Abby Howard’s graphic novel The Crossroads at Midnight is a perfect fit for fans of Emily Carroll’s work. It tells five macabre stories, often featuring characters who are outsiders. In their loneliness, they reach out toward other presences that exist on the edges of society. These presences are sometimes helpful, sometimes harmful, but they always turn out to be stranger than the main characters ever imagined.
Just the title of the story “Mattress, Used” is enough to inspire horror in anyone who’s ever heard of bedbugs. But far from being a simple gross-out story based on bugs or bodily fluids, this story featured a truly unique monster.
My other favorite was “The Boy From the Sea.” A young girl who feels constantly overshadowed by her older sister is ecstatic to finally make a friend who’s interested in her for her own sake. But her new friend may not be what he seems. Despite the relatively short length of the story and the lack of narration imposed by the medium, Howard deftly gives the reader insight into the girl’s emotional state.
The art in The Crossroads at Midnight is all black and white. It’s an effective style for this book, evoking old horror films without sacrificing the expressiveness of the characters or the complexity of the backgrounds. Howard is an author/artist to watch, and I hope we see more work from her in the future.
Outside of a Dog 