Some of the best horror I’ve read in years.
Creative Staff:
Story: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Art: Francesco Francavilla
Letters: Jack Morelli
What They Say:
“A Ghost Story.” Contrary to popular belief, the current zombie outbreak is not the first time a shadow fell across Riverdale and its citizens. As the survivors hunker down in a hotel to wait out a snowstorm, Hiram Lodge and Mary Andrews relive the darkest chapter of their town’s history. Ten years ago, the adults of Riverdale struck a terrible bargain with the witches of Greendale, setting the stage for the present-day apocalypse.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s Christmas Eve and the ghosts have come to visit. Not vengeful or mournful, just sad and wanting to see the friends they left behind. The Riverdale survivors have holed up in the Bradbury Inn, having abandoned their town to the zombies, and their spirit is almost entirely gone. Unsure of his decisions and burdened by the weight of leadership, Archie drowns his sorrows in root beer floats (two scoops, of course), served by his dear old dead friend, Jughead.
Tensions have run high ever since Cheryl Blossom, fraternal twin of Jason, returned to the camp, covered in blood, holding a machete, and claiming that a zombie killed her brother. No one believes her, and Veronica’s father wants to cast her out of the camp. Archie opposes him, and the survivors put it to a vote, with those wanting her to stay winning by just one.
Those two decisions weigh on Archie, and he fears he’s having some sort of mental break when Jughead appears in the hotel bar, serving root beer floats and playing bartender therapist. But he’s not. Jughead’s ghost is very real (as confusing and paradoxical as that may sound), and just wants to see his friends. The Bradbury, it turns out, stands as a liminal space where the dead and the quick can comingle.
Anyone who saw Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining will recognize the scene, and it works wonderfully well in this issue. In fact, it’s indicative of both the knowledge of the genre possessed by Aguirre-Sacasa and Francavilla and the overall quality of the writing. The scene plays out fine even if you don’t get the reference—its effectiveness doesn’t hinge on your recognition. The homage adds a certain extra level to it, but that’s more the cherry on the sundae and not the sundae itself. Similarly, when Archie’s mother tells the story about the pact Riverdale made with the Greendale witches, she mentions Carcosa—a place that features prominently in both The King in Yellow and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu Mythos. Again, knowing the significance of Carcosa is nice, but not essential in understanding the scene. Even the title “A Ghost Story” could conceivably be an homage to Peter Straub’s book Ghost Story.
While those little bits do add quite a bit to the story, what makes this one of the best classical horror stories I’ve read in years is the way it focuses on the characters. Horror is all about the effect it produces, both on the audience and the characters. The stories shock and scare us, and if they’re good, they terrify us. They also tell us something about ourselves. Ideally, this should also be the case for the characters. They are the ones who are directly affected, and they are the ones who undergo traumatic change. For all the genre references, for all the excellent, atmospheric art by Francesco Francavilla, the power of the story derives from the changes the characters undergo, and Aguirre-Sacasa plays it straight. Archie and the rest of the survivors are traumatized, even if they don’t quite want to believe it, and they deal with it in very natural and character appropriate ways. Watching them cope, watching them being brought to their breaking point, is what drives the drama of the story, and it is very, very good.
The issue ends with Archie making a life-changing decision that I won’t ruin here. After that, the comic presents three classic horror comics from the 1970s (first published in Chilling Adventures in Sorcery). Because the story in this issue took more pages than typical, the backup tales only run one page apiece, but they are still very fun to read.
In Summary:
Afterlife with Archie is one of the best written horror stories I’ve read in years. The honest, intelligent, and nuanced way with which it approaches the characters and their situation make this a sophisticated work that operates on several different levels. Aiding that is the comprehensive knowledge of the horror genre displayed by Aguirre-Sacasa and Francavilla. If you are a fan of horror and aren’t reading this, you need to rectify the situation immediately. You’ll thank me.
Grade: A+
Age Rating: Teen+
Released By: Archie
Release Date: May 6th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
