Calls Are Coming From Inside The House: Reviewing ‘The Neighbors’ #5

A home besieged by supernatural forces, a family torn apart, the truth of it laid bare, and a sacrifice made. The Neighbors #5 brings the family horror story to a surprising, ending that isn’t quite an ending.

Through the first four issues, we’ve gotten quite a mix of human emotions, exploration of prejudice, and scary supernatural elements. Within this issue, the mix skews heavier towards the horror and supernatural, without losing any of the other elements. One of the things I’ve quite enjoyed is that balance and how it’s been able to morph and keep its punch.

The last issue was a bit more about the backstory, and exploration of the characters and their struggles. Here we get how Oliver saw through the fake Casey, what Janet is willing to do for her family, and a bit about the old woman’s story. Jude Ellison S. Doyle knows how to weave a story in an interesting way, giving you what you want without knowing it’s what you might have wanted. Giving us an ending that is not some clean tied-off ending is perfect in my book.

The best horror stories are actual explorations of humanity in some way, and this fits that bill. They also don’t always end cleanly because most things in life never do. We see this family in a sense survive the horror yet in actuality they are drawn ever deeper into that horror for the rest of their lives. Kind of made me think of the ending of Jordan Peele’s Us in a certain way. They are of course very different stories, but the fact that it ends with the family safe, but their world forever altered, and safety is not actually a reality.

Even being in the realm of reality, for this series, Letizia Cadonici and Alessandro Santoro get to cut loose in a horrifying way. The fiery imagery of the real face behind the fake Casey is absolutely terrifying. A horrifically grinning red face upon a whicker-like body, shadowy and stringy. Cadonici’s artwork has a very rough element to it while also being so smooth and detailed. We can get picturesque moments with Janet and Oliver in the past, right next to these gruesome haunting visuals and they feel similar yet so different. As they should.

Everything has weight and purpose, no matter if it’s in focus or washed out in the background. With paneling choices that center us where we need to be and draw attention to the right spaces in a way that engrosses the reader. Yet, for all the precise planning of it all, there is a semi-loose aspect to it all that lets the pages breathe. As much as they can breathe when the overwhelming doom is meant to make it feel tight and trapped so that we feel that way.

All of Santoro’s colors slide between very light almost washed-out ones and darker heavier ones. Together it’s a color palette that is very toned down, leaving room for moments where it can all shoot up in vibrancy. Such as that aforementioned panel with the red face that lights up the panel to make it even scarier. Shadows dominate and give that depth and remind us of the darkness always lurking around us.

As we feel the horror and emotion through the artwork, we feel and hear it even more through the words. Becca Carey infuses every bit of the lettering with the right tone to match the moment. We can hear the terror in the voices of these characters as we create them in our heads. Little changes to the bubbles and fonts pump those feelings even higher as we move deeper.

Everything about this mini-series has been a delightful journey. It ends in the ‘best’ way and has so much to say. Horror fans should be picking this one up, and it’s worth a number of re-reads just to make sure every bit is caught.

The Neighbors #5 is now available from BOOM! Studios.