It’s here, that time of year when it’s not considered weird or strange to have a horror addiction has finally arrived. If you’ve read any of my reviews here before, you probably already know that I love all things that go bump in the night and live for a good horror story, and that’s precisely what Basilisk is.
Created by the bestselling horror writer Cullen Bunn (Harrow County; The Sixth Gun; Agent Venom) and artist Jonas Scharf (Bone Parish; Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; War for the Planet of the Apes) for BOOM! Studios (Abbott; Alienated; Heartbeat) comes Basilisk, a story about five mysterious individuals and one grieving mother.
The story of Basilisk starts us off by showing us a flashback of the past. We see five people, all dressed in strange green scrubs, entering a town and then proceeding to kill every living soul they encounter. These five individuals become known as “The Chimera”. Each has their own unique supernatural ability tied to one of the five senses.
The main story takes place two years after the brutal attack, and we follow two characters. Hannah, a woman who, after losing everyone she ever loved in the attack, dedicates her life to training herself to hunt down and take out the five responsible, and Regan, an original member of “The Chimera”.
Regan ends up regretting what they did when they arrived in the town and running away from the rest of “The Chimera”. Regan now walks around with her eyes covered because her power is tied to the sense of sight, and when anyone looks into her eyes, it’s the last thing they ever see. Together Regan and Hannah work to take down “The Chimera” and discover the truth behind the brutal attack that started all of this to begin with.
At its core, Basilisk is a story about pain. The pain felt, the pain inflicted, the pain of our own choices and the pain of the choices out of our control.
Even if the story of Basilisk didn’t pull me in, Jonas Scharf’s art would have. It’s not often that you find a horror comic with both an intriguing story and phenomenal art, but Basilisk boasts both. More than once, I found myself just lingering on a page, no longer reading but instead just staring at the strikingly beautiful and somewhat unsettling art.
There are two unique art styles and colour pallets at use within Basilisk, one for the current story and one for the events that happened in the past. Not only does this make for a striking contrast when reading, but it also helps to create a clear separation of events which makes for an easy reading experience.
It’s not easy to come across a truly unique concept and idea anymore, especially within the horror genre. More often than not, it’s all just a new take on an all too familiar story. However, Basilisk truly is an exception to that rule, the story never feels overly familiar, and that’s where Basilisk shines.
As someone who is always looking for a new and exciting horror series to fall in love with, I couldn’t be happier to have found Basilisk. If you’re looking for something that is equal parts mysterious, intriguing and bloody, Basilisk is the comic series for you.
Want to grab Basilisk for yourself? Head over to Critters and Comics. The series is currently available in the following formats: Digital or as five Single Issues