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Pig Wife
Accidentally trapped in an underground bunker, a teen girl must navigate the bizarre secrets within. This astonishing indie-horror graphic novel will keep readers guessing—and turning pages!
Mary had a bad feeling even before they arrived at dead Aunt Pearl’s house. Dragged to a remote mining town so her mom and stepdad can settle Pearl’s estate, Mary can't wait to escape from her wreck of a family—but she’s stuck with them in the middle of nowhere. After a vicious fight, Mary runs off to hide in an abandoned gold mine. Her escape plan backfires when she realizes she’s trapped inside. Even more terrifying… she’s not alone.
Mary had a bad feeling even before they arrived at dead Aunt Pearl’s house. Dragged to a remote mining town so her mom and stepdad can settle Pearl’s estate, Mary can't wait to escape from her wreck of a family—but she’s stuck with them in the middle of nowhere. After a vicious fight, Mary runs off to hide in an abandoned gold mine. Her escape plan backfires when she realizes she’s trapped inside. Even more terrifying… she’s not alone.
540 pages, Paperback
First published January 13, 2026
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618 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
February 15, 2026
a harrowing graphic novel about abuse, neglect, isolation, and survival.
first of all - any book that starts off with a map and family tree is going to have me raring to go. at over 500 pages, this story asks its reader to settle in for the ride.
the art itself is a trip. it's not necessarily pretty, but it's disarmingly creative, trippy, skillful, and evocative. it's also frequently gross and deeply uncomfortable to look at, but sometimes art is about sitting with your discomfort, right?
i love the structure - the book is divided into chapters for each day mary spends trapped underground, but these days are interspersed with flashbacks, context-building sequences, and mindbendingly surreal, nightmarish full-page pieces of art. these dynamic breaks in the linear story really kept me glued to the book.
it's a dismal story about intergenerational trauma, religious fanaticism, and a heinous figure whose abuse turns her victims into abusers themselves. in the beginning i was reminded of sloth from the goonies. in these stories, people with deformities and disabilities are seen as monsters, but the truly monstrous thing is their mistreatment and forced isolation. i have some complicated feelings about this portrayal of disability and mental illness. it's not unsympathetic, but it's precarious representation within a horror context.
overall this is both heartbreaking and disturbing, filled with claustrophobic dread and peppered with some odd moments of dark humor too. i didn't really enjoy the experience of reading this, but i think it's an excellent book.
Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review. Unfortunately the ARC provided had distracting watermarks obstructing the art, which made it nearly unreadable - thankfully I was able to get a copy from my library.
first of all - any book that starts off with a map and family tree is going to have me raring to go. at over 500 pages, this story asks its reader to settle in for the ride.
the art itself is a trip. it's not necessarily pretty, but it's disarmingly creative, trippy, skillful, and evocative. it's also frequently gross and deeply uncomfortable to look at, but sometimes art is about sitting with your discomfort, right?
i love the structure - the book is divided into chapters for each day mary spends trapped underground, but these days are interspersed with flashbacks, context-building sequences, and mindbendingly surreal, nightmarish full-page pieces of art. these dynamic breaks in the linear story really kept me glued to the book.
it's a dismal story about intergenerational trauma, religious fanaticism, and a heinous figure whose abuse turns her victims into abusers themselves. in the beginning i was reminded of sloth from the goonies. in these stories, people with deformities and disabilities are seen as monsters, but the truly monstrous thing is their mistreatment and forced isolation. i have some complicated feelings about this portrayal of disability and mental illness. it's not unsympathetic, but it's precarious representation within a horror context.
overall this is both heartbreaking and disturbing, filled with claustrophobic dread and peppered with some odd moments of dark humor too. i didn't really enjoy the experience of reading this, but i think it's an excellent book.
Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review. Unfortunately the ARC provided had distracting watermarks obstructing the art, which made it nearly unreadable - thankfully I was able to get a copy from my library.
January 28, 2026
A wonderfully artistic portrayal of mental illness and generational family trauma. The artwork is mesmerizing, stunning. Some of these panels, these full page pieces demand extra time spent with them. The detail, the oddities therein. This is a Fever dream, a surrealistic nightmare, call it what you will. There are staggering moments of depth and transparency right alongside the most heinous, scarring imagery you can imagine. A stark, unflinching light on the harem of demons we all think we're concealing. Like microdosing acid for 10 to 20 pages before the paralysis of a full sudden trip blooms on the page and in your mind. An absolute authentic expression of unchecked mental illness and a mind altering display of artistic talent.
FFO 'My Favorite Thing Is Monsters', 'Fatcop' and 'Prison Pit'
FFO 'My Favorite Thing Is Monsters', 'Fatcop' and 'Prison Pit'
November 13, 2025
Freaking weird and gross. Amazing and disturbing artwork! Kind of left speechless by this graphic novel.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author/illustrator, and IDW Publishing for a copy.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author/illustrator, and IDW Publishing for a copy.
September 27, 2025
My first graphic novel read and I’m absolutely floored by it! This is everything I want in a horror story, surprising, funny, unsettling, gross and heartbreaking.
The art style is honestly jarring as well, I started apprehensive that I could enjoy it and by the end I adored it. It brings the creepy level all the way up.
This is such a deep character driven story as well, we are given multiple backstories of characters and somehow it wasn’t overwhelming or boring. Considering the length, this is so easy to devour. Please Abbey Luck I need more from you!!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and IDW publishing for this ARC. This is my totally honest review.
The art style is honestly jarring as well, I started apprehensive that I could enjoy it and by the end I adored it. It brings the creepy level all the way up.
This is such a deep character driven story as well, we are given multiple backstories of characters and somehow it wasn’t overwhelming or boring. Considering the length, this is so easy to devour. Please Abbey Luck I need more from you!!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and IDW publishing for this ARC. This is my totally honest review.
January 14, 2026
BWAF Score: 6/10
TL;DR: Pig Wife is a claustrophobic, acid-bright bunker nightmare where the real monster is what people do to each other when love gets swapped out for control. It is gross, funny, and weirdly tender in the same breath. It lands more often than it whiffs, even when it gets tonally messy or pokes sore representational nerves.
Abbey Luck comes to Pig Wife from an animation and visual storytelling background, and you can feel that in how the book thinks in images first and exposition second. This reads like a creator who’s used to conveying emotion through pacing, shape, and color, then letting dialogue catch up afterward. Pig Wife is positioned as her first full-length graphic novel, and it plays like a debut that’s not interested in being “nice” or polite. It’s maximal, high-contrast, and willing to get grotesque to make a psychological point. If you’ve followed her broader art and design work, the same instincts show up here: immersive environments, body language that tells on people, and a taste for turning internal panic into external architecture. In other words, this isn’t someone trying horror as a genre exercise. It’s someone using horror as the most efficient tool available to talk about control, shame, and what survives when you’re trapped with people who want to rename you.
Mary starts the book already loaded like a shaken soda can. Her mom and stepdad drag her to a remote mining town to deal with the estate of dead Aunt Pearl, and Mary’s family dynamic is the usual blended-family misery buffet: resentment, money panic, emotional neglect, and the constant sense that everyone is talking past everyone. After a blowup, Mary bolts, slips into an abandoned mine through a hidden entrance, and immediately learns the horror story rule that should be printed on the back of every teenage skull: running away does not fix your life, it just changes which kind of terrible you are trapped with.
She is sealed underground with two men who have been cut off from the outside world, and they greet her like she is a delivery from God and Mommy and the End Times all at once. The stakes are simple and brutal: get out, stay alive, and do not let their fantasy turn you into furniture. From there the story becomes this relentless tug-of-war between Mary’s will to survive and the way captivity works like a slow infection, rewriting the rules of reality until you catch yourself thinking, Okay, maybe this is just how it is now. That is where the book starts to really bite.
What’s special here is how the comic makes isolation feel like a physical substance. The mine is not just a setting, it is a pressure cooker that forces character into the open. The plot keeps sliding between immediate survival and the slow reveal of how these people were made, and that drip-feed backstory is the real engine. You are not just watching a teen try to escape, you are watching a generational chain of neglect and abuse tighten, link by link, until the present-day plot snaps like a trap.
When the book gets mean, it is not mean in a cheap “look at my edgy horror” way. It is mean like real life is mean: petty humiliations, selfish decisions, and the kind of parental damage that leaves a kid furious at the wrong target because the truth is too big to hold. The family stuff is not window dressing. It is the psychological kindling that makes Mary vulnerable to the bunker’s warped little universe. The horror is not just “bad men in a hole.” It is the whole messy apparatus of control that Mary has been swimming in aboveground too, now stripped down to its most obvious, disgusting form.
The best moments are when the book leans into visual metaphor and nightmare logic instead of playing everything straight. It is at its strongest when it lets the art carry emotional information that dialogue never could. When Mary spirals, the page language spirals with her. When the bunker reality becomes unbearable, the comic slips its leash and turns into a fever map. Those surreal interludes and psychedelic breaks are where this feels like a real “indie swing” instead of a competent genre product.
The aesthetic is intentionally ugly-cute in a way that will be polarizing: chunky expressions, grotesque bodies, and a cartoon sensibility that makes the violence feel both more absurd and more upsetting. That clash is either the secret sauce or the reason you bounce off. I loved it, because it keeps the book from becoming a prestige misery-drama where everyone whispers trauma in tasteful lighting. This looks like someone drew it with their teeth clenched. The nastiness is part of the honesty. Also, the book’s comedic timing is sharp enough to be dangerous. Sometimes the jokes land like a pressure valve hissing open, and you laugh and then feel like an asshole because the scene is still horrible. That’s the sweet spot for this kind of horror.
Now the flip side, because I am not handing out charity points. The tone can wobble. When the comic leans into dark humor, it can either intensify the dread or undercut it, and a couple stretches flirt with “I wandered into a different comic for ten minutes” energy. It is a tricky balancing act. Most of the time it works because the underlying situation is so bleak that humor feels like the only sane reaction. But a few beats come off a little too “bit” when the story needs to be fully locked in on dread.
There is also the question of portrayal. The comic is clearly angry at abuse and sympathetic toward its victims, but it sometimes brushes up against horror shorthand around mental illness and disability-coded grotesquerie. I do not think the intention is cruel, but intention does not magically solve impact. It is worth naming because it is part of what might make this feel thorny to some readers. If you have zero patience for that kind of trope-adjacent imagery, this might be a hard no.
This is a story about dehumanization and the lies people tell themselves to justify it, especially the “I’m protecting you” lie that is actually “I’m protecting me.” The horror machinery expresses that theme through confinement and bodily degradation: people reduced to roles (wife, son, burden, sinner), then reduced further to needs (food, sex, obedience), until identity is something you have to fight to keep. How much love can you offer someone who has only ever learned love as ownership?
In the current wave of horror comics that blend trauma, absurdity, and body disgust, Pig Wife sits closer to “swing big, risk the mess” than “polished, safe, bookstore-friendly.” It is not trying to be pretty. It is trying to be sticky. For a debut graphic novel, that ambition is the point, and even its misfires feel like the cost of making something personal instead of product. A nasty, heartfelt, claustrophobic fever-dream that earns its weirdness, even when the tone wobbles and a few choices land like a bruise you keep pressing to see if it still hurts.
Read if you like bunker horror where the “monster” is a whole family system rotting in the dark and you crave surreal, psychedelic visual breaks that translate emotion into nightmare scenery.
Skip if you need clean tonal consistency and hate comedy showing up at the worst possible time.
TL;DR: Pig Wife is a claustrophobic, acid-bright bunker nightmare where the real monster is what people do to each other when love gets swapped out for control. It is gross, funny, and weirdly tender in the same breath. It lands more often than it whiffs, even when it gets tonally messy or pokes sore representational nerves.
Abbey Luck comes to Pig Wife from an animation and visual storytelling background, and you can feel that in how the book thinks in images first and exposition second. This reads like a creator who’s used to conveying emotion through pacing, shape, and color, then letting dialogue catch up afterward. Pig Wife is positioned as her first full-length graphic novel, and it plays like a debut that’s not interested in being “nice” or polite. It’s maximal, high-contrast, and willing to get grotesque to make a psychological point. If you’ve followed her broader art and design work, the same instincts show up here: immersive environments, body language that tells on people, and a taste for turning internal panic into external architecture. In other words, this isn’t someone trying horror as a genre exercise. It’s someone using horror as the most efficient tool available to talk about control, shame, and what survives when you’re trapped with people who want to rename you.
Mary starts the book already loaded like a shaken soda can. Her mom and stepdad drag her to a remote mining town to deal with the estate of dead Aunt Pearl, and Mary’s family dynamic is the usual blended-family misery buffet: resentment, money panic, emotional neglect, and the constant sense that everyone is talking past everyone. After a blowup, Mary bolts, slips into an abandoned mine through a hidden entrance, and immediately learns the horror story rule that should be printed on the back of every teenage skull: running away does not fix your life, it just changes which kind of terrible you are trapped with.
She is sealed underground with two men who have been cut off from the outside world, and they greet her like she is a delivery from God and Mommy and the End Times all at once. The stakes are simple and brutal: get out, stay alive, and do not let their fantasy turn you into furniture. From there the story becomes this relentless tug-of-war between Mary’s will to survive and the way captivity works like a slow infection, rewriting the rules of reality until you catch yourself thinking, Okay, maybe this is just how it is now. That is where the book starts to really bite.
What’s special here is how the comic makes isolation feel like a physical substance. The mine is not just a setting, it is a pressure cooker that forces character into the open. The plot keeps sliding between immediate survival and the slow reveal of how these people were made, and that drip-feed backstory is the real engine. You are not just watching a teen try to escape, you are watching a generational chain of neglect and abuse tighten, link by link, until the present-day plot snaps like a trap.
When the book gets mean, it is not mean in a cheap “look at my edgy horror” way. It is mean like real life is mean: petty humiliations, selfish decisions, and the kind of parental damage that leaves a kid furious at the wrong target because the truth is too big to hold. The family stuff is not window dressing. It is the psychological kindling that makes Mary vulnerable to the bunker’s warped little universe. The horror is not just “bad men in a hole.” It is the whole messy apparatus of control that Mary has been swimming in aboveground too, now stripped down to its most obvious, disgusting form.
The best moments are when the book leans into visual metaphor and nightmare logic instead of playing everything straight. It is at its strongest when it lets the art carry emotional information that dialogue never could. When Mary spirals, the page language spirals with her. When the bunker reality becomes unbearable, the comic slips its leash and turns into a fever map. Those surreal interludes and psychedelic breaks are where this feels like a real “indie swing” instead of a competent genre product.
The aesthetic is intentionally ugly-cute in a way that will be polarizing: chunky expressions, grotesque bodies, and a cartoon sensibility that makes the violence feel both more absurd and more upsetting. That clash is either the secret sauce or the reason you bounce off. I loved it, because it keeps the book from becoming a prestige misery-drama where everyone whispers trauma in tasteful lighting. This looks like someone drew it with their teeth clenched. The nastiness is part of the honesty. Also, the book’s comedic timing is sharp enough to be dangerous. Sometimes the jokes land like a pressure valve hissing open, and you laugh and then feel like an asshole because the scene is still horrible. That’s the sweet spot for this kind of horror.
Now the flip side, because I am not handing out charity points. The tone can wobble. When the comic leans into dark humor, it can either intensify the dread or undercut it, and a couple stretches flirt with “I wandered into a different comic for ten minutes” energy. It is a tricky balancing act. Most of the time it works because the underlying situation is so bleak that humor feels like the only sane reaction. But a few beats come off a little too “bit” when the story needs to be fully locked in on dread.
There is also the question of portrayal. The comic is clearly angry at abuse and sympathetic toward its victims, but it sometimes brushes up against horror shorthand around mental illness and disability-coded grotesquerie. I do not think the intention is cruel, but intention does not magically solve impact. It is worth naming because it is part of what might make this feel thorny to some readers. If you have zero patience for that kind of trope-adjacent imagery, this might be a hard no.
This is a story about dehumanization and the lies people tell themselves to justify it, especially the “I’m protecting you” lie that is actually “I’m protecting me.” The horror machinery expresses that theme through confinement and bodily degradation: people reduced to roles (wife, son, burden, sinner), then reduced further to needs (food, sex, obedience), until identity is something you have to fight to keep. How much love can you offer someone who has only ever learned love as ownership?
In the current wave of horror comics that blend trauma, absurdity, and body disgust, Pig Wife sits closer to “swing big, risk the mess” than “polished, safe, bookstore-friendly.” It is not trying to be pretty. It is trying to be sticky. For a debut graphic novel, that ambition is the point, and even its misfires feel like the cost of making something personal instead of product. A nasty, heartfelt, claustrophobic fever-dream that earns its weirdness, even when the tone wobbles and a few choices land like a bruise you keep pressing to see if it still hurts.
Read if you like bunker horror where the “monster” is a whole family system rotting in the dark and you crave surreal, psychedelic visual breaks that translate emotion into nightmare scenery.
Skip if you need clean tonal consistency and hate comedy showing up at the worst possible time.
October 27, 2025
“Accidentally trapped in an underground bunker, a teen girl must navigate the bizarre secrets within.”
Pig Wife is a true horror experience—from the insane art, to the claustrophobic story, all the way to that ending. It will make you feel disgust, terror, and sadness. More than once did I have to stop reading and just stared at the fever dream on the page in front of me. Where do you even begin to discuss some of those scenes? I still feel somewhat unsettled and uncomfortable when I think about this book. And that’s the whole point. This story isn’t meant to look pretty; it’s meant to make you feel something. This is art. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 And for that, this book gets 5 stars from me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to the ARC. All my opinions are my own.
***
I need some time to digest this book. The feels hit me hard. 😢
Pig Wife is a true horror experience—from the insane art, to the claustrophobic story, all the way to that ending. It will make you feel disgust, terror, and sadness. More than once did I have to stop reading and just stared at the fever dream on the page in front of me. Where do you even begin to discuss some of those scenes? I still feel somewhat unsettled and uncomfortable when I think about this book. And that’s the whole point. This story isn’t meant to look pretty; it’s meant to make you feel something. This is art. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 And for that, this book gets 5 stars from me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to the ARC. All my opinions are my own.
***
I need some time to digest this book. The feels hit me hard. 😢
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
At first glance, Pig Wife didn’t win me over. The art style felt harsh and even ugly. Not necessarily because it’s poorly drawn, but because the faces and features are intentionally unpleasant. The characters’ designs exaggerate their flaws: sharp angles, twisted expressions, misshapen proportions. It’s visually jarring and uncomfortable, which initially made it hard to engage with the story.
Still, as the story unfolded, I began to understand that this ugliness is deliberate. The distorted art matches the atmosphere of horror and decay that defines Pig Wife. The grotesque visuals aren’t accidental, they amplify the claustrophobic tension and the deep unease running through the narrative.
The plot is brutal and haunting: a young girl becomes trapped in a bunker with two men who’ve been isolated there for decades. The result is violent, gory, and emotionally exhausting. It’s horror that doesn’t rely on jump scares, but on psychological dread and moral ambiguity. By the end, I felt genuinely shaken and somewhat sympathetic toward everyone involved.
The protagonist’s emotional arc is great too. She starts as a confused, angry kid, resenting her mother for leaving her father, only to realize, painfully, that her mother had been protecting them both all along. Her growth feels raw and believable, and her reactions, even when irrational, make perfect sense for her age and trauma.
Where Pig Wife falters, for me, is in its portrayal of mental illness and physical difference. Aunt Perle, though never explicitly described as such, clearly exhibits signs of schizophrenia, and another character, Ed, seems to have been born with a cleft lip. The story leans heavily on old horror tropes: the idea that visible “ugliness” reflects inner corruption, or that mental instability makes someone dangerous and frightening. In doing so, it risks perpetuating harmful stereotypes that people with mental illnesses still face today. The association of “mentally ill = scary or evil” is a troubling one, and even though the story’s horror elements might justify it narratively, it’s worth questioning what that representation communicates to readers.
Still, as the story unfolded, I began to understand that this ugliness is deliberate. The distorted art matches the atmosphere of horror and decay that defines Pig Wife. The grotesque visuals aren’t accidental, they amplify the claustrophobic tension and the deep unease running through the narrative.
The plot is brutal and haunting: a young girl becomes trapped in a bunker with two men who’ve been isolated there for decades. The result is violent, gory, and emotionally exhausting. It’s horror that doesn’t rely on jump scares, but on psychological dread and moral ambiguity. By the end, I felt genuinely shaken and somewhat sympathetic toward everyone involved.
The protagonist’s emotional arc is great too. She starts as a confused, angry kid, resenting her mother for leaving her father, only to realize, painfully, that her mother had been protecting them both all along. Her growth feels raw and believable, and her reactions, even when irrational, make perfect sense for her age and trauma.
Where Pig Wife falters, for me, is in its portrayal of mental illness and physical difference. Aunt Perle, though never explicitly described as such, clearly exhibits signs of schizophrenia, and another character, Ed, seems to have been born with a cleft lip. The story leans heavily on old horror tropes: the idea that visible “ugliness” reflects inner corruption, or that mental instability makes someone dangerous and frightening. In doing so, it risks perpetuating harmful stereotypes that people with mental illnesses still face today. The association of “mentally ill = scary or evil” is a troubling one, and even though the story’s horror elements might justify it narratively, it’s worth questioning what that representation communicates to readers.
September 9, 2025
My Selling Pitch:
American Horror Story: Pig Farmer
Pre-reading:
Hi, you know what I’m a slut for? Horror graphic novels.
(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Eyeing the red door in the family tree.
I don’t love the art style. It’s almost Simpsony to me or Rick and Morty.
This story is doing foreboding well.
A sam!
Oh. Poor little critter.
The cop is sending me.
Oh, she’s the pregnant lady who went missing.
The hand people are gnarly. The middle finger for a dick is crazy.
The schizophrenia drawings are so cool.
My jaw dropped. I thought it was a pig. Oh my god.
Poor Tommy.
Oh not her shitbag dad coming back. Leave those women alone ffs.
Post-reading:
What an absolute ride! The plot is right out of American Horror Story. It was well-paced. It had twists. It had humor. I didn't love the art style for the humans. Everything else was pretty and stylistic. The humans fell into that adult cartoon style that reads so ugly to me. I'm sure other people will enjoy the style, and it’s so consistent when she’s clearly capable of greater detail, that it had to be a style she chose on purpose. I did love the thematic play with the title where you have the wife who marries pigs and the wife become pig. It was definitely a darker and more complex story than the first few pages had me anticipating. I’d pick up her work again. I think if you like off-putting graphic novels or family drama horror you should definitely give this a read.
Who should read this:
American Horror Story fans
Horror graphic novel fans
Ideal reading time:
Anytime
Do I want to reread this:
I think I'll remember it, but I'd pick up her work again.
Would I buy this:
Yeah, this was great!
Similar books:
* Killing Stalking by Koogi-horror graphic novel
* Mercy by Mirka Andolfo-gothic horror, family drama, supernatural
* Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum-gothic horror, revenge thriller, supernatural
* Deliver Me by Elle Nash-psychological horror, unreliable narrator, family drama
* The Lamb by Lucy Rose-psychological horror, family drama, queer
* Brother by Ania Ahlborn-psychological horror, thriller, family drama
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
American Horror Story: Pig Farmer
Pre-reading:
Hi, you know what I’m a slut for? Horror graphic novels.
(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Eyeing the red door in the family tree.
I don’t love the art style. It’s almost Simpsony to me or Rick and Morty.
This story is doing foreboding well.
A sam!
Oh. Poor little critter.
The cop is sending me.
Oh, she’s the pregnant lady who went missing.
The hand people are gnarly. The middle finger for a dick is crazy.
The schizophrenia drawings are so cool.
My jaw dropped. I thought it was a pig. Oh my god.
Poor Tommy.
Oh not her shitbag dad coming back. Leave those women alone ffs.
Post-reading:
What an absolute ride! The plot is right out of American Horror Story. It was well-paced. It had twists. It had humor. I didn't love the art style for the humans. Everything else was pretty and stylistic. The humans fell into that adult cartoon style that reads so ugly to me. I'm sure other people will enjoy the style, and it’s so consistent when she’s clearly capable of greater detail, that it had to be a style she chose on purpose. I did love the thematic play with the title where you have the wife who marries pigs and the wife become pig. It was definitely a darker and more complex story than the first few pages had me anticipating. I’d pick up her work again. I think if you like off-putting graphic novels or family drama horror you should definitely give this a read.
Who should read this:
American Horror Story fans
Horror graphic novel fans
Ideal reading time:
Anytime
Do I want to reread this:
I think I'll remember it, but I'd pick up her work again.
Would I buy this:
Yeah, this was great!
Similar books:
* Killing Stalking by Koogi-horror graphic novel
* Mercy by Mirka Andolfo-gothic horror, family drama, supernatural
* Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum-gothic horror, revenge thriller, supernatural
* Deliver Me by Elle Nash-psychological horror, unreliable narrator, family drama
* The Lamb by Lucy Rose-psychological horror, family drama, queer
* Brother by Ania Ahlborn-psychological horror, thriller, family drama
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 10, 2025
This graphic novel is brutal, haunting, and unforgettable. The artwork is raw, detailed, and perfectly suited to the oppressive atmosphere of the story. The visuals pull the reader into a world of violence, trauma, and suffocating fear.
The first part follows Pearl, whose madness and lies condemn her son Ed to a life of isolation underground. She imprisons Sarah as well, silencing her for years in the darkness. This first half sets the foundation of horror, showing how cruelty and delusion create monsters.
The second part begins after Pearl’s death, when Mary accidentally discovers the mine. She meets Ed and Tommy, and quickly becomes trapped in their twisted reality. For Ed, Mary is another “wife” sent by his mother, and when she resists he locks her away with Sarah. From that moment the tension escalates relentlessly, mixing psychological terror with raw survival as Sarah, Tommy, and Mary struggle to break free.
The narrative is a terrifying exploration of generational trauma, captivity, and the consequences of lies. The mine becomes a character in itself, a dark and suffocating prison where violence repeats in endless cycles. The ending is devastating yet powerful, tying together every thread of this legacy of horror.
Pig Wife is one of the darkest and most compelling horror graphic novels I have read, elevated by extraordinary artwork that amplifies every moment of dread.
The first part follows Pearl, whose madness and lies condemn her son Ed to a life of isolation underground. She imprisons Sarah as well, silencing her for years in the darkness. This first half sets the foundation of horror, showing how cruelty and delusion create monsters.
The second part begins after Pearl’s death, when Mary accidentally discovers the mine. She meets Ed and Tommy, and quickly becomes trapped in their twisted reality. For Ed, Mary is another “wife” sent by his mother, and when she resists he locks her away with Sarah. From that moment the tension escalates relentlessly, mixing psychological terror with raw survival as Sarah, Tommy, and Mary struggle to break free.
The narrative is a terrifying exploration of generational trauma, captivity, and the consequences of lies. The mine becomes a character in itself, a dark and suffocating prison where violence repeats in endless cycles. The ending is devastating yet powerful, tying together every thread of this legacy of horror.
Pig Wife is one of the darkest and most compelling horror graphic novels I have read, elevated by extraordinary artwork that amplifies every moment of dread.
September 6, 2025
I absolutely flew through this. This was probably one of the quickest graphic novel reads of my life. The story was wild. I’m going to be completely honest though, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I got lost a little bit after our main character (whose name I unfortunately can’t remember) went down into the mines.
I loved having the insight into Pearl and what exactly happened that led to the mines being closed. I do wish we actually got a big more of her story, maybe as a prologue of sorts? It just felt a little rushed, especially on the page where we see little snippets rather than larger portions of her story.
Overall, I thought this was an interesting read. I’m glad I picked it up, even though I got lost a bit along the way.
Rounded up from 3.5 stars.
Thank you very much to IDW Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved having the insight into Pearl and what exactly happened that led to the mines being closed. I do wish we actually got a big more of her story, maybe as a prologue of sorts? It just felt a little rushed, especially on the page where we see little snippets rather than larger portions of her story.
Overall, I thought this was an interesting read. I’m glad I picked it up, even though I got lost a bit along the way.
Rounded up from 3.5 stars.
Thank you very much to IDW Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 25, 2026
Wavered between a five star and one star, so gonna split the difference.
This was absolutely fucking vile; unflinching, unhinged, uncomfortable, wholly claustrophobic and, at times, incredibly tone deaf, trite, and predictable. Almost DNF it for mental health reasons. Made me feel extreme levels of rage and revulsion. Reminded me very much of Barbarian. Feel like Mary wasn't freaking out as much as she should've been and that took me out of the narrative. Unsure how I feel about how religious abuse, mental illness, and generational trauma were used here. Also unsure how I felt about Luck's use of humor; some of it landed, some of it really, really did not. And that ending, for me, wasn't hopeful, but filled me with an extreme sense of dread and hopelessness, kinda like when a horror film zooms up on the "dead" antagonist and their fingers twitch.
The art was the ultimate star. That was some psychedelic shit.
This was absolutely fucking vile; unflinching, unhinged, uncomfortable, wholly claustrophobic and, at times, incredibly tone deaf, trite, and predictable. Almost DNF it for mental health reasons. Made me feel extreme levels of rage and revulsion. Reminded me very much of Barbarian. Feel like Mary wasn't freaking out as much as she should've been and that took me out of the narrative. Unsure how I feel about how religious abuse, mental illness, and generational trauma were used here. Also unsure how I felt about Luck's use of humor; some of it landed, some of it really, really did not. And that ending, for me, wasn't hopeful, but filled me with an extreme sense of dread and hopelessness, kinda like when a horror film zooms up on the "dead" antagonist and their fingers twitch.
The art was the ultimate star. That was some psychedelic shit.
January 13, 2026
I would like to thank IDW Publishing | Top Shelf Productions and NetGalley for a free eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
oof. I hated this. It is horror and as such there's some (a lot of ) weirdness which I didn't mind at all. I also think the art style -- which I didn't actually get along with normally (aka, I thought it ugly) - did compliment the gruesomeness of the horror parts very nicely. My biggest issue... and the reason that I would have absolutely DNF this if it wasn't for the fact that I had an ARC, was the fact that I'm just sick and tired of disability or body disfigurement as a marker for villany. That trope is done. If your bad guy has a disfigurement or disability, you BETTER give me a reason for it or I'm giving you a bad review. What's the point of making this kid have a cleft pallete other than to make that an othering issue! Not only that but the characters were all very cliche and rote. I could go on, but I'm not. I didn't enjoy one bit of this grahpic novel. Sorry!
oof. I hated this. It is horror and as such there's some (a lot of ) weirdness which I didn't mind at all. I also think the art style -- which I didn't actually get along with normally (aka, I thought it ugly) - did compliment the gruesomeness of the horror parts very nicely. My biggest issue... and the reason that I would have absolutely DNF this if it wasn't for the fact that I had an ARC, was the fact that I'm just sick and tired of disability or body disfigurement as a marker for villany. That trope is done. If your bad guy has a disfigurement or disability, you BETTER give me a reason for it or I'm giving you a bad review. What's the point of making this kid have a cleft pallete other than to make that an othering issue! Not only that but the characters were all very cliche and rote. I could go on, but I'm not. I didn't enjoy one bit of this grahpic novel. Sorry!
October 16, 2025
'Pig Wife' has been such an intense read, and I’m not gonna lie, it instantly made it to my top reads of the year. Seriously... that’s how cool it was. From the start, I had a good feeling about it. The synopsis didn’t reveal much (thank God), but one thing was clear: it was going to be terrifying. I mean, can you imagine being in an abandoned gold mine... and you’re NOT ALONE??? Are you hyperventilating already? EXACTLY! It totally gave me Barbarian vibes (and yeah, it’s kind of similar to that movie because of the tunnels).
But okay, let’s go step by step so you understand why you need to read it. We’ve got a rebellious teenager, and yes, she did get on my nerves several times. But in the end, I was like, hey she’s a teenager, of course she thinks that way (even if she’s totally wrong). Anyway, she’s the one who ends up trapped in this mine... and what she goes through down there, WOW. I mean, it’s intense, like seriously intense. Every time you think something good is finally about to happen, or that the nightmare might be over BAM!... something even worse comes up. But that’s not all, because we also get flashbacks that reveal the reasons behind certain things… and on top of that, the girl’s nightmares. Some of those are super creepy and tied to her own introspection, mixed with what’s happening inside the mine. Weird, I know, but it actually makes sense, and it’s chilling.
And honestly, that’s one of the things I loved most, how everything slowly starts to connect, piece by piece. Every character has something to say, something that adds up. And it’s not just the storytelling that shines here, but also the artwork, because wow. Especially during the nightmare and hallucination scenes just, WOWOWOWOW (how many times am I saying wow?). Absolutely powerful.
And yes, it’s definitely worth reading, even though the ending left me a bit shocked, and honestly, kinda heartbroken :((( You’ll understand once you read it. The final chapters hit hard with some pretty intense scenes and a few relationships that find their way back together… but still, it hurt, especially because of a certain character (you’ll see). Anyway, my final thoughts? If you like something that blends horror with family drama (like A LOT), teenage struggles and weird thoughts here’s Pig Wife.
Oh, and heads-up: there are some trigger warnings, so be careful if you’re sensitive to heavy or disturbing content.
But okay, let’s go step by step so you understand why you need to read it. We’ve got a rebellious teenager, and yes, she did get on my nerves several times. But in the end, I was like, hey she’s a teenager, of course she thinks that way (even if she’s totally wrong). Anyway, she’s the one who ends up trapped in this mine... and what she goes through down there, WOW. I mean, it’s intense, like seriously intense. Every time you think something good is finally about to happen, or that the nightmare might be over BAM!... something even worse comes up. But that’s not all, because we also get flashbacks that reveal the reasons behind certain things… and on top of that, the girl’s nightmares. Some of those are super creepy and tied to her own introspection, mixed with what’s happening inside the mine. Weird, I know, but it actually makes sense, and it’s chilling.
And honestly, that’s one of the things I loved most, how everything slowly starts to connect, piece by piece. Every character has something to say, something that adds up. And it’s not just the storytelling that shines here, but also the artwork, because wow. Especially during the nightmare and hallucination scenes just, WOWOWOWOW (how many times am I saying wow?). Absolutely powerful.
And yes, it’s definitely worth reading, even though the ending left me a bit shocked, and honestly, kinda heartbroken :((( You’ll understand once you read it. The final chapters hit hard with some pretty intense scenes and a few relationships that find their way back together… but still, it hurt, especially because of a certain character (you’ll see). Anyway, my final thoughts? If you like something that blends horror with family drama (like A LOT), teenage struggles and weird thoughts here’s Pig Wife.
Oh, and heads-up: there are some trigger warnings, so be careful if you’re sensitive to heavy or disturbing content.
October 12, 2025
Pig Wife certainly manages to nail the vibe it was going for. The atmosphere in this one is undeniably great, it's super creepy and weird, which is a huge positive and really the only good thing I can say about the whole book. That unsettling feeling is a fantastic hook. Unfortunately, the book runs into major trouble almost immediately, starting with the artwork. I have to be honest, the art is something I just didn't like at ALL. It felt very raw and looked quite amateur, and it just didn't vibe with me. I’m not saying I could draw more than a stick figure, but this particular style actively worked against the storytelling for me.
Beyond the visuals, the narrative had some tough hurdles to clear, too. For one, I really disliked the main character quite a bit, which made it hard to invest in their journey or the stakes of the story. Worse, the story took FOREVER to get going. The pacing felt incredibly slow, and I found myself waiting and waiting for the plot to finally kick off. While the creepy atmosphere was a good start, the combination of the unappealing art, the frustrating pace, and the unlikeable protagonist meant Pig Wife fell flat, earning a disappointing 2 out of 5.
Beyond the visuals, the narrative had some tough hurdles to clear, too. For one, I really disliked the main character quite a bit, which made it hard to invest in their journey or the stakes of the story. Worse, the story took FOREVER to get going. The pacing felt incredibly slow, and I found myself waiting and waiting for the plot to finally kick off. While the creepy atmosphere was a good start, the combination of the unappealing art, the frustrating pace, and the unlikeable protagonist meant Pig Wife fell flat, earning a disappointing 2 out of 5.
October 12, 2025
ARC REVIEW
3.5 stars rounded up to 4!
Soooo… I never thought I’d actually feel queasy from a graphic novel. This made me queasy. I had to skip through a lot because honestly I didn’t expect it to irk me as much as it did - turns out I’m not as great with some types of horror than I am with others. But I honestly, this was a fantastic graphic novel. It was so so nauseating and so so intentional. Everything down to the art style was not quite right, just slightly eery, until it took a real dark turn real quick. Genuinely, a very freaky book. And ENTIRELY coloured!!! Which I know is normal for graphic novels but this is an indie and it’s so well made and so much love and care and thought has been put into it and you can feel that as you read. Very good character development and very good metaphors for growing up and seeing things in your past from a new perspective. Definitely recommend if you think you can handle it… I could not! 😭
3.5 stars rounded up to 4!
Soooo… I never thought I’d actually feel queasy from a graphic novel. This made me queasy. I had to skip through a lot because honestly I didn’t expect it to irk me as much as it did - turns out I’m not as great with some types of horror than I am with others. But I honestly, this was a fantastic graphic novel. It was so so nauseating and so so intentional. Everything down to the art style was not quite right, just slightly eery, until it took a real dark turn real quick. Genuinely, a very freaky book. And ENTIRELY coloured!!! Which I know is normal for graphic novels but this is an indie and it’s so well made and so much love and care and thought has been put into it and you can feel that as you read. Very good character development and very good metaphors for growing up and seeing things in your past from a new perspective. Definitely recommend if you think you can handle it… I could not! 😭
September 16, 2025
Wrong Turn Meets The Goonies!
Pig Wife is the horror graphic novel that readers won't see coming. Abbey Luck’s debut graphic novel is a visceral plunge into psychological horror that left me disturbed in the best way. From the first page, we learn about a teen girl trapped in a decaying mining town with a family that barely functions. When she ends up sealed inside an underground bunker, the story takes a terrifying turn that I did not expect. And I couldn’t look away.
Ruka Bravo’s illustrations are stunning. They carry warmth and humanity even when the story veers into the grotesque. That contrast makes the horror hit harder. Every panel feels intentional, every expression loaded with meaning.
This graphic novel is weird and raw, and it is absolutely deserving of your attention! Check it out!
Pig Wife is the horror graphic novel that readers won't see coming. Abbey Luck’s debut graphic novel is a visceral plunge into psychological horror that left me disturbed in the best way. From the first page, we learn about a teen girl trapped in a decaying mining town with a family that barely functions. When she ends up sealed inside an underground bunker, the story takes a terrifying turn that I did not expect. And I couldn’t look away.
Ruka Bravo’s illustrations are stunning. They carry warmth and humanity even when the story veers into the grotesque. That contrast makes the horror hit harder. Every panel feels intentional, every expression loaded with meaning.
This graphic novel is weird and raw, and it is absolutely deserving of your attention! Check it out!
September 11, 2025
first things first: the art style is deeply unsettling — i just couldn’t get over how creepy it felt. but the story itself? oh wow. after about 100 pages i was completely hooked. i had to stay up late to finish because i needed to know what would happen next. there were moments so tense i literally had to brace myself before turning the page. what a roller coaster of emotions this turned out to be. highly recommend if you’re looking for a horror comic that’s not only chilling and unnerving, but also a strangely beautiful coming-of-age story at the same time — with gorgeously eerie artwork to match
November 2, 2025
Thanks NetGalley for the eARC!
Pig Wife is a weird, unsettling, and surprisingly emotional graphic novel that feels like a fever dream from start to finish.
The story is strange as hell, sometimes confusing and sometimes brilliant, but always compelling enough to keep you turning the pages. The pacing can be uneven and the ending a bit rushed, yet the mix of horror, dark humor, and psychological tension really works.
The art perfectly matches the chaos of the story, making everything feel even more off-balance and eerie. It is bizarre, creepy, and unlike anything else I have read.
Pig Wife is a weird, unsettling, and surprisingly emotional graphic novel that feels like a fever dream from start to finish.
The story is strange as hell, sometimes confusing and sometimes brilliant, but always compelling enough to keep you turning the pages. The pacing can be uneven and the ending a bit rushed, yet the mix of horror, dark humor, and psychological tension really works.
The art perfectly matches the chaos of the story, making everything feel even more off-balance and eerie. It is bizarre, creepy, and unlike anything else I have read.
February 26, 2026
I legitimately think this is the most fucked up book I have ever read. My flabbers were ghasted the entire time, and I think I sat with my mouth open the whole time. Absolutely insane story, but I enjoyed it and I enjoyed the art. So weird and genuinely crazy. I don't know if there is anyone I know that I would recommend this to, except for maybe some diehard lovers of graphic novels. I'm still shocked.
October 4, 2025
I mean… wow. I’d give this 4.5 stars.
It’s a horror graphic novel, but the story line has great twists and turns. All the characters have some form of character development (for better or worse) and the author manages to keep the tension slowly building right up until the end.
And the pig in the cave… I’ll say no more.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, this is an honest review.
It’s a horror graphic novel, but the story line has great twists and turns. All the characters have some form of character development (for better or worse) and the author manages to keep the tension slowly building right up until the end.
And the pig in the cave… I’ll say no more.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, this is an honest review.
September 9, 2025
I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC.
I have some mixed feelings about this one as there are many pros and cons that leave the story as an average yet enjoyable read.
Some of the pros of this story are the spreads and when the author uses less traditional story telling to explain character histories or explore emotional states. This is the benefit of graphic novels as a medium and is extremely enjoyable to see the color, design, and fluidity of panels and pages. It's a bit of a shame that it took a while to delve into this style.
The clear time jumping (to explore other parts of character history) was beneficial for our understanding of the characters and lore, and worked well because the pages were marked effectively.
One con includes the tone of the story. I could see what the author was going for with the police personality, but the humor wasn't landing with me. A lot of the way the comic and storyline was written was in a way that could be much easier to understand in a TV show or movie format, which makes sense based on the author's background. There was a lot of telling not showing during some dialogue heavy portions, and I really appreciated the times where the angles were played with or we could enjoy the character framing.
I have some mixed feelings about this one as there are many pros and cons that leave the story as an average yet enjoyable read.
Some of the pros of this story are the spreads and when the author uses less traditional story telling to explain character histories or explore emotional states. This is the benefit of graphic novels as a medium and is extremely enjoyable to see the color, design, and fluidity of panels and pages. It's a bit of a shame that it took a while to delve into this style.
The clear time jumping (to explore other parts of character history) was beneficial for our understanding of the characters and lore, and worked well because the pages were marked effectively.
One con includes the tone of the story. I could see what the author was going for with the police personality, but the humor wasn't landing with me. A lot of the way the comic and storyline was written was in a way that could be much easier to understand in a TV show or movie format, which makes sense based on the author's background. There was a lot of telling not showing during some dialogue heavy portions, and I really appreciated the times where the angles were played with or we could enjoy the character framing.
September 11, 2025
I hated this at first because the art style made me so uncomfortable and I felt it was trying too hard and while I still think it's a bit too long, the uncomfortableness never left but in an intentional way and it became a genuinely scary story with a really well done ending
October 20, 2025
Happy Spooktober!!
This was a surprisingly awesome horror graphic novel!
Uses horror elements such as monsters, kidnapping, and demonic voices to discuss real-life horrors of abandonment, isolation, and mental illness and what happens when those elements go unchecked for lengths of time and how they can create real-life monsters out of humans who feel isolated and forgotten. I didn't really know much about this going in when I requested in from Netgalley and boy I was surprised in how much I enjoyed this one. The art was minimalistic and reminded me of an adult swim cartoon which grew on me as I progressed in the novel.
I actually am contemplating on buying this one in hard copy when it is released next year because I want to go back and read it the traditional way. I don't think I realized it was a graphic novel when I requested it because I really dislike reading graphic novels in digital format. Just a preference thing on my part, but I think I missed something by not having a physical copy. Nevertheless, this was a great unexpectedly awesome Spooktober read and I look forward to it coming out in January!
4 stars.
I received an ARC of this graphic novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a surprisingly awesome horror graphic novel!
Uses horror elements such as monsters, kidnapping, and demonic voices to discuss real-life horrors of abandonment, isolation, and mental illness and what happens when those elements go unchecked for lengths of time and how they can create real-life monsters out of humans who feel isolated and forgotten. I didn't really know much about this going in when I requested in from Netgalley and boy I was surprised in how much I enjoyed this one. The art was minimalistic and reminded me of an adult swim cartoon which grew on me as I progressed in the novel.
I actually am contemplating on buying this one in hard copy when it is released next year because I want to go back and read it the traditional way. I don't think I realized it was a graphic novel when I requested it because I really dislike reading graphic novels in digital format. Just a preference thing on my part, but I think I missed something by not having a physical copy. Nevertheless, this was a great unexpectedly awesome Spooktober read and I look forward to it coming out in January!
4 stars.
I received an ARC of this graphic novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 31, 2025
Dark, but very interesting read.
October 12, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and IDW for the ARC!
This was a perfect graphic novel! I literally couldn't put it down but at the same time didn't want it to end.
Mary has to visit her dead Aunt Pearl's house with her Mom and Stepdad so they can settle her estate and hopefully find something that will be of financial benefit to them. When they get there, Mary ends up getting trapped in an underground bunker on the farm and soon learns she's not alone.
This graphic novel literally had it all. The characters were great, the pacing and plot kept me turning pages and the emotional backstory between Mary, her biological father grounded the whole thing.
I highly recommend this to just about anyone. If you're a horror fan, you'll love it. If you're not typically reaching for horror, this isn't so far out there that it'll turn you off. Such a fun read!
This was a perfect graphic novel! I literally couldn't put it down but at the same time didn't want it to end.
Mary has to visit her dead Aunt Pearl's house with her Mom and Stepdad so they can settle her estate and hopefully find something that will be of financial benefit to them. When they get there, Mary ends up getting trapped in an underground bunker on the farm and soon learns she's not alone.
This graphic novel literally had it all. The characters were great, the pacing and plot kept me turning pages and the emotional backstory between Mary, her biological father grounded the whole thing.
I highly recommend this to just about anyone. If you're a horror fan, you'll love it. If you're not typically reaching for horror, this isn't so far out there that it'll turn you off. Such a fun read!
November 19, 2025
Pig Wife by Abbey Luck is a strange but surprisingly affecting graphic novel. It is incredibly surreal with uncomfortably folklore horror energy but has real heart and emotional honesty. The writing and artwork is vivid and imaginative and it really pulls you into a bizarre world that also feels natural.
For me, the story balances its offbeat premise with genuine depth and there's humour, discomfort, but also a quiet poignancy woven throughout. This is definitely one that will linger because it’s so unique in tone and execution.
I found this to be a weird and thought-provoking tale that will appeal to those who enjoy stories that are offbeat and odd but still have character development and real heart.
Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing | Top Shelf Productions for a digital review copy of "Pig Wife" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
For me, the story balances its offbeat premise with genuine depth and there's humour, discomfort, but also a quiet poignancy woven throughout. This is definitely one that will linger because it’s so unique in tone and execution.
I found this to be a weird and thought-provoking tale that will appeal to those who enjoy stories that are offbeat and odd but still have character development and real heart.
Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing | Top Shelf Productions for a digital review copy of "Pig Wife" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
March 15, 2026
Ok, wow. This was way darker than I expected. Mary is dragged to a farm by her mother and stepdad after his aunt Pearl dies and he has to find her will. Mary, a sullen teenager, is annoyed to be along for the ride and runs away after a fight with her stepdad. She finds a trap door on the property, crawls inside, gets trapped and the story gets wilder and crazier from here. My favorite part of the artwork was the between stories dream sequences - they were beautifully illustrated and so creepy.
Thank you to the author, IDW Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!
Thank you to the author, IDW Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!
February 18, 2026
A teenage girl named Mary gets dragged to a dying mining town called Eden by her mom Vee and stepdad Roger. They're there because Roger's aunt Pearl has died, and they need to find her will and settle the estate. Pearl was apparently this total recluse (maybe schizophrenic?) definitely not someone the town had warm feelings for. She inherited half of the family mining company and immediately shut everything down - leaving most of the town unemployed. She spent her last years alone in this crumbling house, enforcing her privacy with a shotgun, until she dropped dead face first in a bucket of pig slop.
Mary is already on edge. Her family is a mess. Her mom left her bio dad Diego, Mary doesn't really talk to him anymore, and now she's stuck in nowhere with her mom and this stepdad she clearly resents. After a huge fight, she runs off and hides in what she thinks is just an abandoned pig pen. But there's a hidden entrance there leading down into the old mine shafts. She gets trapped underground, and that's when things go from bad to unimaginable.
Mary starts the book like a shaken soda can. She's angry, she's a teenager, she makes some choices that aren't exactly smart. But honestly, who among us didn't do dumb stuff at that age? Unfortunately, her dumb choice lands her in a nightmare.... Mary has to figure out how to survive and get out.
We are mainly following Mary's days trapped in the mine. But interspersed with that, we get flashbacks that show us Pearl's history and how anyone even ended up down in the mine. We also get these surreal, dreamlike full page sequences that are basically Mary's nightmares and psychological states made visual.
Generational trauma is a big theme. Damage gets passed down like an heirloom nobody asked for. Pearl's issues and her terrible choices
The mine is a literal prison but it's also a metaphor for what happens when people are cut off from the world and from any kind of healthy love. It's a way of making them not people anymore so that what happens to them doesn't have to feel real. That dehumanization is how abuse perpetuates itself.
The mine genuinely feels like a character. It's dark, suffocating, claustrophobic. You feel the weight of the earth. The book makes you understand how isolation can rewrite your brain, can make you accept things that are unacceptable because there's no outside perspective to tell you otherwise.
And there's something really interesting happening with animals too... The pigs are everywhere in this story. But at the end, It seems like a representation of breaking the cycle? I might be overthinking it. But, she widens the circle of who gets to be saved, which was sweet.
The art is genuinely like nothing I've seen before. It's certainly not pretty or conventional. It's raw and detailed and sometimes actively uncomfortable to look at. I saw online that the artist comes from an animation and visual storytelling background and you can feel that. The book thinks in images first. There are these full page spreads that are just these surreal fever dream sequences, visualizing Mary's mental state when words wouldn't work. There's a panel someone described where a witch's head rolls away and her tears grow into a tree that hunts the hunters who were pursuing her deer friend. That's the level of weird mythological visual storytelling we're talking about. It's wild and inventive and it makes the horror hit differently.
The tonal shifts did not always land right for me though... This is the thing I went back and forth on the most. The book has a dark sense of humor. Sometimes it works perfectly.... You laugh and then feel awful for laughing because the situation is still horrible. That's the sweet spot for this kind of horror. It's a tricky balance and most of the time the book nails it. But when it misses, you feel the wobble.
The backstory felt rushed in places. I wanted more of Pearl. Her flashbacks are crucial for understanding how this whole nightmare started, but they felt compressed. I would have happily read another hundred pages of her story. The book gives us enough to understand but I wanted more information about her later years. She was clearly deeply troubled but also capable of this immense cruelty and control. The book gestures at her complexity, but I think there was room for more.
I need to be honest about something that gave me pause - The book uses imagery that brushes up against horror conventions around disability and mental illness. The men underground are physically unsettling, coded in ways that horror has historically used to signal monstrosity. I don't think the book is being cruel, I think it's actually trying to critique that exact dynamic by showing how these men were made into what they are by abuse and isolation! But intention doesn't automatically solve impact. I think the book mostly lands on the right side of the line, but I also understand why someone might feel differently. It's worth naming because it's part of what makes the book thorny and worth discussing.
Something about this book... reminded me of The Goonies. That idea that characters with deformities or disabilities get read as monsters when the real monstrosity is how they've been treated and isolated.
The book blends trauma, absurdity, and body horror in ways that are deeply personal and not particularly concerned with being bookstore friendly. It's maximalist and high contrast and willing to get grotesque to make a psychological point. It's genuinely impressive, especially as a debut. The art is extraordinary, the thematic ambition is real, and it stuck with me in ways that more polished books often don't.
For me, the ambition and the execution mostly won the day. The book lands more often than it whiffs, and even its misfires feel like the cost of making something personal instead of something safe. It's nasty and heartfelt and claustrophobic and weird, and I enjoyed reading it.
Mary is already on edge. Her family is a mess. Her mom left her bio dad Diego, Mary doesn't really talk to him anymore, and now she's stuck in nowhere with her mom and this stepdad she clearly resents. After a huge fight, she runs off and hides in what she thinks is just an abandoned pig pen. But there's a hidden entrance there leading down into the old mine shafts. She gets trapped underground, and that's when things go from bad to unimaginable.
Mary starts the book like a shaken soda can. She's angry, she's a teenager, she makes some choices that aren't exactly smart. But honestly, who among us didn't do dumb stuff at that age? Unfortunately, her dumb choice lands her in a nightmare.... Mary has to figure out how to survive and get out.
We are mainly following Mary's days trapped in the mine. But interspersed with that, we get flashbacks that show us Pearl's history and how anyone even ended up down in the mine. We also get these surreal, dreamlike full page sequences that are basically Mary's nightmares and psychological states made visual.
Generational trauma is a big theme. Damage gets passed down like an heirloom nobody asked for. Pearl's issues and her terrible choices
The mine is a literal prison but it's also a metaphor for what happens when people are cut off from the world and from any kind of healthy love. It's a way of making them not people anymore so that what happens to them doesn't have to feel real. That dehumanization is how abuse perpetuates itself.
The mine genuinely feels like a character. It's dark, suffocating, claustrophobic. You feel the weight of the earth. The book makes you understand how isolation can rewrite your brain, can make you accept things that are unacceptable because there's no outside perspective to tell you otherwise.
And there's something really interesting happening with animals too... The pigs are everywhere in this story. But at the end, It seems like a representation of breaking the cycle? I might be overthinking it. But, she widens the circle of who gets to be saved, which was sweet.
The art is genuinely like nothing I've seen before. It's certainly not pretty or conventional. It's raw and detailed and sometimes actively uncomfortable to look at. I saw online that the artist comes from an animation and visual storytelling background and you can feel that. The book thinks in images first. There are these full page spreads that are just these surreal fever dream sequences, visualizing Mary's mental state when words wouldn't work. There's a panel someone described where a witch's head rolls away and her tears grow into a tree that hunts the hunters who were pursuing her deer friend. That's the level of weird mythological visual storytelling we're talking about. It's wild and inventive and it makes the horror hit differently.
The tonal shifts did not always land right for me though... This is the thing I went back and forth on the most. The book has a dark sense of humor. Sometimes it works perfectly.... You laugh and then feel awful for laughing because the situation is still horrible. That's the sweet spot for this kind of horror. It's a tricky balance and most of the time the book nails it. But when it misses, you feel the wobble.
The backstory felt rushed in places. I wanted more of Pearl. Her flashbacks are crucial for understanding how this whole nightmare started, but they felt compressed. I would have happily read another hundred pages of her story. The book gives us enough to understand but I wanted more information about her later years. She was clearly deeply troubled but also capable of this immense cruelty and control. The book gestures at her complexity, but I think there was room for more.
I need to be honest about something that gave me pause - The book uses imagery that brushes up against horror conventions around disability and mental illness. The men underground are physically unsettling, coded in ways that horror has historically used to signal monstrosity. I don't think the book is being cruel, I think it's actually trying to critique that exact dynamic by showing how these men were made into what they are by abuse and isolation! But intention doesn't automatically solve impact. I think the book mostly lands on the right side of the line, but I also understand why someone might feel differently. It's worth naming because it's part of what makes the book thorny and worth discussing.
Something about this book... reminded me of The Goonies. That idea that characters with deformities or disabilities get read as monsters when the real monstrosity is how they've been treated and isolated.
The book blends trauma, absurdity, and body horror in ways that are deeply personal and not particularly concerned with being bookstore friendly. It's maximalist and high contrast and willing to get grotesque to make a psychological point. It's genuinely impressive, especially as a debut. The art is extraordinary, the thematic ambition is real, and it stuck with me in ways that more polished books often don't.
For me, the ambition and the execution mostly won the day. The book lands more often than it whiffs, and even its misfires feel like the cost of making something personal instead of something safe. It's nasty and heartfelt and claustrophobic and weird, and I enjoyed reading it.
February 2, 2026
The mix of twisted horror with Appalachia eeriness with mesmerizing art had me pretty locked in with this title. A bit out there at times but a nice change of pace from a lot of other graphic novels that I have been reading.
September 28, 2025
This had an unusual art style which added to how bleak it felt, it made me a bit uncomfortable! The overall story was tragic and it was at times quite graphic, which I personally liked.
Thank you NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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