Dead Mall

by Adam Cesare, David Stoll (Illustrator)

The Penn Mills Galleria is about to be demolished. Five teens sneak into the mall to take a last look around before it’s gone.

However, while Penn Mills has been closed for years, the mall is far from abandoned.

A night of exploration becomes a shopping spree from hell. The teens must contend with the sprawling, transformative cosmic horror of Penn Mills or be trapped forever within the Dead Mall.

A coming-of-age horror story that both engages and criticizes nostalgia culture while showing deep empathy for the fears and vulnerabilities of Gen-Z teenagers.

A young adult graphic novel by Adam Cesare, author of Clown in a Cornfield, winner of the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel.

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Young Adult, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2023

About the author

Adam Cesare is a New Yorker who lives in Philadelphia. His books include Clown in a Cornfield, Video Night, The Summer Job, and Zero Lives Remaining. He’s an avid fan of horror cinema and runs Project: Black T-Shirt, a YouTube review show where he takes horror films and pairs them with reading suggestions.

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The premise was compelling enough to get me to read, but the execution was too over the top to be scary. If you just keep throwing gross and vaguely defined monsters at the reader, it loses the horror and starts to feel more like a video game. And I lost the feeling of horror somewhere in the third issue. It may have helped if the characters were anything but empty cardboard cutouts, or if the entire thing weren't dominated by the smarmy narration from... the mall itself? The evil entity that's taken over the mall? Whatever. It was poorly defined and I kind of didn't care by the end.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Anyone! I’d take the creepy shadow people at this point."

Cesare has introduced some spooky tales into our lives, and now we’re all afraid to venture into the cornfields because of killer clowns. I thought this story would make us anxious about exploring abandoned places or visiting the mall. While I'm not a fan of the mall, I can say it wasn’t the book's fault.

The premise was promising, but it ultimately fell flat. It turned out to be quite boring and not scary at all. I kept waiting for something terrifying to happen, but the only truly frightening aspect was the graphic novel itself, which was poorly executed. I’m not sure what the intention was, but I don’t believe it achieved its goal. Overall, it was disappointing—what could have been a good story ended up being pretty dull and not at all frightening.

[Ken W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun graphic novel! The way it ended I’m hoping for a sequel someday! Adam Cesare is awesome! 4.5 stars for both the art and story, rounded up to five!

[Fny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read because I loved Clown in a Cornfield by the author.

It was special, very gory and violent. In the middle it felt a bit lackluster maybe but I did end up digging this weird Mall-Horror romp quite a bit. But still for me to have given it a higher rating I would have liked more fleshed out info about the actual “monster-mall” how did it come to be and so on but well. In its shortness it was good enough for a quick fun read.
(3,5/5).

[Samantha Totten · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was fantastic but the story was kinda confusing

[Courtney (pawsitivelybookish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing about me: I love a mall.

This graphic novel takes place in an abandoned mall that is about to be torn down. I really enjoyed that the mall was a living entity and would love to know how it came to be 👀

The illustrations were so creepy and the whole story was pretty gory…you’ve been warned.

I’ve been wanting to check out more of @adamcesare’s work since I’m such a fan of his Clown in a Cornfield series, and I feel like this was the perfect thing to see more of his style. It’s pretty different but really fun and a quick read.

[Alise · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for some quick cosmic horror with nostalgia of bustling shopping malls, look no further. It took me a little bit to get my bearings with this one. The art style is good, but I felt like I was trying to catch up with the story a bit.

I think it's definitely worth reading if cosmic horror is your thing.

[Marguerite Turley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great creepy abandoned mall story! It’s got it all, the teens breaking in, the friend who doesn’t want to be there, all in the slasher trope. Such a fun graphic novel with fantastic art work!! Will there be more?!!!

[Gabriele | QueerBookdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Representation: queer fat white protagonist, protagonist of colour, Asian protagonist.

Content Warning: violence, death, gore, blood.

If The Backrooms became a mall, this would be the result.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first graphic novel I’ve ever read, so I don’t have much to compare it to. That being said, it was extreamly effective for me. I loved the art style and I read the Clown in a Cornfield books by this author and loved him already. It was the perfect mix of my style of horror and nostalgia. I’m 23 years old, so most “nostalgic” things do not have nostalgia for the time period during my teen years, but this did! The author is also from my area, so the mall itself reminds me a lot of some near my house.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

grosssssssss, loved it

[Kevin Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it started with all those ghost chasing shows. In the last 20 years, I've couch-potatoed my way through many an abandoned meat packing plant and school for orphans, following some intrepid band of spelunkers and skeptics as they chase after whatever lifeforms might still reside there. Lots of infrared camera views and the waving of audio recorders in the air. I patiently wait for answers between commercials. Usually I don't get any. Oh well, there's always next week.

Dead Mall gives us what those shows never could. All the monsters, gore, and horrifyingly absurd demons we can stomach. Until our stomach is removed by force, anyway.

There are familiar tropes here: teenagers doing shit they're not supposed to be doing. A jock. A final girl. A building that shape shifts. That's OK, give me all the tropes. As imagined by Adam Cesare, we learn early on that the evil in this mall, the monster, whatever it is, also likes tropes, and likes manipulating them for maximum enjoyment when killing off these kids. Or maybe "upgrading" them is a better way to say it. Dead Mall definitely does not simply throw out its trash. Here, they reuse and recycle.

David Stoll's renderings of the horrors in this mall are really something. Clownlike demons, with a little cyborg thrown in for good measure. A room made of guts. The ball pit I always envisioned whenever I watched my own kids sink into one. It's all here.

My only issue with this collection is that the end comes abruptly and it feels like there's a lot more story here. I'm sure that was not by choice. Adam, David, and Justin could definitely "Halloween 2" this comic and start off another installment right where this ends. I'm there for it.

So whether you're older and have fond memories of the mall, or younger and view them as Colonial Williamsburg style replicas of the ancient past, it doesn't matter--this mall would still love to have you.

[Miss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cover is absolute eye-catching nightmare fuel and, as a shopaholic myself, the story inside is just as horrifying. The art is good with a choice of color palette that does great to capture the bright, sunny heyday of the mall versus the dark, grimy abandonment of it for urban explorers and groups like this to venture into.

The narration boxes made me think, at first, that the structure was sentient and making the observations, but it's around page 13 that we see that there is a distinct shape to some of those long shadows in the building. Someone or something is watching this group of 5 that have unknowingly stumbled into a feeding ground. The hunters used to just take a kid here and there when the mall was thriving, but now that hardly anyone comes in, they're hungry.

There's a delightful mix of dark humor and just plain darkness. I laughed out loud at the "No! Not the power of teamwork!" and was ready to nope right out the second that I saw the stitched man - mouth stitched closed, eyes stitched open. So many influences are evident in this, especially Hellraiser, with a hint of The Shining. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend for anyone who likes creepypastas and horror. I can't believe this hasn't been adapted yet because I can easily see it as an analog horror series or a dark thriller of a movie.

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 5 out of 5]

You really can’t go wrong with Adam Cesare. I believe Dead Mall is his first comic, but he’s proved to be as adept at telling a good story in that medium as with regular books. With artist David Still’s help, Cesare has created an exciting monster fest, with both murderous mutants and and the living mall itself attacking and imprisoning a group of teenagers who’ve broken into the abandoned building the night before it’s due to be demolished. I found the hair dresser creature to be particularly unnerving. This one is tons of fun, and I hope Cesare and Stoll return for the sequel that Dead Mall’s ending so cleverly sets up.

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great idea as it reminds a bit of Stephen King's Rose Red as they are both about locations that have become sentient that want to feed on people that enter the location by messing with them but I do feel that Dead Mall while it has its moments like the evil demon kid monsters but it feels sloppy in some areas and unfocused.

[SassieMolassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the premise was pretty cool, but the story and execution were seriously lacking.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it was a quick read, if nothing else. I've always liked locations-as-characters in fiction, and Dead Mall takes that idea literally. And that's fine, on the surface at least; plenty of haunted house-type stories make the building more or less "alive," and some of them are quite good. Dead Mall is...a very mixed bag. There are effective jump cuts throughout the story, superimposing the vibrancy of the past over the decayed shell of the present, making for a stylish presentation at times. And the core premise of a location so steeped in the vice of greed gaining a life of its own, and trying to entice more people to it, even when it's been abandoned, has some real potential. But something in the execution just doesn't quite work.

First, the mall has been claiming people since the mid-'60s, essentially right after it opened. So the idea that it became what it is only after stewing in concentrated greed over time or whatever, kinda falls apart, raising the (unanswered) question of how it became this reality-warping entity in the first place. But beyond that, the mechanics of how it works on a basic level also don't entirely make sense--not the reality-bending aspect, but just its goals.

So, the mall just sort of claims people, vanishing them into itself and twisting them into things that are vague embodiments of their desires. It somehow feeds off of their desires, but the people it takes also have to feed off of each other...I think? Despite the fact that there are people who've been trapped for decades, and still seem to be doing just fine--or as fine as freakish Dollar Store cenobites can be. And yeah, the creatures, themselves, are pretty cartoonish, an impression not helped by the fairly flat coloring of the art style. When bits of greater detail and shading do creep in, it's usually for the backgrounds, which to be fair, do look good most of the time. In a way, I guess that's fitting, because the mall is more distinctive than the human characters we get.

Don't get me wrong; I can enjoy a good "dumb teenagers head someplace dangerous and die by doing dumb things" plot. A lot of '80s horror is built around that concept, and some of it is a lot of fun. But what separates the good from the bad in this trope, is that the good stories either give us a reason to care about at least some of the dumb teenagers, or it makes their deaths entertaining. Dead Mall doesn't adequately accomplish either. Considering that they each be summed up with one line, I'm not even going to bother with their names. There's the jock, the one who drinks too much, the vain girl, the main girl, and the plain girl. Nothing interesting is really done with any of them, which shifts the burden to making their deaths entertaining, so we have any reason to care. For the ones who actually die, their deaths are uninspired, and those that get changed by the mall are...at least a little interesting to look at, but again, very knockoff-Hellraiser.

As for the mall, itself, it's a little insufferable. It runs a constant monologue as our "heroes" try to escape, and it all comes across as very "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" And once its plans are revealed...let's just say it doesn't seem to have thought very far ahead, for an "unkillable, omnipresent god." (Its words, not mine.) And honestly, the ending we get is so abrupt, that it doesn't even have the classic horror movie sting that I think Cesare was going for.

All in all, Dead Mall is very...meh. It's a good concept, with some stylish presentation at times, but it's lacking any real soul or impact. The frequent disappearances over the years (with more implied to come), raise more questions than the mall's monologuing adequately answers, and its grand plan doesn't seem like it'll buy it much time at all, really. If you're in the mood for a quick & dirty sequential art horror story, and a lack of innovation doesn't bother you, there's some enjoyment to be had here. But if you want anything more substantial, I'd recommend giving Dead Mall a pass.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid decrepit-mall horror, complete with monstrous makeovers, disturbing obsolete brands' sudden reappearances, and a scary ball pit disgorging disturbing monster kids. (Plus: evil ducks.) Also some sort of benevolent revenant whose genesis is explained and who doesn't turn out to be as scary as he first seems. The central conceit felt a tad under-explained, in that I don't quite get what the thing at the heart of the mall exactly is, nor how it's been stealing people and bleeding them dry for what seems like half a century without anyone's noticing. Still, in essence this is a fun 90-minute creature feature from 1986 or so, with promises of a sequel. I really should see Chopping Mall one of these days, I guess, though I started informally keeping a list of mall-related action-movie scenes, including, so far, Commando, Terminator 2, and Timecop. Not to mention that this offers a solid metaphor for the relation of the mall to the downtown, and since then of what's happened to many flavors of cultural crossing points.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An abandoned mall, alive and waiting to feed on anyone who steps inside. Narrated by the snarky, horrific building itself, Dead Mall pays tribute to some very recognizable horror tropes while also showcasing Cesare's ability to dig deeper than just violence and scares--as horrific as a few moments in this graphic novel are. It's paced a bit quickly and sometimes leans toward excess rather than subtlety in the horror, leading to an ending that isn't quite everything I hoped for. But nevertheless, Cesare is a fantastic horror writer while David Stoll brings vibrant illustrations to every turn of the page, balancing tones of teenage vibrancy with the violence and horror of mutated monsters from a place beyond understanding. It's a surreal and compelling read, and I'm always happy to pick up another piece of Cesare's work.

[Casey Masterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought the first edition of Dead Mall when it came out. I still have it in the sleeve, but I didn't read it. I figured that I would want to wait for the issues to be lumped together, as I loved Clown in a Cornfield (I still need to read the second...), and I wanted to have the whole picture. Dead Mall is a fun little combination of Chopping Mall and Hellraiser. Five teens looking for a fun night of drinking end up with some scares. As can be expected from Cesare, there are some wondeful instances of gore here. A lot of the fun comes from the mall imagery throughout it, almost like tiny little easter eggs for those who have been to the mall (dying or not.)

This is a quick and fun read with plenty of wit and scares. I highly recommend it!

[Sem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrors set in malls are nothing new but Cesare is no stranger to working with familiar beats to deliver something standout. The book makes great use of the medium, not just in terms of artwork by Stoll, which is appropriately disorienting, gory and dark, but in the way it takes advantage of the fact that you can have both the narration and the dialogue going on at the same time. There's a lot of dark, snarky humor at the expense of our designated heroes that wouldn't work in a novel but does here.

[Bobby Keniston · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Dead Mall" by Adam Cesare, with illustrations by David Stoll and lettering by Justin Birch, is a fun premise, the idea of a living, albeit abandoned mall, feeding on a group of teens who break in for a little fun.

While I found the artwork compelling, and grew to appreciate some unexpected moments from certain characters, I have to confess that the tale is somewhat basic.

But it is a fun way to kill about forty-five minutes, and I'd certainly be interested in more if it becomes available.

[Jeff Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I say this with love: Adam Cesare is fucked up. I love it. He has such a brilliant mind for horror. Not horror like popular horror that mainstream audiences crave, but the weird, obscure horror that true horror fans want. Instead of writing about another random Christian demon, Cesare took Chopping Mall, Dawn of the Dead, and Pennsylvania to make a genuinely original horror story.

And the artwork and lettering are fantastic too!

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

Dead Mall was gory and mysterious!

The storyline was compelling; it had Horrorstör vibes. However, the characters in Dead Mall were impossible to connect with or like; the characters felt flat. At times, it felt like the story jumped quickly and was not very well fleshed out. Nonetheless, Dead Mall was an intriguing start to what I hope is the start of a graphic novel series; some questions were left unanswered!

[nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

the cosmic horror and sassy mall entity were just *chef’s kiss*
adam cesare and david stoll created an absolutely amazing blend of comedy and gut-wrenching terror in this graphic novel that brought my Lovecraftian nightmares to life. i would love to see more from this universe! beth is an icon. also, my continuous urge to explore an abandoned mall has severely diminished after reading this. it has done its job.

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hooray! Finally! Mall horror yaaay! I'd go for a sequel or even a prequel like when the mall first gained sentience. That'd be fun! Anyways teens break into a soon to be demolished mall, but its alive and feeds of shoppers and twists them into horrific monsters.
Oh and there's ducks.
Whats not to like? Definitely don't regret buying. I didn't even realize I've got 2 other of this guys books hah.

[Dustin Domingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really loving my recent reads, and this one is no exception. A little bit of Hellraiser, a little bit of Dawn of the Dead. It doesn't give you time to get to know the characters outside of who they are in the moment but that's already enough. The designs for the threats in this book are equal parts cool and creepy. There's elements of body horror here that had me cringing. Adam Cesare's sharp, stabbing horror in his novels can be seen here.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

I love weird and creepy, but this might have been a little too weird for me. The eerie, abandoned mall setting was great, and the art really captured the unsettling atmosphere. But the story felt a bit chaotic, and I spent most of it just feeling confused. I also had trouble connecting with the characters. If you’re into surreal horror and don’t mind a narrative that leans more bizarre than terrifying, it might be worth a read!

[Daisya Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

The concept is essentially the backrooms but at an abandoned mall, which is interesting. I feel like the story could have been better had it been fleshed out more, and the dialogue didn't seem as clunky and out of place as it did between the characters. There was some gore, which was a bonus (although expected from this author), but my main issue was the story and its pacing.

[Kimberly Greenwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 2024: 3/5 - Omg the narrator was so annoying like shut up. His voice over just needed to be quiet. I found that aspect repetitive and distracting. Friends go into an abandoned bad that is haunted by creatures. Their minds are bent and they are hunted and put up against one another. Only one survives.