A horror filled with more real life horror and covered up with "monsters" to help illustrate the horrors of it all.

So the book starts with our two main characters, El and Vee, and right off the bat they're in a weird town filled with creatures that are monsters like half Deer humans, skinless men, and more. So when they awake in the theater and question what the hell happened, asking the guy who works there and not getting anywhere, they begin their investigation of the town and its dark past and secrets that are more horrifying than any "creature" out there.

And where The Low, Low Woods does well is it's characters. I liked Vee and El a lot because I like fucked up characters that aren't perfect and neither is. They're just trying to get through life, both being gay, and both trying to find their place in this screwed up town while also trying to get the hell out. The art gives a nice vibe of creepiness while also able to show good expression on character's faces. I also really dug the reveal, even if it's fucked up, they handled it well and the metaphors are well placed.

The things that didn't work for me as much is the fact this seems to be the author's first "comic" and so the dialogue can be a bit over preachy and much. This is common when authors of novels jump to comics. So I didn't take it to heart but the over-monologue and just general overwriting was getting a bit much by the end. I also thought the "scary" factor wasn't that well done. We could have gotten better monsters. Especially compared to what they represent and show, we could have for sure gotten "scarier" ones as a good metaphor.

Saying that this was still a pretty enjoyable read. A good first impression into the Joe Hill comic line. Excited to read more. A 3.5 out of 5.