DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover

DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover #1-5

by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

The terrifying debut of the tie-in to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It begins here, with a story that’s bursting at the seams with clues about the Conjuring’s latest villainess...Meet Jessica. Jessica just returned to her freshman year of college after winter break, bringing with her the anxieties of last semester’s poor grades, the awkwardness of facing a boy she wishes she’d never slept with, and an undeniably unnerving feeling of being watched. She soon comes to realize that something evil made her its target, and it will not rest until it has her in its unholy grip. But why did this sinister presence set its sights on a seemingly normal college freshman? Read this nerve-racking tale, creepily crafted by Conjuring 2 and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It screenwriter David L. Johnson-McGoldrick and Rex Ogle with heart-stopping art from Garry Brown and chill-inducing covers by Bill Sienkiewicz, to find out! Featuring backup stories from the famed artifact room by some of comics best and creepiest creators! Collecting issues 1-5.

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Demons, Dc Comics, Fiction, Paranormal

136 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2022

Reviews

[Shannara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because I absolutely love the Conjuring universe and the Warrens. They’re all pretty scary and super interesting so I assumed this would be too… welp, you know what they say about people who assume things!!!…

So, Jessica’s story really falls flat with me. The art is especially cringeworthy. The plot is all over the place and just not very intriguing. I kept glancing down to see how far I had left to read. Which is not a good thing. The ending was okay, but didn’t bring this up very much. So Jessica’s portion of the book is 2 1/2 stars rounded down.

Then there are a few stories on the artifacts that the Warrens have collected over the years and that part is great!! Very succinct and creepy and I’m finding myself hoping for more of those stories in the future. I would even go through another story to get to the artifact tales. They were just very entertaining!! Five stars for that portion.

Since Jessica’s section takes up the majority of the book, I chose three stars for the book overall. I would be all into a whole graphic novel of the artifact tales!! I don’t recommend the first part since it wasn’t all that great, but the artifact stories were awesome and I highly recommend those!!

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love horror so I was definitely intrigued by this. I didn’t feel like it added a whole lot with the main story The Devil Made Me Do It. I was hoping for a little more depth or unique pieces to the story. Jessica is returning to college but finds herself haunted by a voice no one else can hear. She wants to go home, but her mother insists she stays in college, but the evil voice only gets louder and louder. I did like the follow up stories about various artifacts from the Warren’s collection. I thought overall those shorts were the best piece and would read more of those. I also liked the evil advertisements, but I thought there were so many they kind of turned into filler.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Don’t try to fight it, Jessica. A demon’s been promised a soul… and it can’t go back to hell without one."

Ed and Lorraine Warren have lived very weird and bizarre lives. Coming face to face with pure evil and sending it back to where it belongs. It’s honestly what nightmares are made of.

The Conjuring movies are some of my favorites. They get under your skin and make you feel uneasy. You get that feeling as if you’re being watched and then the hair stands up on the back of your neck. So I was excited to finally read this. Oh, I also loved to be scared.

I hate to say this but this was kind of a disappointment. Okay, scratch that. This was a disappointment. The stories were just plain boring and none of it was interesting. The art wasn’t even that great. Some of it was too dark and not eye-catching at all. I wanted evil! I wanted disturbing! I wanted blood and guts! *yawn*

The Conjuring: The Lover was quite the snooze-fest. The creepy, pulp looking ads were the best part about this graphic novel and you didn’t get to see those until the end. I’m sad that I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. Kind of glad that I didn’t waste money in this and I would stick with the movies in my opinion.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. My scores for the individual issues means I should round this up to a 3 but it's really not something I overall "liked." The main downside of not having half stars here, I suppose.

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5

Total review score: 2.55

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof, this did not work for me at all. It played so heavily on the "queer girl in the 80s hiding her queerness and being punished~ for it" trope, which felt gross and weird, and the art and storytelling weren't enjoyable, either. Plus, so much of it doesn't make any sense (like why on earth does [redacted] even HAVE a massive kitchen knife in their pocket?!). Nope, don't recommend anything about this.

✨ Representation: lesbian MC

✨ Content warnings for: gratuitous homophobia & homophobic slur usage, violence, gore, murder

———
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[bri 🧸 · Rating 5 out of 5]

the horror serve of the century !

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad. A prequel to the film THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT. College student struggling with her sexuality is possessed and it leads to bad things happening. I enjoyed the back up stories more than the main story, as the stories behind different items in the Warrens evil basement store room are told.

Overall a creepy horror comic, and I'd like to see DC do more comic of this type.

[E.R. Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Devil Made Me Do It is the weakest of the Conjuring movies, so I’m not surprised this wasn’t entirely captivating. Jessica’s story in these five comics is nothing you can’t infer by watching the movie. That said I liked the overall situation. But I found these comics thin in plot. Nothing new is added.

[danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

that was such a trip im obsessed

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Full of horror tropes and cliché. Incredibly repetitive. I’m disappointed in you DC.

[Michael Malloy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book a 2 based on the effort of writing something this bad. I love everything horror and this fell real short. The Conjuring movies are great. This book was more about agenda than horror in my opinion. A horror total miss.

[Parker J · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry but this was so bad

[Jenn Palomino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caught my interest but it wasn’t what I thought it would be. It’s just a prequel to the 3rd conjuring movie which was pretty so so itself.

[Sabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not read horror graphic novels but this was a good start!

[OmniBen · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review)
I bought this book heavily discounted (surprise surprise) and I still feel ripped off. The first Conjuring movie was a solid, if unspectacular attempt at a modern horror movie. Sadly, this is about as good as we get in this day and age. Though the few genuinely good moments were eventually sullied and overwhelmed when the script went all current tropey nonsense. The sequel forgot the few things the original did right and promptly doubled down on everything that was terrible about the first, and modern horror in general. And the third movie, to which this is apparently a prequel of sorts... well, lets just say I made it about ten minutes in before angrily throwing the remote at the tv (or getting up and angrily switching it off), and putting this awful franchise out to pasture. That was until, this book popped up on the cheap. Modern DC doing modern horror, what could possibly go wrong. I would say everything, but that would still somehow be an understatement.
This is one of the most terribly crafted, laughably written and poorly drawn comics I've had the severe misfortune of reading. The characters are somehow less than one dimensional. The dialogue is abysmal. The premise is so cliched as to be hilarious, not hilarious, and somehow hilarious again all at once. The 'horror' although I feel like using the word is an insult to the genre, is ripped straight from every E grade teen slasher/jump scare - straight to no name streaming service abortion that was ever shat into our current sad reality. In case you were wondering, I hated this, and hate myself a little more for having used a small portion of my life to read it.
I don't like to criticise artists, because regardless of how bad they are, they're still better than me, but this is some pretty amateur stuff. But the writing, heaven help me. I genuinely feel bad for the writer. Really. That a billion dollar company licensing a billion dollar franchise okayed this going to print... Wow, just wow.
I would however suggest, should you find yourself regularly requiring laxatives to keep things on the up and up, throw them out and simply take this book into the can with you. You'll be right as rain in no time, every time. Guaran-damn-teed.
There are five short stories at the end, some of which are by writers you've actually heard of, though each are as forgettable, featuring a similar level of artistry as the main title. I have it on good authority that this book is actually kept in the Warrens real life paranormal museum, under lock and key just like the Anabelle doll. For if its awfulness were ever to be free... God help us all. 1/5


OmniBen.

[Geoffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not a huge fan of The Conjuring universe. Although I do have fun with them, I do think that they’re filled with basic/clichéd horror tropes and cheap jump scares, and unfortunately, this graphic novel suffered from the same problems. There are five short stories depicted in this graphic novel, with the main one (The Lover) depicting a young college girl being tormented by visions. This story was by far the most interesting, although I did enjoy how tragic it was, it did feel basic and one-note, and the tie-in ending that connected it to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It felt very weak and tacked on. The remaining four stories were all very short, but I will say that The Sleeping Song, The Ferryman, and The Bloody Bride were the best ones. After watching Annabelle Comes Home (a movie that felt like it was created to pitch several potential Conjuring universe movies), I did feel like the only potentially interesting spin-off introduced was that of the Bride, a ghost that haunts a cursed wedding dress, and the short story depicting that dress here intrigued me the most and is one that I’d gladly see in theatres over some of the other spin-offs that were green-lit in this franchise. Overall, pretty weak stories filled with tired horror clichés, but with excellent artwork and atmosphere. I would recommend this for fans of The Conjuring universe movies, but not anyone else.

[Moriah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably some of my favorite art I have seen in a graphic novel in a very long time. The visual aspects of it all were perfect. So creepy, brutal and spooky! Also, they made the story between Jessica and Katie sapphic!!! A huge win for me, since I have thought they were ever since I saw The Devil Made Me Do it. So for them to actually go ahead and go there with that story meant a lot to me, and though it will never be a happy ending, I really could care less because my ability to pick up gay vibes is never wrong.

A really fun read, especially if you vibe really well with the Conjuring universe! There are some images in this graphic novel that will probably never leave my mind.

[Bengali Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am huge fan of the horror genre and have seen all the Warren movies. So, I was delighted to read this book.

It goes over some of the artifacts the Warrens collected over the years and it was really good. I love the random inserts of advertisements for dark magic and the occult.

I hope there is sequel to this. I would love to read more about the other artifacts and their backstory.

Thank you #NetGalley and DC comics for giving me the opportunity to read this.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories were good. I really enjoyed the ferryman one! I also had fun trying to find and decode the secrets, but I feel like I missed something somehow. Beside the obvious code on the first ad, I got "Listen the Train"

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The macabre mailer ads and the art were the only things that really worked in this book. Reading this in one sitting made the end of issue cliffhangers really obnoxious. I like that there’s a push for DC horror, I just hope for stuff that’s better than this.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll just start by saying the artwork was absolutely phenomenal! I loved to see all the different styles, and all were very creepy and just gorgeous to look at - so, kudos to all artists involved!

The stories were only okay, I guess? The main story is basically background to the last Conjuring movie and that was alright, but to explore what they explored it definitely needed to be longer!

The tales of different artefacts were cool! Although, I did not understand the final one at all - the chalice one in Germany? Don’t understand the storyline to that one in the slightest, but all the rest were a fun little read.

Overall, this comic collection was a SUPER fast and easy read and even though I’d only sum it up as being okay, fans of the Conjuring universe like myself will find it a good addition to their collection!

This also was the final book of my reading challenge this year! So, yay me!

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this. It did a good job of pulling me into the mild horror elements (I did have low expectations though, and it wasn’t really horrifying, but was fun).

The big sell is the extra context it gives to the Warren’s artifact room from the Conjuring. Getting any extra context about the reoccurring cursed objects is great.

Also the fake ads were very fun. I want them as posters.

However, the queer elements were not done well. Bit stereotypical. Use of slurs was not good. Not every queer story has to be about homophobia.

Overall, still a decent prequel to the Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

[Frankie Fraser · Rating 2 out of 5]

2

[Gem · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lover is about a college student named Jessica who just needs a freaking break. Between bad grades, poor social life, creeping anxiety and on top of it something is just wrong. She feels watched and it’s only a matter of time before the demonic entity tears her life apart.

Overall I liked this graphic novel. I like the well placed use of the dark space and the dynamic and urgency in shading in the tense scenes, that added to the eerie atmosphere of the story. The little fake demonic advertisements were cheeky and amusing to read through and did help break up the stories a bit.

Another aspect of The Lover that I appreciated is the imagery of the internal struggle of Jessica's repressed sexuality, and how it manifests itself into the terror that Jessica can’t seem to escape from.
For the most part, I also enjoyed the other bonus stories. Like the wedding dress one, it stuck with me the most.. Like I’m still thinking about and can imagine that creepy smile, even now. Now that was pretty creepy. I might say even a little bit more so than the titular story.

Now to the parts that I felt were a bit of a let down in The Lover.
As much as I liked the dark artwork and enjoyed reading this as a whole, as a big fan of the Conjuring series and world, I was a tad disappointed that the titular story wasn’t as creative as it’s original predecessors. I saw the whole story and ending coming pretty early on in the story. It definitely didn’t leave me guessing or on my toes all the way to the ending. And the fact that I enjoyed reading the bonus stories about the other artifacts of the Warren’s more, may go to show that the main story was maybe a bit lacking.

Overall The Lover was creepy, and I did enjoy reading it as a whole. It had all the ingredients for a decent horror graphic novel.
However, I feel like those ingredients could have been better used somehow, for such an expansive Conjuring universe that could have been drawn on. I would rate this as a solid 3 stars. It’s not terrible but it’s not stellar either. I really do think the bonus stories and amusing fake advertisements were fun and brought it up by half a point. I’m a rounder upper so it’s a 4 at this point, and I feel deservedly so.
I think most horror fans would enjoy this.
When it comes down to it, I can say that this is good enough for me to order an extra copy for my little sister, cause she’s a big horror fan and liked the Conjuring movies.

Thank you DC Entertainment and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy of DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and DC Entertainment for an advanced copy of this new horror/media tie-in graphic novel.

Growing up in Connecticut gave me the opportunity of seeing Ed and Lorraine Warren on their seasonal roadshows, detailing their entanglements with demons and the occult, complete with slides and some props in a Ramada Inn conference room. They always played the hits, Amityville, living dolls, I think I remember a train or a hunted bridge, all for under $10. If anyone had told me back then they would be the basis for a successful film series, that didn't have the name Troma or Corman, or Full Moon, and has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, I would have laughed and wondered what was in that contract they signed with the devil.

DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover written by David L. Johnson- McGoldrick and Rex Ogle, illustrated by Garry Brown is a prequel to the film The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. A young girl returns to college after a winter break, with a litany of troubles. Bad grades, bad decisions with boys, odd parents, and a girl from home she has feelings for. And strange murderous thoughts and dreams. There is also shorter stories featuring some of the oddities from the Warren collection.

There is not much to the story. It's not scary, not horror, just there. Starts, ends, with spooky art. No jump scares to hide a weak story like a horror movie can get away with. Maybe knowing the movie would help, but nothing here makes me want to know more. Why does a demon bother with people who are so bland? The follow up stories about the Warren collection reminded me too much of the Simpson's episode from Treehouse of Horror, where Homer goes to the Evil store and everything is of course evil and or cursed, including the free Frogurt. Some of the stories were ok, but not high on the horror scale. The art is good, very much a throwback to Sandman in the 1980's. For fans and completists of the Conjuring movie series.

[Diana Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover (2021-) Kindle & comiXology

by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Author), Rex Ogle (Author), Scott Snyder (Author),

I borrowed this book via the Kindle Unlimited program and am choosing to leave an honest and fair review.

This omnibus of The Conjuring: The Lover comic book series. This series/omnibus hits all my favorite trigger points! It has all of the fun of the early 1980s DC House of Mystery, House of Horror, and the Unexpected comic titles. These were my go-to comic books growing up and I can't tell you how angry I was that they were pulled just before the big mid-1980s comic boom! DC pulled them right in the middle of the initial I, Vampire/Andrew Bennett story. That story, along with my big, toddler crush on Sesame Street's The Count, are blamed from my vampire fixation.

The second trigger point for me is the work of James Wan and his Conjuring Universe! I'm not a fan of the Warrens, the real life con-artists that he memorializes in these films. But! And there is always a BUT, right? Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play wonderful fictionalized versions of Ed and Lorraine, I can't help but love them.

This omnibus contains several dark stories that would be happy if they were in EC Horror Comics of old. Beautifully drawn with great twists, each of these of these stories would make great movies of their own. I highly rec just reading the stories! But it is the insert advertisements that make the book. They are hysterically funny and creepy. The most disturbing part of these adverts? DC actually had to include disclaimers that these ads aren't real and to not send money! I mean, honestly, they had to say that the Kid's Sacrifice Kit was not real! Ah, modern life!

Gorgeous drawing, gloriously dark, twisty horror stories fit for their own films, and fun fake adverts! I rec this!

5 out of 5

https://www.amazon.com/DC-Horror-Pres...

[R.J.K. Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the most interesting part were the short stories at the end about various artifacts from the Warrens' collection, and not all of those were great. Still, if you're already a fan of the movies, you'll enjoy getting a bit more background, if still left wanting.

The main story itself felt like it had a solid character, but not enough content to go with that character. If she's going to be called names for being lesbian then there better be more content to actually provide reasons for all that and go in depth. For a fairly long story, a fell pretty flat. I was still glad I could read it, as I do love the movies and welcome more content connected to those movies, but I'm hoping the next one is better. I may have gone into this with higher hopes than I should've.

As for the art, bit unclear and too dark or out of focus in parts. In other parts, the creepy vibe was decent and suggested the protagonist's fall further down the dark spiral of this tale. Not my favorite, but it worked.

Thank you to NetGalley and DC Comics for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Laurel Kemp · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was creepy and neat but I just don't get it. Maybe it's because I haven't watched the movie yet... I just didn't understand why things were happening. Did this even give any needed, additional info to go with the movie? I'm not sure the MC even has anything to do with the movie so what was the point? Also the art wasn't really my favorite. Sometimes the shadows, on faces especially, looked like dirt smudges and were just weird. The story was ok, just a little unnecessary, and I was shocked a few times from some of the scenes. I don't think I'd go out of my way to buy this, but thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Donavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was 6 random stories in Conjuring Universe, but surprisingly 2 of the stories tie directly to The Conjuring 3 movie!

The other 4 stories all cover specific items we saw in Annabelle 3: coin, dress, monkey, and music box.

Stories scored:
The Lover - set in 1981, the main story in book and very interesting events about a minor character from Conjuring 3. (4 stars)

The Chalice - set in 1951, how The Chalice from Conjuring 3 was obtained. (3.5 stars)

Accordian Monkey - super sad back story (4 stars)

Bloody Bride - the dress from Annabelle 3, not much to go on. (2.5 stars)

Ferryman - a little like a Tales from the Crypt story. (4 stars)

Music Box - same as seen in Conjuring 1 which causes continuity issues, but good story (3.5 stars)