Turn The Key And Unlock Greatness

Locke & Key Vols. 1-6
IDW Publishing
Joe Hill, writer
Gabriel Rodriguez, artist

Finishing a really good book or series is always a bittersweet event. There's the joy of having experienced the story, the satisfaction of having completed the journey to its end. But if you really enjoyed the book, connected with the characters, then there's also a bit of sadness that their story is over and there will be no more.

That's how I felt after finishing the entire Locke & Key series at long last. I borrowed the first three volumes from my local library. You can read what I thought of those volumes here and here. But in short, I liked them enough that after the third volume, I decided to just buy the series, which I did after doing a little bargain hunting. But then, due to the craziness of life putting me quite behind on my reading, it has taken me a while to get back to the series.

Because of that delay, I decided to re-read the first three volumes. I still remembered the basic story of the Locke children — Tyler, Kinsey and Bode — and how they came to stay at their ancestral home, Keyhouse, in Lovecraft, Maine. But I wanted to refresh my mind on all of the details of the story before beginning the second half of their journey.

The highest recommendation I can give Locke & Key is that I did connect with the characters. I did enjoy the ride they took me on. And I can look forward to re-reading favorite parts again. After all, I just re-read the first three volumes of Locke & Key for this pass through, and I enjoyed them just as much the second time through as I did the first time. This is definitely a series I intend to read again at some point.

You may have figured out by this point that I am not going to share any story specifics. There are plenty of early story and set-up details in my earlier reviews of the first three volumes if you want to know more about the series before trying it. I don't want to spoil anything more for anyone who might be coming to the series fresh, like I did. But I will share one more personal reaction to Locke & Key.

As I started the sixth book, I realized I was uneasy. A number of characters die along the way; would anyone make it out of this story intact? This is a horror story, after all, and it might not end well for any of the characters. I haven't spoiled the ending by sharing that detail; I haven't told you if my fears were realized or not. But what that sentence does reveal is that this horror story scared me. It left me with a sense of dread for the characters and their fates. How often does that happen that a scary story really scares you in the reading of it?

If you've never read Locke & Key but you like a good scary story, then check this series out. You don't have to be only a horror fan to appreciate this story, though. Anyone who loves a good story, a gripping drama that unfolds slowly and pulls you in deeper with every page, will find something to enjoy with Locke & Key. Do yourself a favor and seek it out. I haven't heard from anyone who has read this book and didn't like it. That alone seems like high praise!

They Reeled Me In; I'm Hooked!

Locke & Key Vols. 2 & 3: Head Games/Crown of Shadows hardcovers
IDW Publishing
Joe Hill, writer
Gabriel Rodriguez, artist

I've previously talked about finally trying the first volume in this series and very much enjoying it. That first volume held a great deal of peril for the Locke family — dad Rendell, mom Nina, uncle Duncan and children Tyler, Kinsey and Bode. After a home invasion on the west coast, the family moved to Lovecraft, Maine, and the Locke family home, a mysterious old house with many mysterious doors, even more mysterious keys, and no small amount of secrets. The Locke children were just beginning to scratch the surface of the house's secrets when one of the home invaders followed them east to their new home.

The second volume in this excellent horror series opens where the first volume left off, but quickly expands the threat beyond the Locke family to many other residents of Lovecraft. Events in the first volume gave a restless spirit a great deal of freedom of movement about both the Locke household and the town of Lovecraft. But as someone who had roamed the town before, "Zack" runs into a few people who recognize him from his previous life as "Dodge." Then it's just a matter of turning them into pawns in his search for one particular key or eliminating the threat they possess in a more final manner.

While "Zack" makes friends with the Locke children in hopes of finding the elusive Omega Key, Bode stumbles across another key in the house that doesn't seem to fit into any of the door locks. This puzzles the youngster until a conversation with his Uncle Duncan reveals something strange — what appears to be a keyhole at the base of Duncan's head!

The discovery of the Head Key reveals a number of new surprises for the Locke family; unfortunately, they share that secret with their new friend, "Zack," who steals the Head Key and uses it for his own purposes, much as he does with the previously discovered Anywhere, Gender and Ghost keys.

Both volumes 2 and 3 of this series give insights into the history of "Zack" and his previous life as "Dodge," growing up alongside Rendell Locke and some of the now-adult residents of Lovecraft. And while the current Locke children do not know it yet, they are obviously in a race with "Zack" to see who will first find and unlock the secrets of the Omega Key.

After reading half of this series in borrowed hardcover volumes from the library, I am hooked enough that I again went in search of affordable copies to buy and own the series. As luck would have it, I came across a new, slipcase edition of all six Locke & Key volumes in trade paperback format, and decided to go ahead and order the series for myself. At $60, it carries a hefty price tag, but that's cheaper than buying each volume separately likely would have been. And based on what I've read so far, well worth the investment!

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Keeping Up With Family Traditions

Locke & Key Vol. 1 hardcover: Welcome to Lovecraft (2008)
IDW Publishing
Joe Hill, writer
Gabriel Rodriguez, artist

This book has been around for a while, but it wasn't even on my radar when it debuted in 2008. I'd later heard some good things about the title without ever learning much about the plot beyond the fact that it was a horror series. That I'd already kind of suspected from the subtitle of the first story arc.

I enjoy horror movies — not gore-fests, mind you, but really good scary, suspenseful pieces — but I've read a few horror comics that just didn't seem to work. That generalized rule only made it better when I happened to find a comic horror series that I felt genuinely DID work. Sorrow from Image Comics, Skinwalker from Oni Press and Rachel Rising from Abstract Studios would be some examples of some good, scary comics stories I've tried and really enjoyed. But they continue to be the exception, not the rule, from my own experience.

Enter a friend of my wife's from her college days, Todd. She thought he and I shared some broad interests in sci-fi, television and comics, and introduced me to him through his blog several years ago. One of the comics that he talked up quite a bit was Locke & Key, which I learned from him was a series of limited series — six of them to date with a seventh in the works. Based on how much Todd liked the series and talked it up, I finally added it to my list of things to try at some point. For several more years, however, there was always something I wanted more or could get a little cheaper when placing orders or going shopping.

That is, until I decided to start getting serious about getting some of my books, especially things I was trying out to see how much interest I'd really have, from the library instead of the store.

Well, I recently asked our local librarian — a very nice lady named Charlotte — to request the first Locke & Key trade via interlibrary loan, and she came through with the hardcover version of the book. Man, am I glad I finally tried this series! I have to say, this first volume is so good, I was tempted to just buy an entire set of trades to read the rest. I like it that much. Well, that is until I did some quick web-surfing and found that bargain hunting this series would take a while. There are plenty of the books for sale, but most of them carry a pretty hefty price tag, even for used copies. So, I've decided to stick with the library for now, but if future volumes continue to be this good, I may be tempted to start looking to buy again.

The story starts out on the west coast where the Locke family lives. There's the father, Rendell Locke, a high school guidance counselor; his wife, Nina; and their three children, Tyler, Kinsey and Bode. Tyler and Kinsey are high-schoolers; Bode is in elementary school. But after Mr. Locke is killed during a home invasion, the family packs up and moves to the Locke family home, currently occupied by the kids' Uncle Duncan, in Lovecraft, Maine.

That family home is a sprawling structure with a rather large number of rooms and doors, many of them with their own keys — hence the second half of the series' title. Hints are dropped along the way that the house may have a supernatural aspect. Rendell and Duncan have long told the children about their own childhood in Lovecraft and the fantastical adventures they shared there, doorways that led to far-away places and mystical lands. The two adult brothers tell the stories as remembered play, but the stories have the air of more truth just beneath the surface.

Bode is the first of the next generation of Locke children to uncover some of the property's secrets. First, he finds a locked well house with a rather unusual echo. Shortly afterward, while exploring the house itself, Bode makes another discovery: "I found a secret door and when you go thru you turn into a gowst. It's fun to be a ded persin," he writes for a school project.

Before long, other family members discover strange things about their new home. But before they can learn much, they must contend with another danger: the young man who killed Rendell Locke has escaped from prison and is making his way across the country, tracking the family's movements east.

Joe Hill has crafted a very engaging narrative with characters a reader can connect with easily. This feels like a satisfying chunk of story while still being Hill's opening salvo only. There is still much more to learn from the Locke house, and I fear, much more for this family to endure.

And Gabriel Rodriguez's artwork is clear and easy to follow. Despite some of the graphic violence in the story itself, Rodriguez does not illustrate too much gore. He doesn't shy away from showing the violence at times, but I never had an issue with feeling like the depictions were overly graphic.

In case you couldn't tell already, I say give this book a try if you haven't already!

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Side note: It wasn't planned this way, but Locke & Key makes for a nice Halloween week post. But just in case the spookiness in this title isn't enough to put you in the Halloween mood, then check out this Monster Pin Up Girls kickstarter project I came across last week. There's still time to back the project, so give it a look.