Locke & Key. Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft

 Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key, vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft. 2013. 9781600102370

After their father, Rendell Locke, was brutally murdered by Sam Lesser, Tyler, Kinsey and their younger brother Bode move with their mother away from San Francisco to Lovecraft, Massachusetts. Located on a peninsula, Lovecraft is where Rendell grew up. They hope to rebuild a semblance of a normal life, far away from the prison where Sam Lesser, a classmate of Tyler back in California, now resides.

The assault and murder broke an already dysfunctional family. Coming upon the armed killer, Tyler had to escape in the basement, while Kinsey hid herself and her younger brother on the roof of their house. Tyler was able to stop Sam, and smashed his head in with a brick multiple times, leaving permanent scars. All siblings, as well as their mother, are traumatized by what happened, but of all of them Bode, being young, has adapted the best to their current situation at the Locke house. 

In fact, that's where he found the old well, and its resident, some girl or spirit only he can talk to. Bode also discovers that one of the doors of the Locke house causes him to die and become a ghost every time he goes through it, but he can always return and cross the door in the other direction, regaining consciousness in his body.

Tyler holds himself responsible for his father's death, since he's the one who suggested the possibility to Sam Lesser. Of the three siblings, he has the hardest time adapting to his new life on the East Coast. Kinsey also has trouble fitting in at first, but makes a connection with a track and field girl and they become training partners.

As the family attempts to put their lives back together, the spirit in the well guides Bode to provide her with tools, which she passes back to Sam Lesser in his prison cell. For Sam is also connected to Lovecraft, and as he escapes from prison and makes his way east. With Sam on his way, and with the spirit in the well yearning to break free, the Locke family is once again in mortal danger!

A great graphic novel, Locke & Key manages to maintain the suspense through amazing illustrations that convey the tones of darkness and dread. Fans of horror will not be disappointed with this gruesome book!

The story continues in Locke & Key, vol. 2: The Headgame.