Little Visitor & Other Abductions

by Adam Szym

The cast and crew of an obscure film recount a tragedy that occurred during its doomed production. A young girl searches for her father in the darkness of the desert and stumbles upon an otherworldly cocktail party. Two strangers nurture violent thoughts in a bitter, lonely child as his village's harvest festival nears. Connecting these three stories is one horrific theme . . .

From cartoonist and illustrator Adam Szym comes a triptych of otherworldly science fiction horror stories about alien abduction and the negligence and malice that allows it to happen. Including the Ignatz Award–nominated A Cordial Invitation, Little Visitor, and a brand-new tale—Frolicker—this uncanny trilogy of graphic novellas is perfect for fans of The Twilight Zone, The X-Files, and all things beyond our understanding.

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comics, Short Stories, Fiction, Comics Manga

168 pages, Hardcover

Published September 23, 2025

About the author

Adam Szym is a cartoonist living in Brooklyn, New York. His graphic novel A Cordial Invitation was nominated for the 2021 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic and longlisted for the 2021 Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel.

A Cordial Invitation is included as one of three graphic novellas in his collection Little Visitor & Other Abductions, releasing on September 23rd, 2025 from Oni Press.

Reviews

[Ian Payton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightfully creepy collection of three short stories about alien abduction in this graphic novel.

The blurb refers to “the negligence and malice that allows it to happen”, and in all three stories, the abductions are somehow invited or allowed rather than being entirely imposed and “other”. This adds to an excellent sense of dread and conspiracy.

The plot in each story unfolds at a satisfying pace, with just the right amount of foreshadowing. My only niggle was that I got a bit muddled with the storytelling in the third story, and a few times had to revisit some earlier panels when I realised there had been a change of scene or perspective, but this is a minor gripe. The meticulous black and white artwork is a perfect match for the stories, which are dark in feel as well as visually shadowy and ominous. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you #NetGalley and Oni Press for the free review copy of #LittleVisitorOtherAbductions without obligation. All opinions are my own.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsettling, sharp, and strangely elegant.

Little Visitor and Other Abductions doesn’t hold your hand. It drags you straight into the weird, the cold, and the quietly horrifying, then leaves you there to squint at what’s lurking in the shadows. And honestly? I loved it.

The three stories: Little Visitor, A Cordial Invitation, and Frolicker each scratch a different kind of itch. Alien abductions, yes, but more than that. There’s a creeping emotional rot threaded through every page. It’s not about the aliens. It’s about what we ignore, what we allow, and how easy it is to look away when something wrong is dressed up in tradition or charm or ceremony.

I couldn’t help but notice a strong undercurrent of Slavic or Russian cultural layers throughout. Names like Kostya, Lluda, and Anatoly felt deliberate, grounding Little Visitor in what seemed to be a warped foreign Twilight Zone episode.

In A Cordial Invitation, the dialogue, especially at that eerie little party, echoes the strange civility and thinly veiled menace you find in The Master and Margarita or Anna Karenina.

It’s not obvious.. but if you've studied Slavic history or live in the culture, then some things will probably stand out to you when you read it.

Frolicker is the wildest of the three, and the one that left me the most unsettled. The narrator’s bitterness, the cultlike vibe of his community, and the grotesque reveal at the end, all of it lands with the kind of bleak clarity that only works when the writing is this restrained. The corn-husk skin? Very interesting.

The artwork is scratchy, textured, expressive in that perfect, simple way. It complements the tone without overpowering it. I enjoy comics that use these textures, but I do think there was a little room for expansion of the color palette.

This is one of those rare books that makes you feel like you've stumbled onto something secret. I wasn't expecting the Slavic lean, but it did add another layer to dig into and consider.

I’d like to read more from Adam Szym. There's something here.

Something weird, quiet and worth exploring again.

[Briar Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enigmatic, deeply unsettling sci-fi (???) horror comic; can't recommend it enough. Szym's visual pacing and ability to unsettle with simple, often bloodless images are impressive. What shines even brighter is the Aickman-by-way-of-The Outer Limits story, which is clever and subtle, balanced perfectly on the edge between revealing so much that things cease to be disorienting/horrific, and revealing so little that the audience becomes too confused/frustrated to stay involved. Szym also has a real knack for giving his characters immediately believable voices and dialogue.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever watched the X Files or Signs and thought hmm, I wish this came in the format of a book? Look no further. Little Visitor and Other Abductions consists of three short stories that are tied together based on the same theme, alien abduction. First, a science-fiction movie’s cast and crew are reunited years later to film a documentary and discuss a young actor’s strange disappearance. Then, a little girl frantically searches for her father, who goes missing after their car breaks down. Finally, visitors to a town make an alienated young man feel at home.
These stories each packed a spooky, eerie punch and the art that accompanied each of the stories helped move the plot along. The first story immediately hooked me – the idea of a camera crew filming a documentary looking back on the unknown fate of a young actor was genius, and I believe that the story being told via graphic novel allowed for quick “cuts” between characters with little confusion about who was telling their version of events. The second story also captured the creepiness I look for in horror comics, though I felt the plot was more predictable, and I felt like the ending left me feeling a little underwhelmed. However, I was pleasantly surprised when reading the final story. Based on other reviews, I expected this story to be my least favourite, but it was a contender for my favourite of the three. I believe that the mixture of the theme of alienation with the connecting theme of alien abduction offered a fresh perspective. I felt much more connected to the main character, as I had a better understanding of who he was and why he felt so isolated and lonely in the town he grew up in – and also why he may seek friendship in outsiders. I feel like this was the strongest of the three in terms of having adequate character development and captured the similar tense, strange vibes that I often feel while watching documentaries about cults. It’s a different kind of scary, but it definitely kept me intrigued.
Given the mixture of stories, I gave this book four stars, as some were more enjoyable to me than others, which I feel is a common experience with a collection of stories.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading these abduction stories and would definitely recommend that fans of Scully and Mulder give this book a chance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for the ARC.

[Atlanta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This eerie graphic novel is a collection of three suspenseful short stories about alien lifeforms. I definitely have my favorite and I think the author feels the same way. Little Visitor hits better than the other two short stories, but each has their own flair to draw the reader in and keep them curious.
That’s perhaps the most interesting part of this work - the curiosity. At no point did I feel as the reader that I knew what the hell was going on. This can be lots of fun when there’’s an idea that the answers will come, but at times I worried the author didn’t know what was going on either.
Each story has clearly developed and interesting plot points. The in between is a mystery, whether intentional or otherwise. I don’t know what I read. I’m pretty sure I liked it. Either way, I’ve been thinking about two of these three stories for a week.

Little Visitor: 4 stars
A Cordial Invitation: 3 stars
Frolicker: 1 star

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC!

This collection is worth reading purely for the first story. Szym captures the dread of a cursed film and subsequent tragedy very well and I enjoyed the documentary-style telling. I do wish that the costume itself had never been shown and was left up to the imagination. The second story was enjoyable and revealed enough information without spoiling the unknowable mystery at its core; the weird goo/mechanical/void texture that appeared every so often was very unsettling. I couldn't get into the third story -- I think there just wasn't enough information given for it to grab me.

[Bec · Rating 2 out of 5]

The style and atmosphere of this graphic story collection could be described as Junji Ito meets X Files. But it shouldn't. It is a disappointment because I would have been obsessed had this worked.

The art style and the vibes are there, but the storytelling did not work for me. Each story had leaps and gaps that made it feel like the author was trying to lean into the Unknown, but instead, it just resulted in a confused reader. I felt like I was missing something important at the conclusion of each story.

I would be curious to maybe try something else from Szym, because I feel like the potential is there. But this may well just be an author that doesn't work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for providing a review copy. This does not impact my review, whatsoever.

[Suki J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Three sci-fi horror graphic novellas in one volume, with one working very well for me, and the other two not so much.
I wasn't sure about the black and white illustrations at first, but ended up finding them to be effective, especially in the second story which was my favourite. I really enjoyed the chilling and creepy tale of a girl looking for her father.
With the other stories I got a little confused with the story-telling unfortunately.

[Tye Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Visitor is well drawn and very creative. I enjoyed these stories and the art included, but I did feel a little confused while reading. While these stories are expertly drawn and interesting, they were difficult for me to follow at points.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc

[Pat G · Rating 5 out of 5]

grabbed this graphic novel because Adam's booth at comic con called to me. really fun alien designs, love the choice to make this black and white. felt like there was a lot more left in the documentary section as the shortest portion of the anthology but worked really well as a hook

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of three comics about alien abductions, and I loved the first two more, but they were all chilling and terrifying and I felt genuine fear, so my hats off to Adam Szym!

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is deeply strange and rather nightmarish. A young girl is traveling with her dad and their car breaks down. Dad goes for help, and eventually the girl wanders up to a looming house to look for him. There's a party, and everyone's in masks. It's creepy as shit, and then her dad comes back and everything turns to custard. To be perfectly honest, I don't find the story itself all that compelling. The artwork, however, is amazing - it's black and white and sort of sparsely claustrophobic, really beautifully done. If I didn't care for the story, I had a great time looking at the pictures. The whole thing is just very very stylish.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advance copy of this graphic novel that looks at the things we lose when we find ourselves messing with the unknowable, our sense of self, our sense of what the meaning of things are, and even maybe loss of all we care for.

I have loved science fiction for almost all my life. I am a believer in a lot of things, mainly because I have been sure about things before, and found myself wrong more often than right. Cryptids, why not, we are constantly finding new things in nature, to balance out that that is being wiped out. Aliens, sure why not. Ghosts, same thing. I am happy to be proved wrong or right, just give me proof. I have not had anything either creature, UFO, UFP, or even friendly ghosts. Though I have met a few people who say they have. Some one can tell are just selling something, some kind of believe, but not enough to do anything about it. The last bunch, two people particularly, have seen things that changed them. Their life was once normal, than became abnormal, and nothing can ever be the same. They weren't abducted, but something in them is missing now. This graphic novel reminded me a lot about them. Little Visitor & Other Abductions is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Adam Szym about aliens, strange encounters, strange rituals, and how this events can change lives, and maybe even end them.

The graphic novel features three stories. The first is Little Visitor, and is a visual documentary of the making of a film, that ended badly. The time is the past and E.T. is breaking box offices. In a country behind the Iron Curtain, the decision is made to copy the film. Lacking money, and film technology, they create a small alien suit and begin casting. A young boy is chosen, by the security forces possibly, who reacts quite strongly to the alien suit. The second story is A Cordial Invitation. A young woman and her father are looking for work in the Depression. Their truck blows four tires, and they find themselves stranded in the desert. Soon they separate to find help, and as the daughter begins to look for her father, she finds she is a part of a masked ball to ring in the New Year, a masked ball that might not be from her time. Frolicker is the final story a tale about men, angry young men and a festival that happens yearly, and might lead to bad things.

A creepy collection of stories. The stories are very European in flavor, sort of like Heavy Metal magazine from the 80's. Each is different, and even told in different ways. The first two are quite good, I like the feeling of dread and the knowledge that something bad is going to happen, but there is no stopping it. The last story was good, but I wish it might have been longer, just to clear some stuff up. Again that is just me. The art is very good. The black and white is perfect for this collection stories that would be familiar on Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. Szym is very good at setting scenes, captureing the weirdness and letting the art fill in the blanks.

A nice spooky collection, which is really well illustrated, that left me wanting more. I was unfamiliar with the work of Szym, now I am looking forward to reading more.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall: 2/5 stars. I get the intention of the reader being confused throughout reading stories about abductions. In theory, it's clever, but in practice, it just led me to just not get invested in any of the stories. The frustration from this constant confusion prevented me from having any emotional experiences while reading this book.

Little Visitor: 2/5 stars. I had a hard time getting into the narrative style of this story. I kept feeling like I had to research things about the ET movie to really understand what was happening, which sucked me out of the experience of reading a lot. I wish there were more creepy panels/pictures at the ending climax.

A Cordial Invitation: 3/5 stars. Cool, creepy, heartbreaking. I would've gotten more invested in the daughter/father duo if there was a bit more content of them spending time together before they got separated. The rich, alien-obsessed, brainwashed cult was scarier than the aliens in this story, especially how they treated a lost, grieving child. In my opinion, this story was lacking on the supernatural creepiness, and emphasized cult creepiness instead.

Frolicker: (1.5/5) The narration in this one was incredibly long winded, but had small moments of being really poetic and moving. So much time was spent setting up the climax, just for it to be rushed, unclear, and disappointing. More time could've been spent on the world building, since it was such a creative concept.

[Allen Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Twilight Zone is one of my all-time favorite franchises. So, whenever an author compares their work to The Twilight Zone, my interest is immediately piqued, and this collection does indeed feel indebted to the work of Red Serling. All three stories handle alien abductions in very different ways, with the first story, "Little Visitor" being my favorite of the three. "Little Visitor" is also the shortest of the three stories, being roughly half the length of "Frolicker" and one-fourth the length of "A Cordial Invitation. Both "A Cordial Invitation" and "Frolicker" were enjoyable, interesting stories that both would've benefited from a shorter page count tightening the action of the stories.

Szym utilizes relatively simple, black-and-white art throughout the stories, with fluid and natural motion of characters. However, the writing style, interestingly-enough, shifts from story to story, with "Little Visitor" structured around a series of interviews, "A Cordial Invitation" being dialogue only, and "Frolicker" featuring first-person narration from the protagonist. Szym manages to juggle these three styles well, with none feeling out of place.

All-in-all, this was a good collection that will warrant further investigation into the works of Adam Szym.

[Casey Halvorsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for this arc!

3.5/5 stars rounded up

I feel like most others seem to about this work. The first two short stories were so good - intriguing and mysterious and unsettling, with characters that each felt unique and made me care about them and their eventual outcomes. These were concise and easy to follow, each with a slowly unfolding sense of dread and danger. I loved these two! The third story was sadly the complete opposite. The story dragged on way too long, to the point where it got so repetitive and boring I kept falling asleep reading it :/ The main characters endless soliloquies were so annoying and monotonous, I wasn't surprised at all to find out the main character was a teenage/early 20s boy. And I simply do not care about his melodrama. It was also hard to remember who was who, as each character looked really similar to each other. I won't rag more, I will just say I didnt like it lmao. I do look forward to more from this individual, I just hope they will be more like the first two and less the last one lmao.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC via NetGalley.

This is a very charming collection of three stories told in graphic novel form. Like any book collecting more than one story, I have my preferences among the three: I preferred "Little Visitor" and "A Cordial Invitation" over "Frolicker," though all three represent very satisfactorily creepy short stories on the theme of (alien) abduction.

Generally speaking, the art style and structure serves very well to convey the stories, though in my opinion the pacing of "Frolicker" does at times drag a little in ways the other two do not. Each story is rather sad, and told in the horror vein of science fiction. The graphic novel format does a really good job of telling these stories in a way that feels a lot like watching an episode of a tv show, and this works really well here.

All in all, I enjoyed it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of horror stories rely heavily on the detailed illustrations that reminds me of Charles Burn's horror works. The first story of a communist country making their version of E.T. that ends with the lead child actor disappearing was very haunting and lingered in my mind. The second story about a Latina girl in 1930s on New Years Eve has to find her father after their car breaks down in a desolate area. He goes toward an eerie mansion, but as she follows him later, she stumbles across a New Year's Party that spans different time periods and every reveler and their child wears masks. It's horrific the abduction because it crosses time, but I loved how Luisa shows agency towards the end. The third story in an agricultural space colony doesn't work as well because of the length and to many themes going on.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

The book contains three stories with the central theme being abduction. The first story "Little Visitor" was my favorite with its documentary style of storytelling. The second story "A Cordial Invitation" felt like it dragged on and I was waiting for it to end. The third story "Frolicker" left me confused and I think it should it have been as long as "A Cordial Invitation" in order for things to be made a little clearer.

I'm a fan of the illustration style and I think the book overall would work better in hard copy over an ebook format.

The book concludes with a behind-the-scenes section written by the author that I really enjoyed.

[sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Visitor & Other Abductions is a delightfully oddball graphic novel that delivers three bite-sized alien abduction stories with just the right mix of weird, witty, and wonderfully eerie. Think The Twilight Zone meets The X-Files—but with even cooler art and less commitment.

The illustrations are super cool and packed with personality, perfectly matching the quirky, sci-fi vibes of each tale. It’s original, easy to fly through, and makes extraterrestrial horror feel oddly charming. If you're into stories about little green men or just want a fun, fast read with great visuals, this one’s a no-brainer. Highly recommend for fans of the strange and speculative.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Oni Press and NetGalley for this arc.

This is slightly different to the usual graphic novels that I read but as someone who enjoyed the X Files I love a supernatural/alien story line and this was graphic short story collection worked for me.

The art style worked really well with the slightly odd and unusual stories adding to the atmosphere.

However, I did enjoy the first two stories more than the third. Possibly due to the pacing of the third one but overall a very enjoyable read that I would recommend.

[Bibliophileverse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel begins with a gripping alien abduction story that delivers true horror and suspense. The visuals are eerie and atmospheric, setting the tone perfectly. However, the following stories become increasingly confusing, with plots that are hard to follow and lack the chilling impact of the first. While the art remains consistently striking, the narrative doesn't hold up throughout. A mixed experience overall—great if you're here for haunting illustrations, but the horror fades after the opening story.

[Journey with Rosie]

There are a few things I really liked about this: The art is amazing. There are some pretty cool horror happenings, especially in the second story. I think this was an ambitious project, and it's rare to see a sci fi horror anthology, especially in graphic novel form. I think the author had very cool ideas, but the execution unfortunately didn't work for me very well.

I found the last two stories to be very hard to follow. Each dialogue felt disconnected from the last. It was putting me in a slump, so I DNFed at the third story.

[robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably sound really silly with this but I didn't realise this was all about aliens (which is not my thing) until the last story, but it turned out to be decent.
The art style is absolutely beautiful and this turned out to be a very quick read (I read in one sitting in 40 minutes!) and it also made me think about life a lot, more specifically about others' perceptions of myself and made me look inwards.
I'd recommend this for a quick read if you're feeling well, otherwise the graphics might make you feel a little uneasy, go into this with sound mind and sound stomach.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s aiming for speculative horror but it never fully lands, leaning incredibly hard on the unknown and the grotesque without it really being scary? The panels all seemed to flow into one another so the progression of each story was difficult to work out in places and the pages were cluttered at times with flashbacks and flash forwards to try and increase the horror. There were some good foundations with the stories but the execution just wasn’t there for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[KA Vickers · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art style of this was very different to the types of graphic novels I'm used to and the stories were interesting, I think out of the three stories in the book I liked the first one the most.

I'm not sure this book is for me, partially the art style but the third story I didn't really know what was going on which was a real shame. The second story I liked but I'm still not quite sure what happened at certain points.

I would recommend this to people who enjoy sci fi and some twists, turns and head scratching in their books.

[Jennifer T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

**3.5 stars**

This was a good 3 story graphic novel collection. I loved the first story, it’s a kind of alternative ET story. The second story was unnerving and creepy, poor Luisa and her Dad. But the third story was odd and I found very hard to follow. But overall a good alien themed graphic collection.

**Thanks to the author and Oni Press fir the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

[Brianne Campbell-Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Little Visitor and Other Abductions" by Adam Szym is a dark and unsettling comic about alien abductions. The comic has 3 different stories in it, and each is unique and intriguing. All three stories were surreal, and they made me think of the Twlight Zone and the X-files.

If you love aliens and weird scifi comics, you will love this comic!

Thank you, NetGalley and Oni Press, for the ARC of this comic.

[Kristina Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel contains 3 weird comics about alien abductions. I really enjoyed the artwork and the stories were definitely creepy. You will like this if you enjoy an odd, dark vibe and if you are ok with never really getting an answer to your questions. To me, the best story was about the film production but all of them were satisfyingly unsettling.

Thank you to Oni Press, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this eARC!

[fhmltn · Rating 4 out of 5]

the blurb says this is for the fans of the twilight zone and the x files and i am very much that so as you can imagine, i loved this.

well, actually i liked the first story, loved the second, then felt disappointed by the last which was slow, boring and difficult to follow.

the dreary and creepy black and white artwork was perfect for the ambiance of the book and kind of ugly in a way that i just love in horror graphic novels.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✖️