We walk such a fine line between life and death. Horror writers acknowledge that, because at its root, horror is about wrestling with the undiscovered country. Writer Jonathan Chance adds a wrinkle with his comic Permadeath. What about the fine lines of age?
The first issue of this anthology title tackles both ends of the age spectrum. In “The Big Game,” a group of senior citizens dabble with hallucinogenics to feel the vigor of youth again – if only on the astral plane. That pairs and counters nicely with “Scattershot,” in which a young gamer gives everything to his virtual self.
Lest you think the latter story is judgmental toward Gen Z, Doyle the gamer has real world friends begging him to slow down. They recognize when someone has gone too far in, but the quest to be “the best” in an esport is heady.
With artists Rafael Lanhellas and Dell Barras, Chance gets to play in two worlds of horror. While not about a game as in “Scattershot,” “The Big Game” dances on the edge of the paranormal. Its twist is a real surprise, though you can see some kind of comeuppance has to happen. In general, I appreciated the grappling with aging, and was a little disturbed by how much Lanhellas makes the old folks’ home look like an asylum.
On the flipside, though taken to an extreme, “Scattershot” seems disturbingly plausible. But that’s horror – what we think we want versus what we wish we could turn away from. The real horror in Doyle’s story is how easy it is to disappear, even when online.
Published through the Dead Sky imprint, Permadeath promises to be an ongoing book. With artists like Lanhellas and Barras giving it a Jack Davis EC feeling, it’s one that’s on my list for an eagerly awaited second installment. (As it turns out, I have a couple of books from Dead Sky Publishing, so that’s a publisher to watch as well.)
