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The Dollhouse Family #1-6
The Dollhouse Family
On Alice's sixth birthday, her dying great-aunt sent her the birthday gift she never knew she always wanted: a big, beautiful 19th-century dollhouse, complete with a family of antique dolls. In no time at all, the dollhouse isn't just Alice's favorite toy...it's her whole world. And soon, young Alice learns she can enter the house to visit a new group of friends, straight out of a heartwarming children's novel: the Dollhouse family.
But while the Dollhouse family welcomes her with open arms, in the real world, her family life is becoming much more complicated...and deep within the Dollhouse's twisting halls, the Black Room waits, with an offer to Alice. The house can fix all this, the Black Room says. All she has to do is say the words...
From there unfolds a twisty, surreal, multigenerational horror tale that echoes into centuries past, into Alice's tormented future, and into the beating heart of the madness that makes up our world...literally.
Collects The Dollhouse Family #1-6.
But while the Dollhouse family welcomes her with open arms, in the real world, her family life is becoming much more complicated...and deep within the Dollhouse's twisting halls, the Black Room waits, with an offer to Alice. The house can fix all this, the Black Room says. All she has to do is say the words...
From there unfolds a twisty, surreal, multigenerational horror tale that echoes into centuries past, into Alice's tormented future, and into the beating heart of the madness that makes up our world...literally.
Collects The Dollhouse Family #1-6.
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2020
47 people are currently reading
3497 people want to read
About the author
Mike Carey
1,261 books2,965 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.
Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.
Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.
Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.
Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 368 reviews
February 24, 2021
4.5 Stars ⭐️
The artwork in between, etc, was awesome!!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
The artwork in between, etc, was awesome!!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
September 24, 2020
Spooky dollhouse, gonna spook it up, spooking people over time because that’s what spooky dollhouses do! Boo! Spooky dollhouse!
Mike Carey and Peter Gross, the creative team behind Vertigo’s Unwritten series, reunite for another terrible collaboration in The Dollhouse Family. What’s that stench? Oh, it’s another Hill House Comic!
There’s really not much to this story though it sure takes its time plodding through its numerous pointless scenes. The book’s filled with either nasty one-dimensional or just plain boring characters. Our protagonist is Alice, a woman who has been haunted by the dollhouse since she was a girl because of a family curse or something silly. And the dollhouse itself has been gobbling up people to become dolls in its house because… spooky dollhouse gonna spooky dollhouse?
Peter Gross’s artwork is better than it was in Mark Millar’s second American Jesus book (you don’t get much more thrown-together books than Millar’s offerings these days) but it’s still no great shakes.
Carey couldn’t write a semi-interesting comic to save his life from a spooky dollhouse and I was always bored by this slow-moving, tedious comic. Basically avoid any book with the Hill House logo on the cover.
Mike Carey and Peter Gross, the creative team behind Vertigo’s Unwritten series, reunite for another terrible collaboration in The Dollhouse Family. What’s that stench? Oh, it’s another Hill House Comic!
There’s really not much to this story though it sure takes its time plodding through its numerous pointless scenes. The book’s filled with either nasty one-dimensional or just plain boring characters. Our protagonist is Alice, a woman who has been haunted by the dollhouse since she was a girl because of a family curse or something silly. And the dollhouse itself has been gobbling up people to become dolls in its house because… spooky dollhouse gonna spooky dollhouse?
Peter Gross’s artwork is better than it was in Mark Millar’s second American Jesus book (you don’t get much more thrown-together books than Millar’s offerings these days) but it’s still no great shakes.
Carey couldn’t write a semi-interesting comic to save his life from a spooky dollhouse and I was always bored by this slow-moving, tedious comic. Basically avoid any book with the Hill House logo on the cover.
December 10, 2024
Spooky story about a possessed dollhouse.
Think you've got generational trauma?
Well, it's nothing compared to the family who has to deal with the whateveritis that lives inside this damn dollhouse.
Our story starts in 1981 and follows a mother and daughter who both have the ability to communicate with the family inside of the dollhouse. The dollhouse that appears out of nowhere, btw.
It initially talked the mother into doing something pretty awful when she was a child and is back trying to worm its way into her daughter's head.
The story also flashes back in time and tells the story of the dolls who live there, and eventually, you find out how the house was created.
There is a beginning, a middle, and a very good ending.<-- or so I thought.
And you don't always get that in horror stories, especially in graphic novels. It seems as though sometimes authors have a cool idea but they really don't know how to see it through.
Not so with this one. It made sense and I liked that about it.
Kinda stumbled on this on DC Infinite without hearing anything prior, so I went into it thinking it was probably trash. But if you're looking for a good story, I think you could do a lot worse.
Recommended.
Think you've got generational trauma?
Well, it's nothing compared to the family who has to deal with the whateveritis that lives inside this damn dollhouse.
Our story starts in 1981 and follows a mother and daughter who both have the ability to communicate with the family inside of the dollhouse. The dollhouse that appears out of nowhere, btw.
It initially talked the mother into doing something pretty awful when she was a child and is back trying to worm its way into her daughter's head.
The story also flashes back in time and tells the story of the dolls who live there, and eventually, you find out how the house was created.
There is a beginning, a middle, and a very good ending.<-- or so I thought.
And you don't always get that in horror stories, especially in graphic novels. It seems as though sometimes authors have a cool idea but they really don't know how to see it through.
Not so with this one. It made sense and I liked that about it.
Kinda stumbled on this on DC Infinite without hearing anything prior, so I went into it thinking it was probably trash. But if you're looking for a good story, I think you could do a lot worse.
Recommended.
March 15, 2021
I graciously received a copy of this book for free from Netgalley.
This was a really good follow up, albeit unrelated story--think American Horror Story, different every season--but it lacked a little something compared to the first. I found it a little confusing in parts, but I admit that by the second half I was hooked. The plot started off really strong, but then the pacing suffered a little due to puzzling flashbacks and world building. I think I would've preferred it to start with the past. It still could've gone back and forth, but I think starting with the flashback would've helped to keep a more steady momentum. As far as the art itself goes, it was absolutely amazing. Gorgeously drawn and colored, it was simply flawless. I highly recommend this to my fellow horror lovers, and I eagerly await the next installment from Hill House Comics.
This was a really good follow up, albeit unrelated story--think American Horror Story, different every season--but it lacked a little something compared to the first. I found it a little confusing in parts, but I admit that by the second half I was hooked. The plot started off really strong, but then the pacing suffered a little due to puzzling flashbacks and world building. I think I would've preferred it to start with the past. It still could've gone back and forth, but I think starting with the flashback would've helped to keep a more steady momentum. As far as the art itself goes, it was absolutely amazing. Gorgeously drawn and colored, it was simply flawless. I highly recommend this to my fellow horror lovers, and I eagerly await the next installment from Hill House Comics.
August 24, 2020
Oh, man... I was loving this book; absolutely loving it... it was genuinely scary, with a suspenseful plot and a broad scope, engaging characters and a perfect creepy, slow build... and then, at the very last moment, they screwed the dismount with a bullshit ‘timey-wimey’ cop-out ending! Until I read those last few pages I was totally giving this 5 stars. Oh, well... it was still a really good book.
August 8, 2020
I found this plodded along unlike other Carey and Gross collaborations. This is the story of a girl visited by a dollhouse filled with a family she can shrink down and visit. But there is something more menacing about the dollhouse as it continually tempts Alice. The storytelling moving through multiple times didn't really come together for me until the very end. Vince Locke's inks give Peter Gross's usually restrained and simple pencils a rugged, old-timey, vaguely oatmealy look. This was the rare miss for me in the Hill House line.
October 12, 2020
Out of all of the Hill House comics this was my favorite. Though honestly that's not saying much as the quality and my enjoyment of all of these series quickly declined after the first few issues. 😕
Joe Hill described this as "The Indian in the Cupboard, if the enchanted cupboard was secretly a door to hell." And I have to say that's pretty accurate, at a basic level.
I'm pulling this from my review of issue #1: I kind of want to mention a trigger warning, even though this is horror so it's kind of expected it's not going to be all rainbows and sunshine, the amount of domestic violence in this might catch some people by surprise since it's not mentioned in the summary at all. It's pretty awful and heartbreaking, of course, but even more so because this is what's used to
There is quite a bit of graphic violence in this so I would suggest that this is not for the faint of heart. None of it bothered me personally or affected my ratings but I figured I'd mention it anyway. I think the domestic violence stood out to me more because I expect demons and monsters to kill and maim in a horror story so that would seem normal and expected, but obviously not something that could happen in real life like a husband beating up a wife could.
Side note: one thing that really bothered me is just how awesome the cover art is for all of the issues but the inside art is nowhere near that style at all.
Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6
Total review score: 2.92
Joe Hill described this as "The Indian in the Cupboard, if the enchanted cupboard was secretly a door to hell." And I have to say that's pretty accurate, at a basic level.
I'm pulling this from my review of issue #1: I kind of want to mention a trigger warning, even though this is horror so it's kind of expected it's not going to be all rainbows and sunshine, the amount of domestic violence in this might catch some people by surprise since it's not mentioned in the summary at all. It's pretty awful and heartbreaking, of course, but even more so because this is what's used to
There is quite a bit of graphic violence in this so I would suggest that this is not for the faint of heart. None of it bothered me personally or affected my ratings but I figured I'd mention it anyway. I think the domestic violence stood out to me more because I expect demons and monsters to kill and maim in a horror story so that would seem normal and expected, but obviously not something that could happen in real life like a husband beating up a wife could.
Side note: one thing that really bothered me is just how awesome the cover art is for all of the issues but the inside art is nowhere near that style at all.
Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6
Total review score: 2.92
June 9, 2022
On Alice’s sixth birthday, her dying great-aunt sends her the birthday gift she never knew she always wanted: a beautiful 19th-century dollhouse, complete with a family of antique dolls. In no time at all, the dollhouse isn’t just Alice’s favorite toy...it’s her whole world. And soon, young Alice learns she can enter the house to visit a new group of friends called the Dollhouse family. But while the Dollhouse family welcomes her with open arms, in the real world, her family life is becoming much more complicated...and deep within the Dollhouse’s twisting halls, the black room waits, with an offer to Alice. The house can fix all this, the black room says. All she has to do is say the words...
This was fucking incredible. One of my favorite additions to the ever-growing “Generational Horror” subgenre, that I started to become fascinated with after watching Hereditary. This might be an even more satisfying experience than that movie was, with Mike Carey and Peter Gross delivering what may be the strongest of the Hill House books so far. The characters and their drama were engrossing, as I found myself rooting for Alice more than I had any other Hill House characters before her. The rest of Carey’s script is eerie and strong, while Gross’ art compliments it perfectly. Easy recommend for any horror fans, as this is by far the scariest and strongest Hill House title.
This was fucking incredible. One of my favorite additions to the ever-growing “Generational Horror” subgenre, that I started to become fascinated with after watching Hereditary. This might be an even more satisfying experience than that movie was, with Mike Carey and Peter Gross delivering what may be the strongest of the Hill House books so far. The characters and their drama were engrossing, as I found myself rooting for Alice more than I had any other Hill House characters before her. The rest of Carey’s script is eerie and strong, while Gross’ art compliments it perfectly. Easy recommend for any horror fans, as this is by far the scariest and strongest Hill House title.
April 24, 2021
Una historia espectacular y muy terrorífica. No me la esperaba así de macabra. Llena de escenas sangrientas. Muy recomendada.
.
A spectacular and very terrifying story. I didn't expect it to be this macabre. Full of bloody scenes. Highly recommended.
.
A spectacular and very terrifying story. I didn't expect it to be this macabre. Full of bloody scenes. Highly recommended.
June 10, 2022
An unexpectedly fantastic and well-woven story. It had an extremely strong plot and great character development despite the time jumps. It really benefitted from the classic horror film feel it had to it and it worked so well!
The ending was a bit too much of a "happily ever after" kind, but considering how much the characters suffered, I was actually rooting for them to come out of it happy.
The ending was a bit too much of a "happily ever after" kind, but considering how much the characters suffered, I was actually rooting for them to come out of it happy.
June 21, 2025
One by one, go down, be weighed. Be weightless. Come up. Only one.
Wow.
I decided to read this volume of Joe Hill's HILL HOUSE COMICS line first, because I'm not at all a fan of Mike Carey's work, at least what I've read of it. I probably should have skipped this collection entirely, but the collector's mania takes over, and I've just gotta have EVERY volume. Joe Hill has never let me down, so I figured he had earned the right to ask me to take a chance of Mike Carey one more time.
I'm glad that I did. My reading time is limited, and comes in fits and starts which find me reading while cooking, in between chores, on my lunch break, while the kids are getting ready for bed , etc. I'm used to having to put a book down after only reading a few pages, and I'm usually OK with that. The two nights where I had to put THE DOLLHOUSE FAMILY down to cook dinner almost killed me. To the point where I pondered calling my wife and telling her that she had to pick up McDonald's because I just couldn't take the time to cook. This is good stuff.
I went into this book completely cold, and that was probably the best way to read it, so I won't say much. Carey brilliantly weaves different time periods, folk-Horror, Cosmic Horror, and family drama into an absolutely perfect stew of creepiness and tension. (This was on track to get a PERFECT SCORE, until the very last page, which seemed almost like a Super-Hero origin sequence. It made sense, but didn't fit the haunted house vibe of the rest of the book.) That said, my Hill House Comics experience is off to a roaring start. Bring on the next collection!
Wow.
I decided to read this volume of Joe Hill's HILL HOUSE COMICS line first, because I'm not at all a fan of Mike Carey's work, at least what I've read of it. I probably should have skipped this collection entirely, but the collector's mania takes over, and I've just gotta have EVERY volume. Joe Hill has never let me down, so I figured he had earned the right to ask me to take a chance of Mike Carey one more time.
I'm glad that I did. My reading time is limited, and comes in fits and starts which find me reading while cooking, in between chores, on my lunch break, while the kids are getting ready for bed , etc. I'm used to having to put a book down after only reading a few pages, and I'm usually OK with that. The two nights where I had to put THE DOLLHOUSE FAMILY down to cook dinner almost killed me. To the point where I pondered calling my wife and telling her that she had to pick up McDonald's because I just couldn't take the time to cook. This is good stuff.
I went into this book completely cold, and that was probably the best way to read it, so I won't say much. Carey brilliantly weaves different time periods, folk-Horror, Cosmic Horror, and family drama into an absolutely perfect stew of creepiness and tension. (This was on track to get a PERFECT SCORE, until the very last page, which seemed almost like a Super-Hero origin sequence. It made sense, but didn't fit the haunted house vibe of the rest of the book.) That said, my Hill House Comics experience is off to a roaring start. Bring on the next collection!
November 8, 2020
Oh holy shit... I wasn’t expecting something this good.
What’s it about?
So this girl gets an old dollhouse. She unfortunately has a mother and father who constantly fight, the father is even abusive. Eventually the girl discovers she can use a spell to shrink herself into the dollhouse and her dolls are actually real people... unfortunately all is more sinister than it seems and things get darker and weirder as her life and the story go on!
Why it gets 5-stars:
The story is very good. It is dark and strange. There’s more to this story than I expected. I also like how there’s elements that could be confusing at first but then they all connect together so well in a great mix of horror and drama.
The art is pretty interesting. Admittedly it’s not my favorite style and it has a few iffy pages BUT it mostly works for the tone of the story, looked pretty good once I got used to it and it even has a few cool pages.
The characters are pretty interesting throughout.
This comic is very intense with it’s well-done pace (not particularly fast but not very slow either). It’s set at a pace that works best for the story.
This book is super suspenseful! Expect several twists that keep readers on the edge of their seats! It was nearly impossible to put it down after one issue due to the suspense and twists.
The horror elements are really good. It is creepy as hell. There’s very few scenes that don’t have at least one creepy, well executed moment!
The ending is very well done. I can’t say much without spoilers but it wraps up a big story in a short time without feeling too rushed and it uses familiar elements in a way that works better than I would say they do in some other stories when those same elements.
Overall:
After finding Basketful of Heads only okay and HATING The Low, Low Woods I didn’t expect much from this, nevermind loving it... but holy shit, I did.
The story is very good, the art suits it, the pacing is perfect, the horror elements are super creepy and the ending is done so well. This comic is basically what I want from a horror story wrapped up in a nice little package.
Fans of the horror genre should definitely visit this creepy little dollhouse!
5/5
What’s it about?
So this girl gets an old dollhouse. She unfortunately has a mother and father who constantly fight, the father is even abusive. Eventually the girl discovers she can use a spell to shrink herself into the dollhouse and her dolls are actually real people... unfortunately all is more sinister than it seems and things get darker and weirder as her life and the story go on!
Why it gets 5-stars:
The story is very good. It is dark and strange. There’s more to this story than I expected. I also like how there’s elements that could be confusing at first but then they all connect together so well in a great mix of horror and drama.
The art is pretty interesting. Admittedly it’s not my favorite style and it has a few iffy pages BUT it mostly works for the tone of the story, looked pretty good once I got used to it and it even has a few cool pages.
The characters are pretty interesting throughout.
This comic is very intense with it’s well-done pace (not particularly fast but not very slow either). It’s set at a pace that works best for the story.
This book is super suspenseful! Expect several twists that keep readers on the edge of their seats! It was nearly impossible to put it down after one issue due to the suspense and twists.
The horror elements are really good. It is creepy as hell. There’s very few scenes that don’t have at least one creepy, well executed moment!
The ending is very well done. I can’t say much without spoilers but it wraps up a big story in a short time without feeling too rushed and it uses familiar elements in a way that works better than I would say they do in some other stories when those same elements.
Overall:
After finding Basketful of Heads only okay and HATING The Low, Low Woods I didn’t expect much from this, nevermind loving it... but holy shit, I did.
The story is very good, the art suits it, the pacing is perfect, the horror elements are super creepy and the ending is done so well. This comic is basically what I want from a horror story wrapped up in a nice little package.
Fans of the horror genre should definitely visit this creepy little dollhouse!
5/5
October 23, 2020
A real creepy book about a girl going into a dollhouse but the background is obviously a lot darker.
After witnessing her father being abusive to her mother, Alice goes into a dollhouse given to her by her grandma. She meets the nice folks inside except for the "Black Evil Room" which basically is a demon fucking with her and wanting to make a deal/pact. Alice tells her to fuck off and then of course the demon is super pissed and spends the rest of the time messing with Alice through her kid/teen/adult years while you also get some background on the family line of Alice.
I really enjoyed Alice as a lead. Strong, dependable, and very much a interesting main lead. I loved pretty much that entire portion as well as the twisted fucked up ending. The backstory of the family line was interesting but I can't say I was much invested in any of them. The art was pretty solid and some panels were horrifying to view.
Overall really solid. Better than The Low Low, but not as good as Basket. A 4 out of 5.
After witnessing her father being abusive to her mother, Alice goes into a dollhouse given to her by her grandma. She meets the nice folks inside except for the "Black Evil Room" which basically is a demon fucking with her and wanting to make a deal/pact. Alice tells her to fuck off and then of course the demon is super pissed and spends the rest of the time messing with Alice through her kid/teen/adult years while you also get some background on the family line of Alice.
I really enjoyed Alice as a lead. Strong, dependable, and very much a interesting main lead. I loved pretty much that entire portion as well as the twisted fucked up ending. The backstory of the family line was interesting but I can't say I was much invested in any of them. The art was pretty solid and some panels were horrifying to view.
Overall really solid. Better than The Low Low, but not as good as Basket. A 4 out of 5.
November 22, 2020
A little slow to start, but by the time all the elements sprawled throughout history started to come together in the final chapters, I was hooked. But I'm not in love with the last two pages. And I think I would have enjoyed it more if Carey had hewed closer to his original pitch included in the end matter.
August 10, 2020
A demon takes up residence in a dollhouse; a place to hide, to thrive on the souls of those she beguiles. Each soul is another step to her freedom. Poor little Alice. She's next in line to inherit the dollhouse. From one generation to the next, the dollhouse consumes. Alice may not be the first, but she sure will make every attempt to be the last.
Thanks to NetGalley, DC Black Label, and Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Vince Locke, and Chris Peter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley, DC Black Label, and Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Vince Locke, and Chris Peter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 9, 2022
Que joya del horror cósmico. Me atrapó desde un principio y los brincos de tiempo ayudaron a conectar toda la trama. La forma en que renovó el autor el tema de las muñecas y el terror fue sublime.
January 21, 2021
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
There are objects in life that tend to naturally convey an eerie atmosphere without much effort. Their mere design makes them terrifying as you pray that they don’t do something impossible, whether it’s to move around on their own or to suddenly talk to you. As part of the Hill House Comics line-up, writer Joe Hill reaches out to another well-known horror writer who has a gift to build unique worlds that make you wish that anything he shares remains in the domain of fiction. Teamed up for an original vintage horror story is writer M.R. Carey (The Girl with All the Gifts, Lucifer), artist Peter Gross (The Books of Magic), and Vince Locke (A History of Violence), as they present to us the life of Alice and the Dollhouse family.
What is The Dollhouse Family about? At the age of six, Alice receives a mysterious and stunning 19th-century dollhouse containing a family of five little antique dolls. Absorbed by the joy it brings to her life, especially in the midst of her parent’s tendency to indulge in domestic violence, she quickly learns that her dollhouse comes with a bit of magic, magic that allows her to enter the dollhouse and discover a family unlike anything she ever knew before. However, deep in the dollhouse lies the Black Room and it has an offer that Alice could never refuse. It wouldn’t take much for her to have exactly what she wants if only she says the word. But will she accept the offer and allow the dollhouse to have what it wants or will she fight on to live the life she’s given?
You bet that I don’t want to be near these kinds of dollhouses in my life. Dolls tend to be creepy no matter what and, rest assured, I’ve seen some repulsive ones in my life. Writer Mike Carey builds his story around this one relic, an absolutely innocent dollhouse, that has an age-old history across multiple generations. The story shifts across two narratives, the first one following Alice throughout her life as the dollhouse continues to haunt and entice her into accepting its offers, and the second one following an 1826 Ordnance Survey mapping project of Ireland where a supernatural plot is at play amongst humans. While the story-telling is very heavy in world-building, successfully so, most of the reward of this tale comes in the form of intrigue where only those curious enough to stick around until the revelation at the heart of this horror story will truly find something worthwhile in this graphic novel. Many of the events that occur throughout this story do feel bland on the surface but the mythological overcoat laid upon the horror elements makes this story interesting enough to not suffer too much from the linear and dull narrative building it all up.
The artwork is on the rougher side of things as artist Peter Gross and Vince Locke work together towards building a cohesive style that matches the time periods explored in the story but to also allow readers to grasp a sense of claustrophobia in how the events unfold, especially through characters trapped in schemes that are beyond their control. The colours by Cris Peter convey a relatively numb tone that often alludes to sickness and torment. Together, the artistic team succeeds in maintaining an artistic vision that works for the story but doesn’t do much more than it could’ve to give it the edge it needed to stand out from the crowd. The horror elements are spectacular and creative by the end of the story but remain enclosed in the same tonality as the rest of the volume. If there is something to be said about the artwork, it is that it remained entertainingly mundane through and through.
The Dollhouse Family is a coherent yet insipid horror story centered around an ancient dollhouse and one girl who did everything she could to ignore it.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
January 31, 2021
I wasn't quite sure what to rate this. I'm going to go middle ground on it.
While an interesting concept, I thought the background story of the dollhouse was a confusing mess. Who was the rock-like creature in the cave that was always dormant? How exactly did creating a dollhouse out of bring this demon into existence? In my head, this book would have played out a lot different, perhaps not even going into the horror genre, but maybe dealing with some childhood trauma, which certainly could have been applied here. The beginning of the story was more compelling and I wish it would have expanded on this instead. .
The characters were sometimes very hard to tell who was who and even the older Alice and her child seemed to have personality traits that didn't fit with their earlier personality. I did like the chapter cover art. It was very creepy and shocking and part of me wished they had done this kind of artwork through the whole story.
This had promise but it seemed to get too wrapped up in itself trying to make it original.
While an interesting concept, I thought the background story of the dollhouse was a confusing mess. Who was the rock-like creature in the cave that was always dormant? How exactly did creating a dollhouse out of bring this demon into existence? In my head, this book would have played out a lot different, perhaps not even going into the horror genre, but maybe dealing with some childhood trauma, which certainly could have been applied here. The beginning of the story was more compelling and I wish it would have expanded on this instead. .
The characters were sometimes very hard to tell who was who and even the older Alice and her child seemed to have personality traits that didn't fit with their earlier personality. I did like the chapter cover art. It was very creepy and shocking and part of me wished they had done this kind of artwork through the whole story.
This had promise but it seemed to get too wrapped up in itself trying to make it original.
July 11, 2021
Me ha encantado esta obra. Nos cuenta la historia a dos tiempos. La de Alice, una niña que recibe como regalo una casa de muñecas perteneciente a uno de sus antepasados y que, de alguna manera, siempre ha estado vinculada al apellido familiar. Una casa de muñecas que tiene vida y cuyos habitantes acogen a Alice como a una más de la familia, instándola a abandonar su triste vida entre humanos para unirse ellos, donde siempre habrá juegos y sonrisas. Pero también secretos y una puerta negra que esconde algo terrorífico. Por otro lado, la historia nos traslada al siglo XIX, donde conoceremos los orígenes de la casa de muñecas, la relación con los antepasados de Alice y lo que se esconde tras la puerta negra.
Quizá no es el colmo de la originalidad, pero creo que es un cómic bastante redondo, con sus buenas dosis de intriga y muy bien estructurado que se disfruta enormemente. Además, el dibujo, y la manera en que los colores y los trazos cambian según la época que se narre, creando un ambiente oscuro y envolvente, encaja perfectamente con la historia.
Si os gustan las historias de terror psicológico esta es una opción más que perfecta.
Quizá no es el colmo de la originalidad, pero creo que es un cómic bastante redondo, con sus buenas dosis de intriga y muy bien estructurado que se disfruta enormemente. Además, el dibujo, y la manera en que los colores y los trazos cambian según la época que se narre, creando un ambiente oscuro y envolvente, encaja perfectamente con la historia.
Si os gustan las historias de terror psicológico esta es una opción más que perfecta.
June 1, 2021
If all horror stories were like this, the world would be a better place.
The art, the story, the plant-and-payoff, the characters, the DEPRESSION... all of it was soooooooooooo good. These are the horror stories i love and it's rare to find one that actually follows through. The only thing that would have made this better is if the explanation behind everything was dropped into the flashbacks - that would have made those scenes more engaging and would have absolved the exposition at the climax. There was one reveal that was really well set up and clever (the origins of the dollhouse) and if all the other mysteries (the Dollhouse family itself) was expositioned like that, this would have been perfect
The art, the story, the plant-and-payoff, the characters, the DEPRESSION... all of it was soooooooooooo good. These are the horror stories i love and it's rare to find one that actually follows through. The only thing that would have made this better is if the explanation behind everything was dropped into the flashbacks - that would have made those scenes more engaging and would have absolved the exposition at the climax. There was one reveal that was really well set up and clever (the origins of the dollhouse) and if all the other mysteries (the Dollhouse family itself) was expositioned like that, this would have been perfect
March 16, 2021
Though I enjoyed the story, I found the artwork to be derivative and disappointing. The book had the feeling of being slapped together in a hurry.
November 28, 2022
I loved Mike Carey's Lucifer, but had many reservations with the baroque elaborations in The Unwritten. I'm kind of on the fence about this. It's certainly quite entertaining, with Carey's trademark labyrinth of plot threads. But it does take awhile to get going, and the disparate threads are a bit confusing until they sink in. There are several different sets of characters over multiple timelines; sometimes I wondered if the detailed accounting of their backstories are all necessary. There's some nice cosmic and body horror.
The painted (?) covers are beautiful. Peter Gross' artwork is quite different though. His panel layouts seem pretty cluttered to me, and did not help the pacing.
I didn't like the cliched ending, which basically screams "look out for the sequel!" Was that in Carey's contract?
So maybe 2.5 stars, rounded down. I would have rounded up if not for the sequel mongering.
The painted (?) covers are beautiful. Peter Gross' artwork is quite different though. His panel layouts seem pretty cluttered to me, and did not help the pacing.
I didn't like the cliched ending, which basically screams "look out for the sequel!" Was that in Carey's contract?
So maybe 2.5 stars, rounded down. I would have rounded up if not for the sequel mongering.
May 23, 2020
Meh. M.R. Carey's work has been very hit-and-miss for me in the past, so I know to go into these sorts of things with cautious optimism, and sadly, this was a bit of a miss, too. The storyline is so incredibly jumpy and inconsistent — not to the point of being hard to follow, just to the point of being a bit irritating. I was only somewhat intrigued through most of it, but never fully drawn in, and by the end, it just felt like the beginning to a series I would never have any interest in continuing. (On top of that, I don't believe it actually will be a series, only that it feels so incomplete in the end that one would think it should be.)
Aside from all of that, I really strongly dislike the art style and thought the details in much of the finer points, such as expressions on faces, left a lot to be desired.
Content warnings for:
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!
Aside from all of that, I really strongly dislike the art style and thought the details in much of the finer points, such as expressions on faces, left a lot to be desired.
Content warnings for:
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!
May 30, 2020
This was really good, a generations-spanning story about the influence of an evil alien/demon creature on the extended family of the man who was unfortunate enough to encounter it/her in an Irish cave. I've been a fan of Carey and Peter Gross ever since their work together on Lucifer and The Unwritten and they don't disappoint here. This is another engrossing, slow-burning story of the supernatural that takes some time to get into, but which will reward the patient reader in spades. Gross' art is not quite as controlled here as elsewhere, but it is in fitting with the "EC horror" vibe that this new line of Hill House comics seems to want to invoke. Strong recommendation.
September 28, 2020
Sublimely creepy, as all things Dollhouse are.
November 3, 2024
This comic series is from a couple years ago and was a part of a set of stories that Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) put together. The story in Dollhouse is written by M. R. Carey who has become known for The Girl with all the Gifts and other horror novels. How can you go wrong with a cast of endorsements like this?
In my opinion you really can’t! This is a great little story that is encapsulated in only a few comics (and doesn’t carry forward as it has a distinct ending) which is refreshing in the world of constant sequels and continuations.
The strengths of Dollhouse are its artwork, dialogue, and great overall story. I LOVE the ending. I can’t tell you why (as spoilers) but I can say that it’s concise, clear, and clever!!
The downside is the story is a bit hard to follow at times as the timeline jumps around a lot. I found I reread a few sections a couple times just to make sure I know their relationship in regards to what I had already read. This didn’t decrease my personal pleasure in reading the series but I could see others disliking this. For me the timeline jumps made the story faster paced and the tidbits of info we are given kept me wanting more and more.
Overall this is a great little horror series. Easily read in one sitting (for most) and a nice reprieve from long, constantly on-going comic series.
In my opinion you really can’t! This is a great little story that is encapsulated in only a few comics (and doesn’t carry forward as it has a distinct ending) which is refreshing in the world of constant sequels and continuations.
The strengths of Dollhouse are its artwork, dialogue, and great overall story. I LOVE the ending. I can’t tell you why (as spoilers) but I can say that it’s concise, clear, and clever!!
The downside is the story is a bit hard to follow at times as the timeline jumps around a lot. I found I reread a few sections a couple times just to make sure I know their relationship in regards to what I had already read. This didn’t decrease my personal pleasure in reading the series but I could see others disliking this. For me the timeline jumps made the story faster paced and the tidbits of info we are given kept me wanting more and more.
Overall this is a great little horror series. Easily read in one sitting (for most) and a nice reprieve from long, constantly on-going comic series.
October 31, 2022
Maravilloso. Me ha encantado. Una historia tenebrosa, perfecta para HALLOWEEN. Los dibujos son impresionantes y la historia tiene la bastante profundidad como para llegar al lector y hacer que no olvide pronto esta historia. Además, tiene un toque súper original para tratarse de una casa de muñecas maldita 😈😈.
November 1, 2023
A dollhouse lures generations of people into its clutches, but why?
In 1979 Britain, Alice mysteriously receives an elaborate old-fashioned dollhouse from a great-aunt that she was unaware of. She loves to play with it and the dollhouse family to escape the abuse that her father is inflicting on her family. With a child’s innocence, she accepts it when the dolls talk to her and is thrilled to use the chant they teach her so she can become small and join them. There is an unusual balance in the house, the dolls seem content yet they are aware there is an evil entity in the house that soon draws Alice in and tries to make a Faustian bargain with her. This is where the plot goes sideways to me- a tragedy befalls Alice and she spends years in a foster home. But as Alice grows up and has a daughter herself, we get odd flashbacks to Ireland in the late 1800s and how a surveyor’s exploration of a cave and his meeting with a succubus lead to the dollhouse. We get the expected fight of good vs evil at the end, but only after the narratives of past and present are confusingly knit together.
The art was good, and I actually found the illustrations portraying the past to be evocatively authentic and more to my liking than the modern-day depictions. I enjoyed the chapter openings that showed creepy dolls that gave a hint of what was to come. Some of the lettering in my online copy was off, such as additional details to the side of the illustrations that were covered by the art or so faint as to be unreadable. I would hope in a print edition this would be corrected.
Despite the strong start with the Hill House label, this third graphic novel isn’t up to snuff. It felt like a mix of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline plus a weak Locke and Key, which Joe Hill wrote. In fact, Hill’s single-issue Small World was all about a dollhouse, so this felt like a convoluted British knockoff of it. But I still look forward to the last two titles in this label and am glad I was able to read an early copy through NetGalley. (Actual review 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2020/10/1...
In 1979 Britain, Alice mysteriously receives an elaborate old-fashioned dollhouse from a great-aunt that she was unaware of. She loves to play with it and the dollhouse family to escape the abuse that her father is inflicting on her family. With a child’s innocence, she accepts it when the dolls talk to her and is thrilled to use the chant they teach her so she can become small and join them. There is an unusual balance in the house, the dolls seem content yet they are aware there is an evil entity in the house that soon draws Alice in and tries to make a Faustian bargain with her. This is where the plot goes sideways to me- a tragedy befalls Alice and she spends years in a foster home. But as Alice grows up and has a daughter herself, we get odd flashbacks to Ireland in the late 1800s and how a surveyor’s exploration of a cave and his meeting with a succubus lead to the dollhouse. We get the expected fight of good vs evil at the end, but only after the narratives of past and present are confusingly knit together.
The art was good, and I actually found the illustrations portraying the past to be evocatively authentic and more to my liking than the modern-day depictions. I enjoyed the chapter openings that showed creepy dolls that gave a hint of what was to come. Some of the lettering in my online copy was off, such as additional details to the side of the illustrations that were covered by the art or so faint as to be unreadable. I would hope in a print edition this would be corrected.
Despite the strong start with the Hill House label, this third graphic novel isn’t up to snuff. It felt like a mix of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline plus a weak Locke and Key, which Joe Hill wrote. In fact, Hill’s single-issue Small World was all about a dollhouse, so this felt like a convoluted British knockoff of it. But I still look forward to the last two titles in this label and am glad I was able to read an early copy through NetGalley. (Actual review 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2020/10/1...
June 30, 2021
La familia de la casa de muñecas es otra publicación de Black Label bajo el sello Hill House Comic.
En La familia de la casa de muñecas encontramos muchos clichés del cómic de terror de casas encantadas.
Descubrimos la historia de Alice, una niña que en el día de su cumple recibe una casa de muñecas antigua, herencia de una familiar lejana de la que no sabían nada.
A medida que transcurre la acción, veremos que la casa no es un simple juguete, cosa obvia por otro lado encontrándonos con un cómic de terror, y Alice puede entrar en ella y convivir con los "muñecos" que la habitan. Como siempre, todo tiene su lado oscuro y la chica lo descubrirá pronto.
A la vez, en una trama secundaria que transcurre paralela, conoceremos el origen del mal que reina en la casa y de la relación que tiene con la familia de la niña.
El cómic tiene un inicio algo lento, que aumenta un poco a medida que avanzamos, pero no llega a ser un ritmo rápido y por eso a veces me ha resultado pesado.
Respecto a los personajes, no llegué a empatizar con ellos y a veces no entendí algunas de las acciones que tomaban, realmente ninguna de las dos tramas me llegó a enganchar del todo.
Pero, eso no significa que sea un mal cómic, es que simplemente esperaba otra cosa y más después de haber leído la primera publicación del sello. Estoy segura que much@s lectores podréis disfrutar de la historia y no acabaréis con la misma sensación que yo.
Respecto a la parte gráfica, no está mal, es correcta. Llena de detalles y con una buena ambientación, abundancia de colores tierra combinados con otros más oscuros, dando sensación de una cierta claustrofobia que no casa mal con el contexto. No es espectacular pero no está mal.
Después de lo anterior, solo puedo añadir que se trata de una historia que me ha parecido algo plana, correcta pero no espectacular y sinceramente esperaba algo más del conjunto. Quizá más originalidad, dibujos más espectaculares, acción, terror...
Podéis leer la reseña completa en mi blog: https://www.resibooks.com/2021/05/m-r...
En La familia de la casa de muñecas encontramos muchos clichés del cómic de terror de casas encantadas.
Descubrimos la historia de Alice, una niña que en el día de su cumple recibe una casa de muñecas antigua, herencia de una familiar lejana de la que no sabían nada.
A medida que transcurre la acción, veremos que la casa no es un simple juguete, cosa obvia por otro lado encontrándonos con un cómic de terror, y Alice puede entrar en ella y convivir con los "muñecos" que la habitan. Como siempre, todo tiene su lado oscuro y la chica lo descubrirá pronto.
A la vez, en una trama secundaria que transcurre paralela, conoceremos el origen del mal que reina en la casa y de la relación que tiene con la familia de la niña.
El cómic tiene un inicio algo lento, que aumenta un poco a medida que avanzamos, pero no llega a ser un ritmo rápido y por eso a veces me ha resultado pesado.
Respecto a los personajes, no llegué a empatizar con ellos y a veces no entendí algunas de las acciones que tomaban, realmente ninguna de las dos tramas me llegó a enganchar del todo.
Pero, eso no significa que sea un mal cómic, es que simplemente esperaba otra cosa y más después de haber leído la primera publicación del sello. Estoy segura que much@s lectores podréis disfrutar de la historia y no acabaréis con la misma sensación que yo.
Respecto a la parte gráfica, no está mal, es correcta. Llena de detalles y con una buena ambientación, abundancia de colores tierra combinados con otros más oscuros, dando sensación de una cierta claustrofobia que no casa mal con el contexto. No es espectacular pero no está mal.
Después de lo anterior, solo puedo añadir que se trata de una historia que me ha parecido algo plana, correcta pero no espectacular y sinceramente esperaba algo más del conjunto. Quizá más originalidad, dibujos más espectaculares, acción, terror...
Podéis leer la reseña completa en mi blog: https://www.resibooks.com/2021/05/m-r...
September 26, 2021
When her abusive father terrorizes her and her mother, Alice turns to her beloved antique dollhouse for comfort. She talks to her dolls to escape from the pain of her daily life, and her dolls gladly welcome her into their secret abode to talk and play with her. When things start to go horribly downhill in her life, she begins to realize that her dollhouse is not a place of wonder and magic, but a deceitful den of demons born from the sinister workings of something from the far past with a grudge against her family.
The only big complaint I have about The Dollhouse Family is that I wish it was longer. Most of the Hill House comic releases were kind of mediocre in my opinion, and I think this one is the best of the bunch next to Joe Hill's Locke & Key series. The horror and mystery elements are great and the plot is like a nice mix of Joe's Locke & Key and Stephen King's IT, fusing the elements of a family curse being passed down from generation to generation with the backdrop of a hidden battle being waged between two ancient cosmic entities controlling the events of the world from behind the scenes.
While the concepts and their execution are pretty solid, there's not enough time for the characters or their motivations to develop as much as they had potential to. The constant jumping around between multiple timelines in a short comic that's less than 200 pages makes it feel a bit rushed. If it were at least 3 volumes long, I think it could've been a masterpiece. Though I know it could've been much better if it was at least double the size it is, I still think the authors accomplished telling a good story with very little to work with.
***
If you're looking for some dark ambient music for reading horror, dark fantasy and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
The only big complaint I have about The Dollhouse Family is that I wish it was longer. Most of the Hill House comic releases were kind of mediocre in my opinion, and I think this one is the best of the bunch next to Joe Hill's Locke & Key series. The horror and mystery elements are great and the plot is like a nice mix of Joe's Locke & Key and Stephen King's IT, fusing the elements of a family curse being passed down from generation to generation with the backdrop of a hidden battle being waged between two ancient cosmic entities controlling the events of the world from behind the scenes.
While the concepts and their execution are pretty solid, there's not enough time for the characters or their motivations to develop as much as they had potential to. The constant jumping around between multiple timelines in a short comic that's less than 200 pages makes it feel a bit rushed. If it were at least 3 volumes long, I think it could've been a masterpiece. Though I know it could've been much better if it was at least double the size it is, I still think the authors accomplished telling a good story with very little to work with.
***
If you're looking for some dark ambient music for reading horror, dark fantasy and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
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