Ragemoor #1 (of 4)

Welcome to Castle Ragemoor, some say it is haunted, others say it is alive, that at night the stones & lumber spring to life, twists & turns with hate & murder in it’s heart. The proprietor is a man called Herbert who lives in the castle with a few servants, but his greedy uncle believes there are riches buried deep beneath the foundation and is determined to find them, once he owns the castle for himself. He’s about to find out that nobody owns Ragemoor… Ragemoor owns them!

What an unexpected delight this was. The mother of all haunted castles is revealed as Ragemoor was built thousands of years ago on a foundation of blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice & murder. The story is written by horror novelist Jan Strnad (Risen, Star Wars : Requiem For A Rogue) and he introduces the characters right away, including castle Ragemoor.

What makes this a real treat is Richard Corben’s (Hellboy Vol.10 : The Crooked Man & Others) illustrations, presented in beautiful black & white. His style really sets the mood for the story with detailed facial expressions & the way he uses the ink for the light & shadows is downright eerie & frightening. I really got a creepy feeling reading this and I also got a Mike Mignola vibe like the way he writes about Hellboy with European haunted castles & weird monsters. Between titles like Severed, The Strain & now Ragemoor, horror comics are coming back in a big way and I’m more than happy to tag along for the ride. From Dark Horse Comics.