House of Penance

April 1, 2017

Having recently lost her husband and only child, Sarah Winchester inherits a vast fortune owing to her husband's holdings as heir to a rifle manufacturing empire. She's haunted by terrible spirits she believes to be the ghosts of those killed by the very machines that brought William Wirt Winchester so much wealth. Possessed by the notion that endless construction work on her mansion might keep the apparitions at bay, Sarah funds constant renovations on her home, transforming the estate into a maddening maze of twisted corridors and stairways to nowhere. Inspired by the legend of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA, Tomasi (Batman and Robin) introduces into the tale a wandering gunman troubled by his own past and explores themes of guilt, madness, and the possibility of redemption. Bertram's (Bowery Boys) illustrations, with the help of colorist Stewart (Heroes), seethe with menace as his exaggerated figures traverse panels packed with dangers both real and--conceivably--imagined. VERDICT Fans of historical fiction and horror will find plenty to enjoy, although some might be turned off by the focus being more on character and a sense of dread than gore.--TB

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 30, 2017
With this unusual take on the real story of the Winchester house in San Jose, Calif., Tomasi (Batman and Robin) and Bertram (Zero), have created perhaps the first biographical horror graphic novel. Sarah Winchester, widow of firearms magnate William Winchester, employs men to continually expand her San Jose house, night and day. Tomasi depicts Sarah hallucinating about the dead killed by Winchester rifles: pools of blood and enormous veins threaten her and the house, with only the continued hammering keeping these horrors at bay. Fictional workman Warren Peck is a newcomer to Sarah’s house and, like all the men working there, has a past of horrible violence. Partially because of this, he and Sarah become close. Bertram brings to gory life all of Sarah’s delusions as well as Warren’s memories of those he killed. His male characters tend toward the grotesque, perhaps closest to the work of Frank Quietly, while Sarah is all cheekbones and huge eyes. The ghosts here are all in the characters’ minds but frightening nonetheless.