Night of the Ghoul

Product Information

The anticipation for Night of the Ghoul is high for many thanks to it being part of eight titles Scott Snyder is co-creating at comiXology, but also because it has been teased for years. Now available digitally, Snyder and Francesco Francavilla join forces on a horror tale that involves an incredible monster, a lost film, and a father and son who may not make it out of the story alive. This opening issue finds a father and son travelling through the night to hospice of sorts. They are hunting for the infamous T.F. Merrit, writer and director of the infamous horror film, The Night of the Ghoul. A film that was lost to a fire shortly after it's first screening. I enjoyed the 2 narratives that slowly came together. I liked the art which was very evocative and scary with just the right level of horror and I thought the writing really strong. In any event, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at his art. The more comfortable he has become with his brush, the chunkier and less self-conscious his line has become, the freer his composition and the more assured his set pieces. He’s quite an ambitious artist, and he’s still getting better. Everything he draws just looks good. What more do you need to know?

The premise has ingredients of what you want from a Scott Snyder comic, from his aforementioned tropes to reuniting with Francavilla, who also made a name for himself on another horror title, Afterlife with Archie. The story also taps into an important period of horror cinema in the 1930s, where the Universal Monsters such as Frankenstein and Dracula thrived. Originally published online in six issues as a ComiXology Original (and eventually physically released as three oversized issues by Dark Horse), it becomes apparent that Snyder is overly serving the premise, which becomes the main fault of the series.

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Along with the present-day narrative of Forest and Orson visiting the former director that leads to a night of horrors, the book contrasts with the narrative of the movie “Night of the Ghoul”, which is revealed to be autobiographical to T.F. Merrit, recounting how his father became one with the eponymous Ghoul after his time of World War I. Considering the emotional anchor that is the flawed father-son relationship that you believe between Forest and Orson, the simplicity of that narrative gets interrupted by the other narrative, which goes into great length about this history of the Ghoul, as well as the cult that worships it. Several of these books will debut in October 2021, with more details to be announced later in the year. Not awful overall, but definitely feels like big wasted potential for what was otherwise a fairly solid premise. Night of the Ghoul collects issues 1-3 of the Dark Horse Comics series written by Scott Snyder with art by Francesco Francavilla. The series was originally released digitally as a Comixology exclusive.

This idea, this prose-writer, this art: it's already there! It feels like they got in their own way, and I'm wondering if the format for the releases of this as a comixology exclusive launch are to blame, as the periodic release schedule/size is SO OFTEN to blame when a collection's greatest failure is the pace and attentiveness of the story. Writing and editorial decisions kept this from being the horrifying success it could've been. But, for all my belly-aching, it was still a pretty good read. Night of the Ghoul was supposed to be the next horror masterpiece, some saying better than Frankenstein and Dracula. The Ghoul was set to become the most legendary horror monster ever conceived. In the final days of production, a fire break outs in the studio, destroying the much of the film and killing many cast and crew members. Night of the Ghoul has a really solid first half. It feels like a genuinely creative take on the found film horror genre with a double timeline story depicting the past events behind the creation of the movie and the dark truths surrounding its bizarre destruction. The art style has a gritty 80’s horror movie aesthetic with a nice build up to the mystery behind the origins of the ghoul monster featured in the missing footage. One of the things I'm so excited about is experimenting to find new ways to build and nurture a community of readers," says Snyder. "We want each release to be an event and we can't wait for readers to see what we have planned, whether they're reading via Comixology Unlimited, print, or both."And if you know what that last clause means, I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t. Francavilla art from The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4 (Mar. 2023); lettered by Tom Napolitano, written by Matthew Rosenberg.

Between the incredible Clear — which I gave a perfect 10/10 — and We Have Demons which both came out earlier this month, Snyder is on a roll. Night of the Ghoul has a lot of elements that feel familiar, but also new all over again. It features a World War II story told via the lost film which the main character details and may in fact be a cursed object. There’s a clear love of classic horror movies at work here too, which permeates the main character’s dialogue as he questions a very old man. Much like Snyder’s other works out this month, there’s nothing else like this in comics right now. It started a really strong with a unique premise, interesting characters, a brilliant setting and a visceral sense of menace without being too explicit at all. It then remained on right up until the last half where while still good it did not quite live up to how well it started. Please, settle right in everyone! But first! A warning for pregnant women and the faint of heart, you might want to leave the theatre now... Because the film you are about to see--a film by me, T.F. Merrit -- is possibly the most horrifying story ever put to celluloid! And why? Because it's all true! It happened to me, you see. And now...it will happen to you too! May I present... Night of the ghoul! I just wish the story lent itself to being a bit more original, then I’d wish it were longer. As it is, this is long enough. Middle of the pile and kind of forgetful tbh. If there has ever been a horror comic that has captured the magic of the golden age of horror films of the 1920s - 1940s it’s Night of The Ghoul. Now I know this is a bold statement, but stay with me and at the end of what I have to say please experience this masterclass in suspense, art, and storytelling alternating between the present and World War I.

I've sat on me feeling for this one for a few days now and my heart wants to give this 4 stars but my head is telling me 3. This time I am going to listen to my head. Night of the Ghoul began releasing in October. The story centers around a film sharing the same name as the comic. This film was destroyed in a fire, left unseen. However, the film has been rediscovered, and while damaged, it still has a lot of story left to tell. Crossing between the film's events and the events of the present involving the film's director, this horror comic is a must-read series.

Former DC/Vertigo editor Will Dennis will be the editor for all eight books, after already editing Snyder's Undiscovered Country, Wytches, Nocterra, and the upcoming series Chain. Screen Rant is pleased to share an exclusive preview of Night of the Ghoul #3from Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla. This Comixology original series is a horror comic that cinephiles shouldn't miss. The first two issues have raised a lot of questions about the ghoul and the third issue will likely intensify the mystery. Kurvafix tohle je dobrý jak chleba a i kdyby další issues stály za uplný nic, tak první bude pořád jedno z toho nejlepšího, co jsem v rámci žánru kdy v komiksu četl. Night of the Ghoul is two noteworthy things: the only Comixology Original I’ve read that wasn’t pure dross and Scott Snyder’s best comic in years. Neither is high praise given what they’re compared to, but this is still a pretty decent horror comic that definitely held me attention, even with the abundance of cliches dotted throughout the story. While new information is uncovered, Inman’s son pokes around the old folks home, which is now deserted. Once again, Francavilla ups the creepy factor with the boy going down into the depths and subtle shadow hands enveloping him, only for him to turn towards the light he came from to see freaky gasping faces. As he discovers atrocities in the basement Inman also realizes truly awful things are taking place.The writing gets sloppy and incorrect, the dialogue gets cliche and revolves around characters explaining big exposition points that they shouldn’t even be aware of. It really falls off hard in the second half with an anticlimactic ending. At times, Night of the Ghoul feels like you’re reading the comic equivalent of a Golden Age horror film. That’s kind of the point, though, as Ghoul revolves around a classic movie. The comic’s plot is triggered when failed filmmaker Forest Inman finds a reel of footage from Night of the Ghoul, long rumoured to be the Citizen Kane of big screen horror tales, but also long thought destroyed in a studio fire. This historic, multi-title deal with comiXology Originals has enabled us to assemble a murderers' row of artists and together we're challenging ourselves creatively to work outside of our comfort zones and really lean into the possibilities of making comics," Snyder says. "This deal allows me the freedom to explore the kind of storytelling I've wanted to try for a long time, while supporting my need to try something that's not totally comfortable for me." The second half kind of takes a big nosedive though. Most of the plot points either fall flat, contradict themselves or create giant plot hole inconsistencies that don’t make logical sense in the context of the full story. The second half is also told in a completely different style than the first half. The first half feels like a good horror story with a slow intense build up. The second half feels like the unfinished bullet points of a movie script turned into a comic book.