This man is not by brother.
October 31, 2010 6:43 PM Subscribe
I ...like this.
posted by The Whelk at 6:50 PM on October 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 6:50 PM on October 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Wow, that was awesome.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:54 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:54 PM on October 31, 2010
Oh yeah, I saw this on Twitter too. Beautiful and awesome. Reminds me a bit of Edward Gorey, but in color.
posted by Gator at 7:04 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by Gator at 7:04 PM on October 31, 2010
That was lovely.
posted by HumanComplex at 7:07 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by HumanComplex at 7:07 PM on October 31, 2010
DIG IT.
posted by auralcoral at 7:08 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by auralcoral at 7:08 PM on October 31, 2010
Just saw it on Reddit. I love the way she uses the natural "scrolling down" motion as a storytelling device.
Reminiscent of M.R. James and the best Hellboy one-off stories.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:25 PM on October 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
Reminiscent of M.R. James and the best Hellboy one-off stories.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:25 PM on October 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
This was a great story. Hit just the right note of ambiguity without being frustrating.
posted by HostBryan at 7:30 PM on October 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by HostBryan at 7:30 PM on October 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Christ that was good. Scrolling through on the iPad, that was literally chilling.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:31 PM on October 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:31 PM on October 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Whoops. Just realized that the second link should have been to this.
posted by brundlefly at 7:47 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by brundlefly at 7:47 PM on October 31, 2010
That was wonderful. I also loved the vertical device for the digging and illumination - so clever, so beautiful!
posted by DarlingBri at 7:53 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by DarlingBri at 7:53 PM on October 31, 2010
Whoops. Just realized that the second link should have been to this.
And there's the littlest typo in the post title…
Cool comic.
posted by kenko at 8:01 PM on October 31, 2010
And there's the littlest typo in the post title…
Cool comic.
posted by kenko at 8:01 PM on October 31, 2010
And there's the littlest typo in the post title…
Ugh. Dang it!
posted by brundlefly at 8:03 PM on October 31, 2010
Ugh. Dang it!
posted by brundlefly at 8:03 PM on October 31, 2010
I love stories like these, they make my little hairs stand on end.
But I also hate all the unexplained bits, which get me all frustrated and send my mind turning round and round.
posted by Alnedra at 8:36 PM on October 31, 2010
But I also hate all the unexplained bits, which get me all frustrated and send my mind turning round and round.
posted by Alnedra at 8:36 PM on October 31, 2010
But I also hate all the unexplained bits, which get me all frustrated and send my mind turning round and round.
That is what I like the most. I can tell myself all sorts of horrible stories about the unexplained bits.
posted by strixus at 8:44 PM on October 31, 2010
That is what I like the most. I can tell myself all sorts of horrible stories about the unexplained bits.
posted by strixus at 8:44 PM on October 31, 2010
That was terrific. I was reading the two pages with bated breath... the ending got a big sigh from me, in a good way.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 8:45 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by Solon and Thanks at 8:45 PM on October 31, 2010
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. It felt like a cop out to me. I liked the rest of it though.
posted by codacorolla at 9:09 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by codacorolla at 9:09 PM on October 31, 2010
I found another of her comics here. She really knows her horror. Reading the Brothers Grimm story this one is based on (she links to it) is especially interesting - she knows just what details to change to make it creepiest.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:38 PM on October 31, 2010 [10 favorites]
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:38 PM on October 31, 2010 [10 favorites]
I likes. Something very deceptive about her work which makes the horror quite effective.
posted by cazoo at 10:01 PM on October 31, 2010
posted by cazoo at 10:01 PM on October 31, 2010
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. It felt like a cop out to me. I liked the rest of it though.
I didn't even understand the ending. Or, I'm not confident that what I think I'm looking at in the last panel is what the author intended me to think. Can someone memail me?
posted by mreleganza at 11:49 PM on October 31, 2010
I didn't even understand the ending. Or, I'm not confident that what I think I'm looking at in the last panel is what the author intended me to think. Can someone memail me?
posted by mreleganza at 11:49 PM on October 31, 2010
Wow! Thanks for sharing this. That was a fantastic story. Looking around on her blog, Emily Carroll is an incredible artist. I couldn't tell from quickly reading the blog, but does she have anything in print? Because I would totally buy it.
posted by jnrussell at 12:02 AM on November 1, 2010
posted by jnrussell at 12:02 AM on November 1, 2010
Thanks for bringing this here. It's quite excellent.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:56 AM on November 1, 2010
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:56 AM on November 1, 2010
I didn't quite get the ending either, but I'm not going to admit it. Off to read the Grimm story.
posted by mecran01 at 5:29 AM on November 1, 2010
posted by mecran01 at 5:29 AM on November 1, 2010
Which Grimm tale is it? I don't seem to be able to find this fabled link on the author's blog or the comic itself.
posted by pharm at 5:40 AM on November 1, 2010
posted by pharm at 5:40 AM on November 1, 2010
Which Grimm tale is it? I don't seem to be able to find this fabled link on the author's blog or the comic itself.
Oh, I meant that the story I linked to is based on The Hare's Bride.
But the brothers story was possibly loosely inspired by The Singing Bone, but reading it won't illuminate anything.
As far as the ending, I don't know if there's something to "get". The last panel is the brother/corpse/whatever turning around to look at the narrator (which he wouldn't do throughout the story.)
A lot of it seems like it's just psychological guilt plaguing the narrator, but it's hard to tell to what extent. I tend to think that he really killed the beast (who was in the form of his brother), his actual brother was really lost, the digging he witnessed was just his nightmares, and that when he went back to check he screwed himself over and got devoured by the beast.
But I can think of other possible explanations. I think that's part of the charm of the story.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 5:59 AM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, I meant that the story I linked to is based on The Hare's Bride.
But the brothers story was possibly loosely inspired by The Singing Bone, but reading it won't illuminate anything.
As far as the ending, I don't know if there's something to "get". The last panel is the brother/corpse/whatever turning around to look at the narrator (which he wouldn't do throughout the story.)
A lot of it seems like it's just psychological guilt plaguing the narrator, but it's hard to tell to what extent. I tend to think that he really killed the beast (who was in the form of his brother), his actual brother was really lost, the digging he witnessed was just his nightmares, and that when he went back to check he screwed himself over and got devoured by the beast.
But I can think of other possible explanations. I think that's part of the charm of the story.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 5:59 AM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think I got confused as to which hole he is climbing down at the end - I assumed it was the hole his "brother" had been digging, not the original hole with smelled of lilacs. Thanks Solon (and Thanks).
posted by muddgirl at 6:04 AM on November 1, 2010
posted by muddgirl at 6:04 AM on November 1, 2010
I thought it was interesting that the brother's house had a lilac bush (shown on the first page, and shown more closely in the last pages). Coincidence that the deep hole full of black also smelled of lilacs? Ooooooooooooo...
posted by Gator at 7:13 AM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Gator at 7:13 AM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, I note that the body in the hole has light brown hair, not dark.
Verrry interesting. (It could be a coloring mistake/trick of the light, but I don't think so).
posted by muddgirl at 7:41 AM on November 1, 2010
Verrry interesting. (It could be a coloring mistake/trick of the light, but I don't think so).
posted by muddgirl at 7:41 AM on November 1, 2010
> I think I got confused as to which hole he is climbing down at the end - I assumed it was the hole his "brother" had been digging, not the original hole with smelled of lilacs.
Keep in mind we see the narrator put his brother's body in a hole, but not the wolf's body.
posted by ardgedee at 8:23 AM on November 1, 2010
Keep in mind we see the narrator put his brother's body in a hole, but not the wolf's body.
posted by ardgedee at 8:23 AM on November 1, 2010
Why did I come back here just before going to bed? Now I won't be able to sleep! Argh!
*looks under the bed for the thousandth time*
posted by Alnedra at 8:27 AM on November 1, 2010
*looks under the bed for the thousandth time*
posted by Alnedra at 8:27 AM on November 1, 2010
Great stuff. Thanks for posting!
I can't leave a Halloween webcomic thread without linking to The Enigma of Amigara Fault, though. Very different. Very very creepy. Enjoy!
posted by Cantdosleepy at 9:45 AM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
I can't leave a Halloween webcomic thread without linking to The Enigma of Amigara Fault, though. Very different. Very very creepy. Enjoy!
posted by Cantdosleepy at 9:45 AM on November 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
cantdosleepy - memorized the title of that one so I wouldn't get tricked into reading it again. That's enough nightmare fuel for several lifetimes.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:31 AM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:31 AM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Holy shit, Cantdosleepy. That's a great comic.
posted by brundlefly at 12:37 PM on November 1, 2010
posted by brundlefly at 12:37 PM on November 1, 2010
Oh god, reading the comic yesterday hurt my pain organs, and now just going through the thread here is giving me chills.
I don't really do horror - I react so viscerally to it that I try to keep my distance. From the first couple of pages, I could see it was heading in a direction I wouldn't like to experience, but I thought, hey, I'm in a well lit space, there are lots of people around, I can take it.
How wrong I was.
I don't know what sort of hardwiring generates such an extreme reaction, but that final panel had me in sweats for about half an hour. The ambiguity just feeds the horror, and keeps it in my head so that every now and then I wonder about something and have to start shivering all over again.
Painfully effective and distressingly compelling. I want it out of my head but I can't stop being fascinated by it.
/goes off to dig a hole
posted by Dandeson Coates, Sec'y at 1:56 PM on November 1, 2010
I don't really do horror - I react so viscerally to it that I try to keep my distance. From the first couple of pages, I could see it was heading in a direction I wouldn't like to experience, but I thought, hey, I'm in a well lit space, there are lots of people around, I can take it.
How wrong I was.
I don't know what sort of hardwiring generates such an extreme reaction, but that final panel had me in sweats for about half an hour. The ambiguity just feeds the horror, and keeps it in my head so that every now and then I wonder about something and have to start shivering all over again.
Painfully effective and distressingly compelling. I want it out of my head but I can't stop being fascinated by it.
/goes off to dig a hole
posted by Dandeson Coates, Sec'y at 1:56 PM on November 1, 2010
Everyone stop and look at that Hare's Bride cartoon.
The artist has managed to take a story that seems all light and nursery and make it completely fucking unsettling by digging into the core of the idea and not. changing. a single. thing.
The Hare turning from a man-hare back to a animal? Fucking genius.
posted by The Whelk at 2:06 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
The artist has managed to take a story that seems all light and nursery and make it completely fucking unsettling by digging into the core of the idea and not. changing. a single. thing.
The Hare turning from a man-hare back to a animal? Fucking genius.
posted by The Whelk at 2:06 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Scott McCloud himself shares the love (along with pretty much everybody on Twitter, lately).
posted by Gator at 9:24 AM on November 8, 2010
posted by Gator at 9:24 AM on November 8, 2010
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posted by danb at 6:44 PM on October 31, 2010