn't stay in New York. 

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In this new psychological thriller from one of the modern masters of horror, Tynion builds up one obvious theory for the reader and packs it with suspense. He preys upon a fear almost all of us have had at some point, so it's easy to feel Jamie's pain and be terrified with him. The turn at the end was completely unexpected, and it fully changes the implications of the entire story. The ending is probably going to be very polarizing for folks, as some will love the twist, but others will feel disappointed with the explanation. This is a really heavy dialogue work with Thom doing a lot of introspection with other characters, so the horror is a little more sprinkled throughout instead of present on every page. 

Fullerton's illustrations are eery and compliment the dark tone Tynion sets in the dialogue. There are a lot of dark outlines with more sparse details, and a lot of use of shading to make everything mysterious and creepy.

This book would probably be best suited for adults. There are many instances of Thom imbibing alcohol, and there are themes of adultery and child neglect. 

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Adult

Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: Expected September 27, 2022
ISBN: 9781534323254 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Adult, Comicbooks, Horror, Family, Image Comics