Spa

Somewhere in northern Europe, a five-star spa and conference hotel caters to anyone who can afford it. But, at every turn, where luxuriance should reign, things are amiss. A demanding VIP client disappears without a trace. A business seminar is cut short. A young official gets lost looking for his room. A socially outcast masseuse struggles to find acceptance. Two lovers struggle to escape the horror of everyday life ― which includes horrific apparitions routinely haunting them. An egocentric manager doubts himself. Abused employees accept their sad fate. Curious inspectors come to settle their accounts. Meanwhile, mysterious moisture damage is spreading. Amidst the extravagant decor, black and viscous liquid flows slowly in the labyrinthine alleys of the resort and trickles down the walls. Hot and humid, the dampness is suffocating. Mold sets in and with it skin diseases, hallucinations, ghosts, malevolent spirits, hybrid creatures, and other monsters both dead and alive. Spa is a horrific graphic novel debut marked by grotesque and whimsical humor.

The Daily Mirror

"Svetoft's magnificent drawings exert a powerful pull. (...) Beautifully grotesque."

Publishers Weekly

"It’s like The White Lotus guest-directed in icky-sicky fashion by David Cronenberg and Nick Drnaso."

Cinema Sentries

"Flip through a dozen or so pages at a time, and linger on the intricate, strangeness of the art. Or dig your way through the entire thing in one setting, let it fully absorb your senses, and get lost inside its grotesque world."

Comics Beat

"This comic doesn’t hold back. It criticizes and skewers and pokes fun. It terrifies. It feels real. It also has so much fun doing it."

About the Author

Erik Svetoft is an illustrator, animator, and comic book artist living in Malmö, Sweden. He’s worked on a variety of commissions including comics for VICE, illustrated several children's books and animated a graduation project short film that was selected for a number of festivals. His latest graphic novel SPA, his first to be translated, won a Swedish book design award in 2021 and was nominated as part of the Sélection Officielle for the 2023 Angoulême Festival.Melissa Bowers is a translator and editor. She lives in Seattle, WA.

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