Locke and Key Graphic Novel Series

I read the first book in this graphic novel series last year and loved it. I finally got hold of all the books and finished them this month by binge reading them. They are now one of my most favorite graphic novel series of all time. There are totally 6 books, but I got the master edition where each volume is a bind up of 2 books. This is written by Joe Hill, son of Stephen King so I went in with high expectations.

This was the first “horror” book series with ghosts and monsters that I ever read, so take my review with a pinch of salt if you are an avid horror reader. I get scared easily so never pick up such books but this is a graphic novel series so I thought I might not get scared that much. But this was pretty scary!

It’s about 3 kids whose father gets murdered in the beginning of the first book. After that, the children move to an ancestral home at a place called “Lovecraft” along with their mother. The youngest child, Bode goes exploring and finds some mysterious creepy things in the mansion. Bode is easily my favorite character from the book. He comes across some magical keys which can open some weird doors in the mansion. There are ghosts and spooky monsters in this series. I gave 5 stars for the first book.

For book 2, I ended up giving 4 stars. The story got really weird in the second volume. The head key felt little unrealistic which is the reason for deducting 1 Star. The first volume was scarier. We still have no idea what the villain is trying to achieve or who he is.

Book 3 and 4 were better than book 2 and scarier too. This is where the villain is most creepy. Book 4 ended with a major cliffhanger and a shocking end. I gave 5 stars for both book 3 and book 4.

5th book was better than the 6th one. 5th was probably the best one in the series since it gives the backstory of Rendell Locke (father of these three children) and his friends, also the backstory of the locks and keys in Lovecraft mansion. Book 5 got 5 stars and book 6 got 4 stars from me. 4 stars for the entire series.

I was not a big fan of the ending as it was not a very satisfactory ending (ending was too convenient) but otherwise I loved reading the series as a whole. I also liked the origin story of the monster and the backstory a lot.

Even though I am a chicken when it comes to horror, I did okay with this series. I guess I am more scared of the movies because of the sound effects. Books don’t scare me that much.The story, artwork – everything is great. This is a perfect read for Halloween.

There is a Netflix TV adaptation of this series coming soon, probably next year. I will definitely watch it.