Advance Review: ‘Cornmother’ Is A Chilling Folk Horror Tale

It’s only natural for children to play with dolls. Whether it’s Barbie or GI Joe, these toys help kids to build their imaginations in a safe way.

Then comes Cornmother.

Based on pre-Christian superstitions, a corn mother is a figure woven from the last sheath of corn at the end of the harvest. It is then ploughed back into the first furrow of the next season. The doll essentially gives the spirit of the corn somewhere to reside between planting cycles.

But in the hands of Alexandra Leda, the corn mother is something much darker. Leda, who writes and illustrates the book, paints a sinister portrait of the doll and the spirit that resides within it. After young Ruth discovers the doll in her barn, it begins speaking to the girl. It is clear from the beginning that this is no wistful sprite, but a malevolent being that is either looking for revenge or just wants to be planted back in the soil.

Leda is sparse in her use of words, instead letting her compelling visuals tell most of this self-contained story. Other writers could learn from her storytelling techniques. Comics, after all, are inherently visual. Interestingly enough, she could even make do with even less text because of the strength of her illustrations.

Leda gives readers plenty to creep them out. She uses lots of lines in every panel, which works well when illustrating cornstalks as well as the corn mother’s face. Somehow, that technique manages to heighten the tension. She draws Ruth as a very young child, which makes the girl’s friendship with the spirit all the more tragic.

With the exception of a dream sequence, all of Leda’s colors are muted, even in the daylight. Again, it invites that feeling of dread.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of Cornmother is that its publication isn’t yet guaranteed. Blue Fox Comics is launching a crowdfunding campaign in December 2023 to fund the comics’ publishing. It’s a chilling read from an artist who deserves to have her stories read more broadly.