Man, this hit me right in the "Mixed Feelings". I totally loved the artwork, killer stuff, it's the narratives the lost me. Can't really put my finger on it but the lack of connection caught me pretty early. Maybe I'll have to take it for another spin, or better yet, check out something else from Jay Stephens, but this wasn't quite "It". Liked it, just didn't love it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read.

When Horror stories mix with nostalgic sixties art style the discordance can be quite unsettling and very effective. Oni Press has released a graphic novel that is a collection of six previously published Dwellings comics. The Emmy Award-winning animator and Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist has created several quite chilling tales made even more creepy by the cutesy art style predominant through all but the most violent scenes. I don't normally gravitate to horror stories, but requested this book from the publisher because I enjoy graphic novels. If you are a horror fan, you will love this one.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend and I can’t wait to buy a copy for myself really liked the art style 🙂

Rating 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dwellings was a creepy but fun read! The illustrations were bright and the text was easy to read. I would read more from the author

Six horror stories told with wit and downright adorable art that belies just how dark and twisted the stories actually are. They are morbid and shocking, but even this avowed horror hater fell under the spell of its cuteness.
The stories are well-written and have great pacing to fit within the short confines of a comic, but it's the art that seriously sells this by setting the mood and tone. There's something compelling about seeing certain things presented in such an adorable manner that offsets the horror and makes it just fun.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for the fun, if disturbing read!

Some pretty horrifying stories in this collection that are made even more unsettling by the very cute, pulpy cartoon illustrations that accompany the tales. The combo of the art style and horror really makes your brain work overtime as you wan't to assume what you are looking at is sweet and innocent but in actuality what is being portrayed is nightmarish. A fun read that I will pick up again during spooky season!

There was, like, WAY too much gore, and horrific violence, and dismemberment, for the way I caught myself repeatedly thinking "This is cute." Have I been desensitized to horrific ultraviolence if it is performed by the equivalent of Bazooka Joe?! Am I a monster now?!

From the beginning, I was drawn into the world of Elwich, a place with “more hauntings per capita than any other place in Ontario.”

The book is a collection of six stories. The stories are short, so I don’t want to get too much into them because I honestly think everyone should experience them themselves. The stories are dark and gory, but if you can handle them and love scary stories, I highly recommend this one. It did not feel terrifying in any way, but it was definitely creepy and weird.

The art style was amazing. I loved the vintage feel in each of the stories, and there were even times when there were fake ADs in between, just like old comics.

Dwellings by Jay Stephens is made up of multiple horror stories in an adorable comic/graphic novel style. Don’t let the cute illustrations fool you though, there is gore galore! Each story takes place in the town, Elwich, which is infamous for its strange occurrences. I’ve been getting into reading horror more lately and this book definitely fits the genre. The way Stephens included extra pages with ads that were reminiscent of an old magazine and tied into the stories gave it an authentic feel when reading. Each story was unique and entertaining, though I felt like some of them didn’t feel completely finished. The stories also seemed to be somewhat interconnected but I don’t think the connection was executed as well as it could have been and ended up causing confusion. Overall, I’d give Dwellings 3.5 stars. I definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of graphic novels and horror though.

"Dwellings" by Jay Stephens is like a rollercoaster ride through the shadowy and twisted! Brace yourself for a wild graphic novel that's not your average bedtime story - it's a blood-pumping journey into horror territory. The artwork gives off major vintage Casper vibes, adding a touch of nostalgia that clashes beautifully with the gruesome scenes.
What makes "Dwellings" stand out are the quirky fake ads sprinkled throughout, taking you back to the good ol' days of comic book fun while plunging you deeper into its spooky universe. Set in a make-believe Canadian town, each story unravels dark themes of murder, cults, madness, and spooky possessions, creating a bone-chilling tapestry that'll have you peeking through your fingers.

The subtitle should be "When Cute Things Get Stabby." I've honestly never read anything like this. It was a truly unique and rather unsettling experience.

Sadly I didn't get to finish this comic book before the archive date, but I loved the first part I read, especially the art style! Will look for a physical copy in my local comic shop.

I don’t know why but I just couldn’t get on with the art style in this book. Liked the concept of short stories all twining into one though.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I really liked the artwork. It was done in a cutesy vintage style, and included old newspaper ads for random weird things. The cute drawings definitely made the graphic scenes palatable. I think my favorite story was the one that starts with a girl looking for her grandma in a nursing home. Definitely weird and creepy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advance copy!

Dwellings, written and illustrated by Jay Stephens, is a great mashup of retro Casper-style comics with the gory horror of classic EC comics like Tales From the Crypt. Each story takes place in the town of Elwich, which with all it's mysteries, lore, and strange characters, is the best character in the story. The stories are interconnected, so it is fun to recognize elements and characters from one story appearing in another. Also, the fake ads in the style of vintage comic book ads are great and add another layer of foreshadowing and horror to the story. Altogether, a fun graphic novel for adult fans of horror and vintage comics.

Actually 3.5 stars.

Dwellings by Jay Stephens is a collection of six inter-connected stories all set in the haunted town of Elwich, in Ontario, Canada. Elwich is a place where supposedly nothing happens, but in fact many things do happen--dark, grisly, unexplainable things that often end in murder: from ghosts induced by "infrasound" to puppets that possess the wearer, horror haunts the most innocent of objects. Nothing--and no one--is safe.

An award-winning cartoonist and animator with three decades of experience, Stephens knows his stuff. He cleverly weaves re-appearing characters throughout the book, with brief references to previous chapters that not only provide a subtle timeline of events, but also hint that these stories aren't as standalone as they seem--even in a small town like Elwich, there's always something(s) happening. Stephens also plays up readers' nostalgia, by choosing an art style reminiscent of Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network (ex. Dexter's Laboratory) and presenting the stories like vintage newspaper comics. (For long-time Jay Stephens fans, this is also a nod to his career experience with both mediums.)

While well-rendered and cleverly scripted, the book didn't quite work for me--the overly cartoonish art style actually took away the visual horror element for me, and the horror elements tended toward bloody body horror, rather than psychological (my personal preference), though the paranormal aspect was fun. The inserted "ads", while nostalgic, did get a bit distracting as well--they would work better if kept in between stories rather than in the middle of them, interrupting the flow. That said, fans of Stephen King and old-school news comics would probably enjoy this book, and it's a perfect Halloween read!

This book is a very creepy and fun read. The art style very much reminds me of comic strips, and the contrast between that and the extremely gory subject material made for an eerie tone that I haven't seen in many comics before. Each section is on the shorter side, so characters don't get much time to develop before the end of their story, but they each accomplish what they're there to be and/or represent. I highly recommend this if you like spooky stories told in a fun way, and you can stomach some really bloody illustrations.

I love horror stories and comics so this seemed right up my alley. The art style is reminiscent of old newspaper comics in a way with a macabre twist which gives this graphic novel a very unique voice and style. My only real issue is that, while some of the stories were interesting there wasn't much cohesiveness between them. They were connected by the place in which they happened/stemmed from but nothing else and some of them were too short to really flesh out what they were trying to do. It was enjoyable for the most part though!

I am not usually one for horror stories, but I enjoyed this graphic novel horror story. I particularly like the idea of crows following people they expect to kill around to wait for a meal. It is morbid and a fun premise. I will say that some of the tales were confusing because you couldn't tell what reality was. I was also confused about the intended audience. It feels like an adult book due to subject matter, but art style suggests a younger audience.

This book is amazing. Horror and humor are my two favorite things, and I have rarely seen them combined to such brilliant effect. To add to the effect, the pictures are actually cute, which is such a stark contrast to the horror on the pages. I highly recommend this to everyone who loves horror. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.