Locke & Key: Volume 5: Clockworks

by Joe Hill (story) and Gabriel Rodriguez (art), 159 pages

Discovery of yet another key lets Tyler and Kinsey (and the reader) at last see the origins of the keys and some of the history of the house and the family, but will it be enough to help them--especially when the enemy is so much closer than they realize?

Ah ha!  So that's how the jar got in the wall and the soul got in the well house.  Also, ack!  The Omega key isn't as safe as it once was and now I think things are going to get very hairy very quickly.  This supernatural horror series succeeds at sucking the reader in and holding her anxious attention.  I want the next (last?!) book!

Locke & Key: Volume 4: Keys to the Kingdom

by Joe Hill (story) and Gabriel Rodriguez (art), 152 pages

More keys get unearthed by both sides as offense and defense ratchet up--but who's coming out ahead?

Dang it! The Locke kids finally start to notice a pattern and connect the dots, but their antagonist is frustratingly quick on the draw and every step forward seems to be countered by their too-clever enemy. So close! Now what?! He's even scarier than he was before! How many exclamation points can I put in one paragraph?! When's the next book coming out?! :P So good, so good.

Locke & Key: Volume 3: Crown of Shadows

by Joe Hill (story) and Gabriel Rodriguez (art), 144 pages

Villain Dodge finds one key only to lose another. But he /she still doesn't have the one he / she really wants. Now-fearless Kinsey makes friends (real ones) and talks back to her disintegrating mother, sweet little Bode stumbles on more keys and needs a bandage, and big brother Tyler fails once more to impress the girl he likes and gets fed up with forces trying to hurt his family.

Ooh! Sneaky, twisty goodness! It's fun trying to piece together all the little clues from the panels and dialogue, from the past and the present. Observant rereading is highly recommended! How many keys are there? What locks do they fit? What do they do? Where'd Dodge come from originally? How long has he / she been around? Who or what is pulling his / her strings? Questions, questions, questions.

Locke & Key: Volume 2: Head Games

by Joe Hill (story) and Gabriel Rodriguez (art), 151 pages

What if you could just reach into your (or somebody else's) head and suddenly know things (like how to make fettuccine alfredo) or forget things (like fear, or how to cry)? Keyhouse is full of power, just waiting to be unlocked. But if they don't want it used against them and the ones they love, the Locke children will have to make sure they don't let the keys fall into the wrong hands. This is when not knowing your enemy when he / she's standing right in front of you becomes a bit of a problem....

Eek! Dodge is scary! But he /she's not infallible, which is the most comfort the reader's going to get at this point. The giggles help, too. It's surprising how funny this series is, considering the dark themes and violent doings. But the humor just makes the characters that much more endearing and the villain that much scarier.

Locke & Key: Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft

by Joe Hill (story) and Gabriel Rodriguez (art), 158 pages

When their guidance-counselor father is inexplicably murdered by a student, the three Locke children and their mother move back East to live with their paternal uncle in the home their father grew up in. But Keyhouse has its own secrets and may not be quite the refuge they'd hoped for....

*shudder*

This Eisner-nominated series would be perfect Halloween reading. As Robert Crais states in the introduction, retreating to a town called "Lovecraft" after a personal tragedy is probably not the wisest of decisions. Not for the faint of heart, this, as the bullets and axes and other unpleasantly murderous implements are wielded early and often (though thankfully usually just off-panel). But if you can handle the bloody results, the scary story of a tightly-knit family under siege from an enemy most of them don't even realize is there will suck you in and keep you rooting for them. Unfortunately, their troubles have probably only just begun....