This post is under Lock[e] and Key...

...Just kidding! This post is about Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft! See what I did there? This is probably the quickest I've gotten into the book I'm discussing. What snappy progress right?Naturally I'm going to derail myself and talk about something else first. I started writing this post March 14th. It is now April 3rd. Why did it take me so long? Well... when I started I realized I was days away from Spring Break so why not write this post as I relax in the sun that was promised. What actually happened? I got sick and all motivation to do anything but nap went away. Once I was feeling a litter better, I was away on a mini vacation and had no interest in thinking.

I had grand dreams my friends, of intense but joyful reading over the break, resulting in some of the best posts I've ever written. I was so deluded. Anyways I'm back now and half a month later here is: Your Favourite Prompt from a Past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge! I chose to go back to a Graphic Novel and look at a series I read a while ago but never finished. I ended up re-reading the entire thing, but this post will still be about the first volume.

I am also super excited to know that Netflix will be making the series into a television adaptation...much like they did with Umbrella Academy.

Okay so what to say about Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill (Writer) and Gabriel Rodriguez (Artist)? For one, it is extremely imaginative and if you like eerie fantasy then the concept the two have created will work well for you. It definitely feels a little Sandman-ish but definitely isn't a copy or anything...there are just similar tones and moods. The novel is also dark, in that it begins with a murder and offscreen rape, and there are themes of alcoholism, guilt, family relationships, survivor's remorse, depression, etc.

So it's a lot to get through but the world is great: There is a mansion that has a secret. The secret is a set of keys that can unlock unbelievable things like your mind, or a door that lets you travel as a ghost, a door that changes your gender, a beast key that turns you into an animal, a shadow key that lets you control shadows, and so on. The big key is the Omega key that will open the black door...the house's second secret. Deep in the underground caves near the house there is a black door that is locked tight. Behind it are the "Children of Leng", soulless demons, who are compelled to want to leave and possess a human. The keys are actually made of these demons: When a demon escapes the door but doesn't have a human host it turns into something called "whispering iron". A metal that speaks to what it can be under the right lock/key smith.

So I just did some heavy summarizing but haven't got to the characters! They are:

Main Characters: The Locke Siblings!
Duncan, Kinsy, and Bode Locke. Duncan is the oldest and feels responsible for the death of his father.
Kinsy is the middle child, and experiencing grief and fright (most likely PTSD) she wishes she didn't have fear.
Bode is the youngest and the most innocent of the three and thus the keys are drawn to him. He finds the first few keys, and usually stumbles upon any new ones.

Secondary characters:
Nina Locke (Mom): Suffering from depression she self-medicates with alcohol
Zack Wells: Friend of Duncan's

I don't want to go to much into the graphic novel because I'm lazy and it's a dense read. This is a book that makes sure you're paying attention: To the words, the expressions, the magic. Art and text work beautifully to represent an engaging story that deals with a lot of issues surrounding loss, identity, and family. Ultimately this is a book about family and the struggles a family can go through.

It is heavy, and it doesn't pretend it's not. This is not a graphic novel for people who are expecting Narnia type magic. There is death, there are scenes of violence, but there are also scenes of fun. I hope Netflix can do it justice.