Hellboy: House of The Living Dead

by | Aug 20, 2011 | Reviews | 0 comments

There are two types of Hellboy books: The creepy, subtle kind that gives you goosebumps while you read it, and the in-your-face, over-the-top, whoop-some-monster-ass kind.

Hellboy: House of The Living Dead definitely falls into the latter category.

Following the events of last year’s Hellboy In Mexico one-shot, we pick up on a shattered Hellboy lying low in 1956 Mexico, earning a meager living as a Luchador, and spending  his days in a drunken daze. He is offered $500.00 by a mysterious stranger to wrestle his employer’s champion. When Hellboy refuses the offer, the ante is upped: Take the match, or an innocent girl will be murdered. Big Red soon finds himself in a mysterious castle, squaring off against a Mad Scientist’s patchwork creation in a battle royale, complete with a hunchbacked sidekick, a reluctant Wolfman, Vampire Brides, and strange, Demonic Imps. While not one of Mignola’s deeper works, Hellboy: House of The Living Dead accomplishes it’s goal of being an affectionate tribute to the old black-and-white monster team-up films of the 1940’s, and the art, provided by the legendary Richard Corben, is absolutely perfect. The book also boasts THE quintessential Hellboy moment, which I won’t spoil, other than to say it sums up, in one panel and one brief gesture, everything you need to know about Big Red’s character. And if you haven’t read Hellboy In Mexico, don’t worry….Mignola and Corben give a nice recap in the book’s early pages that will get you right up to speed. If you’re not already a Hellboy fan, I can’t urge you strongly enough to give him a try. Mike Mignola and company are consistently  producing some of the finest Horror stories out there, bar none.

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