Locke and Key : Welcome to Lovecraft
Average rating - 9.31
Welcome to Lovecraft is the first book in an ongoing series by Joe Hill that follows the Locke family as they explore the mysteries of their new home Keyhouse.
Echoes
Welcome to Lovecraft skips the whole idea of a gentle lead in and hits the reader with action and tragedy from the very start. Following said tragedy the Locke family move into their fathers family home Keyhouse in the town of Lovecraft Massachusetts.
“It really hooked me right away, the opening was mind blowing” - Ryan
Initially the story focuses on the three children and how they are coping with both the tragic circumstances that lead to it as well as the normal stress of moving into a new town. The most resilient of the children is the youngest Bode who treats the move like an adventure and sets out straight away to explore the house. One of Bode’s first finds is the well house an old decrepit building standing apart from the main house, which just happens to be home to a living echo trapped at the bottom of a well.
“ The story telling is awesome” - Keenan
Death's Door
Along with the Locke family the story follows Sam, the perpetrator of the families tragedy . Through out his incarceration and eventual escape the story makes great use flash backs to give you the back story the in your face introduction initially skipped. Sam’s story also starts to reveal hints about Mr. Locke’s past and the dark history surrounding his childhood home of Keyhouse.
“ The pacing was perfect, the best use of flash backs I’ve ever seen” - Remi
These flashbacks along with Bode’s present day exploration start to reveal the secrets of Keyhouse, starting with the keys. Bode finds the first “magic” key that allows him to pass through the dead door leaving his body behind and continuing on as a ghost. Although initially afraid of it Bode comes to love spending time as a ghost and tries his hardest to make his family believe him, however with the recent tragedy in the family everyone assumes his talk of ghosts is just a coping mechanism.
“ I wanted less subtle character development” - Colin
In the end the story brings the separate threads together for a final confrontation that reveals two new keys and starts an entirely new set of mysteries which leave you eager for the next installment.
Artwork
The artwork for Welcome to Lovecraft was a hit and miss subject. The characters appear very cartoon like mostly due to the large anime like eyes while the background work was highly detailed and often realistic looking. Some of us really enjoyed the contrast between the cartoon look and the horror motif while others found it a bit annoying.
“ It was dark and @&*% up, violent up not gory” - Matt
“ I liked the art work but the faces were bad “ - Jamie
“ I liked the art work but the faces were bad “ - Jamie
The one thing everyone could agree on was the background and detail work. Almost every panel features a fully drawn and highly detailed back ground, often times these are complicated and feature labor intensive items like brick buildings and flagstone walkways which really made the art in this book pop.
“ The artwork complement the seriousness of the story" - Mathieu
Summary
All things considered Locke and Key : Welcome to Lovecraft was a fantastic read. Personally I sat down thinking I would read a few pages to see what it was like and ended up devouring the whole book in one sitting and wanting more. The story had an excellent pace and was very reminiscent of novel in that regard, it made excellent use of flash backs to give the reader details and back story in the middle when they are actually invested in the story rather than setting the stage up front.
Its also worth mentioning that the author Joe Hill is the son of literary legend Stephen King, mostly because the only thing the story had in common with his fathers writing was the fact that it followed a family in a small town. If you like a good mystery with plenty of violence but little gore Locke and Key is a definite must read.
“ I stopped after the second book, it just didn’t compare to the first one” - Scott
“ My favorite thing I’m reading right now” - Ray
“ My favorite thing I’m reading right now” - Ray
Ratings
Picked the book : Rick - Rating 10
“Not enough zombie @#$%”
Harshest critic : Scott - Rating 8.5
“It‘s a good book”
Best rating : Rick / Ray / Remi - Rating 10
Next Months Selection : Y The Last Man
