The Low, Low Woods #2

The Low, Low Woods #2

by Carmen Maria Machado, Joe Hill, Sam Wolfe Connelly (Cover Art)

El and Octavia’s memories have gone missing. Like so many women in Shudder-To-Think, PA, before them, all they have is a void where the truth once was. But as time passes, El finds herself needing to know more about what has happened, while Octavia wants nothing more than to forget the forgetting. Can these two teenage dirtbags reconcile their differences before the horrible things lurking beneath their town emerge and swallow them whole?

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, LGBT

27 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 15, 2020

About the author

Carmen Maria Machado's debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize, LA Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize, and the Crawford Award. In 2018, the New York Times listed Her Body and Other Parties as a member of "The New Vanguard," one of "15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century."

Her essays, fiction, and criticism have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Granta, Tin House, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, The Believer, Guernica, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Michener-Copernicus Foundation, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the CINTAS Foundation, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Millay Colony for the Arts. She is the Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Philadelphia with her wife.

Reviews

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In part two of The Low, Low Woods we get more character development. We see how El and Octavia became friends. Their quest to find out the truth behind the missing time continues. The artwork is really growing on me. Loved the two duck dinner story and what's up with the magic mushrooms? I'm fully invested to find out more.

4 stars

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm having a lot of fun with this series so far and not just because I've made it my mission to read everything that Carmen Maria Machado has written. This feels like the prototype for a "Pennsylvania gothic" style of writing. Shudder-to-Think, PA may not be real but it's certainly based on a real coal town that's really been on fire for decades. Even the name isn't too out of place in the strange rural town names you get as you move away from the urban centers of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia (Asylum, Bath Addition, Bird-in-Hand, Free Love County, Mars, and Intercourse are all real town names in PA). Carbon County is a fascinating and almost eerie world in the northeast of the state and Machado's writing around a forgotten town built on a bygone industry, trapping modern young adults in dead-end worlds with a massive dash of paranormal. Give me more.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still intrigued but still unsure about the art. I just wish each issue had a little more story. I will definitely keep reading though. I think I'm sold on the Hill House imprint!

[Eric Novello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito bom esse.
Você está distraído com o aspecto "sobrenatural" e de repente vem uma porrada digna dos livros da Carmen Maria Machado. Ainda acho a escolha da arte bem "who did this?", mas ao mesmo tempo ajuda a manter o foco na trama.

[Wesley Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this issue a 3.5 if I could.

In issue #2, we see the origin story of El and Vee’s friendship, which was a nice contrast to the fight they have at the end of the issue. We understand that Josh knows something more about what happened at the movie theatre, and we get a little peek into what life for teenagers is like in Shudder-to-Think. While this series isn’t my favourite, I found the background information that this issue provided made me more invested in El and Vee’s lives. I am more interested in what could happen to them regarding the mystery behind Shudder-to-Think. I think the artwork captured me a little more this time around and helps to set the atmosphere of the town.

[Miguel Lupián · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿Ya les dije que odio comprar cómics sueltos? La horrible publicidad, la ansiedad de esperar hasta el siguiente número... Sin embargo, el #1 me gustó tanto que corrí a comprar el #2 apenas salió. Se mantiene el ambiente misterioso y se nos revela algo del pasado de nuestras protagonistas. A diferencia del primero, aquí el final no es tan sorprendente, dejándome la duda si conseguir el siguiente dentro de un mes o esperarme hasta que salga el TP.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again not the most amazing issue. Im not a fan of the artist. We get a little more backstory of the girls bit other wise its more gothic noir than straight up horror

[Kay ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need more! I want more! Loved that we get to dive into El & Octavia and learn more about them. Carmen Maria Machado is a damn good author and I cant wait to read what else she has written!

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

yo okay something in this gave me straight up chills

[Alexa Moon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second weakest comic in the Hill House series in my opinion.

The last issue ended on a huge cliffhanger and we know NOTHING about it. This entire issue was mostly the relationship between the two girls and some kind of preparation for weird things to come. It had a lot of teenage angst and some of the frames were so poorly drawn I did not get the vibe of it at all. A hard theme is introduced that is very important to one girl and dismissed by the other, which is not common for girls to do. Girls should support each other no matter how scary reality is.

I hope this develop into something devilish and more frightening, or else I will be bitterly disappointed.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the look but so far but the story is lacking. The first issue ended on a huge cliffhanger and there's a time jump and we've learned nothing about that cliffhanger. My guess is they're trying to be "clever" and have our lack of knowledge mimic the lack of knowledge the characters have, but instead it comes across as really annoying.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought it was kinda funny that Sea Dogs is referred to as a movie within this universe. To be honest, I skim over the Sea Dogs excerpts at the end of all of these Hill House comics, because I don't find them that interesting.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heaven On Earth

[Jennifer Bernardini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still not thrilled with the story line. Seems to be something supernatural but is entwined in so much teen angst.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a much-needed character development issue. El and Octavias have a complicated friendship, and Machado explores it wonderfully.

[Areadingsunflower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn getting emotional... so far Eldora (El) is my favorite!