The Devils Footprints

When William Waite died, after a life steeped in black magic, his family thought that the terror was over. Two years later, all the people close to him begin to suffer from mysterious illnesses, including the loss of a baby. His youngest son, Brandon Waite, desperate to protect his family, begins to dig into his dead father's bag of tricks. But his desire to protect his loved ones forces him to cover up his own tentative steps into witchcraft, leading him to mix deception with demon conjuration, isolating himself in a terrible world where his soul hangs in the balance. The townspeople he grew up with have always known there's something wrong with the Waite family, and their worst fears are proven true in a fiery climax on town hill, with the devil returns to New England. Includes the four-issue mini-series in addition to previously unpublished stories.

From Booklist

Author and editor Allie's beat is horror, and if his stuff doesn't yet rival Clive Barker's Hellraiser among contemporary horror comics, it is never as silly as weak Hellraiser stories can be. His graphic novel sports a lurid, 1940s paperback-style cover, but the story (about a young man who must exorcise the demon that stalks his father's spirit--which he has to lay to rest, as well--and unexpectedly exiles himself from his hometown) is subtler. Allie and his trio of artist-collaborators favor dominant single hues for separate scenes, and those hues are subdued--various siennas, violets, and yellow ochres. Lines and masses are bold, however, reinforcing the impression that the team was aiming for the look of the quiet 1940s horror films produced by Val Lewton (The Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, etc.). If that was so, mission accomplished. The volume includes three short prequels to the big story, two drawn by the same team, the third by a softer-edged draftsman. Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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