Something Spooky: ‘Dark Ride’ Is A Hell Of A Roller Coaster
by Tony Thornley
What if Walt Disney made a deal with the devil?
I mean, some people may suspect that he actually did. But as for an elevator pitch for an ongoing horror story, you can’t deny that’s one hell of a hook. I know as a theme park geek, it’s what made me interested in Dark Ride from Joshua Williamson, Andrei Bressan, Adriano Lucas and Pat Brosseau from Image Comics/Skybound.
Devil Land was once one of the most popular theme parks in the world, drawing crowds in with the unique horrific vision of its creator Arthur Dante. But now it’s on the decline, and Dante’s children Sam and Halloween have been tasked with saving it. Amidst tragedy in the park and at home though, the Dantes are about to learn the terrifying truth of Devil Land.
So as I said a moment ago, I am a big theme park geek, but I am also not a big horror geek. Comics and novels, I can tolerate, but Scooby-Doo is the scariest horror I can do on movies or TV (okay, maybe that’s exaggerating a little). I really enjoy Williamson and Bressan’s world here though. They take the basis of “what if Disneyland was scary” and amps it up significantly.
Williamson mixes his strong character-centric storytelling with some interesting world building. After the horrifying fakeout of the first issue- giving us a character who we think will be the protagonist, but who instead has a horrifying final page fate- he takes the time to build up Sam, Halloween and others as the cast we follow. Sam is sympathetic and human, but Halloween is more mercurial, up to the last page of the first volume.
The rest of the cast is interesting too, giving the series both a wide base for storytelling and a thoroughly lived-in world. The struggle of Summer Seasons, whose brother disappeared in the park, would be the A-plot in any other story. Williamson is smart to make her story more of a side tale, as the Dantes are more interesting to follow for at least this first arc. Summer is absolutely a great protagonist though, and a necessary part of the story.
After Bressan’s fantasy-tinged work on Birthright, I was curious about how his style would translate into horror. He makes Devil Land feel mundane and lived in, while also making it totally scary. The foreground of every panel is completely normal, while in the background, gross monsters lurk and frightening tableaus unfold. It’s a beautiful, if a bit stomach churning book, complemented by Lucas’s colors, especially his heavy use of different shades of red.
The biggest complaint that I have about this series is that it’s relatively short at 12 issues. I’m glad that Williamson and Bressan got in, told the story they wanted to tell, and got out. It never feels rushed and labored, or decompressed. There’s so much to explore here though. It makes me wish that they were able to do just a little longer — another trade or two — just to play with the world just a tiny bit more.
Regardless, if you’re a fan of Oogie-Boogie Bash or Hollywood Horror Nights, and just want a bit more, this is a read for you. Hell, even if you just like gut-wrenching horror, this will be one hell of a ride.
