When the children of Archer’s Peak begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows.
Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to see what they can see.
Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it MUST be done.
Title: Something is Killing the Children (Vol 3) | Writer: James Tynion IV | Editor: Eric Harburn; Gwen Waller | Illustrator: Werther Dell’Edera; Miquel Muerto (colorist) | Publisher: BOOM! Studios | Pages: 144 | ISBN:1684157072 | Genre: Horror | Language: English | Starred Review | Source: Purchased |
General thoughts
Like a good season finale of television, this volume really hurtles toward a lot of terrifying possibilities and a high-stakes conclusion. Overall the pacing is solid and I probably liked this volume of Something is Killing the Children the best out of the three I’ve read so far (and the only three that have been published as of this writing).
Writing
Like I said above, the pacing was delicious and any bumps in the road early in the narrative have been pretty much smoothed out by this point. I still want to know so much about the world and the Order of St. George/House of Slaughter and where the monsters come from and everything else about this world, and I’m reminded that we really know next to nothing at this point because Tynion is damn good at drip feeding that sweet, sweet lore. I almost want to say he’s too stingy with the stuff, unless he’s got a contract for a whole stack of issues after this and isn’t going to leave us hanging with a half-finished series. I want it. I need it. SIKTC lore/art book when?
And as a nerdy little aside that I’ve left out of my reviews of the previous volumes, do a little reading into St. George’s legend if you’re not familiar. The spear-impaled dragon crest of the Order will make more sense once you do that, and the leader’s moniker of Dragon may start to raise some interesting questions… As a history and myth nerd I have to give Tynion props for that one.
Art
What more can I say about the art? This volume’s more formal introduction of the White and Red Rooms in the Order (and that of the Dragon, if I’m remembering the timing of his first appearance correctly) really give the artists more to play with as the lore finally begins to open up more broadly compared to the first two volumes. I love it. It’s tasty. Gimme more.
Critiques and Final Verdict
Same critiques aimed at the first two volumes’ for panel layout still stand. I’m guessing that’s not going to change so I’ll stop mentioning it if I review subsequent volumes as they’re released. Other than that, I don’t think I can complain about much. I’m so excited for the next arc of the story. I’ve heard whispers of what’s coming, and I’ve already bought issues 16 and 17 because I definitely can’t wait for a fourth paperback to come out. Five stars to this one, just like the others. If you’ve read the first two you probably don’t need me to tell you to pick up this one. If you haven’t started the series yet, go give volume 1 a shot.
While this book is available at major retailers, in the interest of supporting indie bookstores, we recommend purchasing from Indiebound.org or from the Sci-Fi & Scary Bookshop. (Disclaimer, we do receive a small cut of the profits if you purchase from Bookshop, which goes toward supporting the site.)
Content Warnings:
Cory is an author and a writer for video games. He likes to yell at bad horror movies and write reviews about good ones. He is also attending film school at the University of Texas to hopefully make good movies one day. He is also clearly bad at picking just one hobby when there are so many fun things to do. Ask him about his cat if you’re having a bad day, or if you like cat pictures.
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