Krampus just wishes he were this bad.
Creative Staff:
Story and Letters: Alex de Campi
Art: R. M. Guéra
Colors: Giulia Brusco
What They Say:
When you think of comics that really bring the Christmas spirit, put Grindhouse at the top of your naughty list! We’re leaving sex and violence under your tree this year, as the desolate plains of the West fall victim to a terrifying quartet of cold-hearted demons, in “Slay Ride”’s gory climax!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Four demons—the Overseer, the Clown, the Cowboy, and the Man Who Walks, have invaded a small Canadian town on Christmas Eve, killing anyone who crosses their path, including Shayla’s father and brother. Now she rides in a sleigh with her cancer-ridden grandmother, Mother Wolf, to try and save whom they can and exact revenge.
I had a wild hair when I reviewed the previous issue and decided to write it in the style of one of my favorite writers, Joe Bob Briggs. It was a fun exercise, but I didn’t quite dive into what makes this story my favorite Grindhouse tale so far. While I focused on the blood, breasts, and beasts, I didn’t really mention that this story is a masterpiece of mood and setting.
It may just be me, but I find that winter is the perfect time of year to set horror stories. The cold, the dark, and the sense of isolation adds an extra sense of dread and danger, which Guéra and Brusco tap into in the art and color. Guéra draws with thick, heavy lines that add weight to the characters and setting while at the same time obscuring features in deep shadows. At times the characters seem to be wrapped in darkness just as much as they are in their winter coats, as if death was hovering over them like a pall. The color adds to this effect. Brusco employs blues, blacks, and grays to create a cold, inhospitable environment. Later in the story, yellow, brown, and red take over, but there is a harshness to them, an artificiality highlighted by the deep blacks that hang on the edges, reminding us that winter lies waiting in the gutters, ready to reenter the scene once the lights go out.
This sense of ever-present dread, of demons and monsters waiting in the in-between spaces, plays a large role in this story as the demons are really incarnations of our worst impulses. They are our inner demons made flesh (well, snow), no longer content to kill us slowly or by proxy through cirrhosis or cancer or moments of rage. This is hardly anything new—the monster is a walking, talking allegory with fangs—but the way that de Campi writes the story and the skill with which Guéra and Brusco bring it all to life makes for a rich tale. The monsters are frightening and powerful, and Shayla’s fight against them is all the more intense and meaningful for it.
I think maybe that’s why I enjoyed this story so much. My favorite horror stories are ones that understand the allegorical nature of the genre. They understand that the monster isn’t just a snarling beast or moaning specter: it is us at our worst and most powerful, and confronting it requires us to confront that part of ourselves. While horror has been present in every Grindhouse story, as has this understanding of allegory, I feel like it really came together in this two-parter. The setting, the characters, the story, and the art come together in a way that pushes all the right buttons for me.
And if that weren’t enough, we get a treat at the end in the form of a one-page story called “Li’l House of Grind Presents: Snomaniac!” drawn by Len Stringer. The story is about a bunch of kids building a snowman on graves, and it comes to life to punish them for their disrespect. It’s a fun little done-in-one that reminds me a bit of Mad Magazine, Sergio Aragones, and Fred Hembeck in tone. I don’t know if there will be more “Li’l House of Grind” shorts in future issues, but I hope so as they’re pretty fun.
In Summary:
So, without further ado, let’s get to those Grindhouse totals (I’ve decided to keep this): four dead bodies, no breasts, three beasts, one gallon blood, people strung up in trees like Christmas ornaments, shotgun fu, grandma fu, firebreathing fu, Marlboro Man fu. It doesn’t get any better than this. Josh says check it out.
Grade: A+
Age Rating: N/A but obviously not for kids
Released By: Dark Horse
Release Date: 24 December, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
