Dark Entries

HELLBLAZER's John Constantine must become part of HAUNTED PALACE -- a closed-set reality game-show (think BIG BROTHER or SCI-FI's new reality show, ESTATE OF PANIC) in order to deal with a supernatural murder of one of the contestants. He enters as a 'surprise' contestant and meets the other participants, learning that they all have secrets and that one of them must be 'channeling' poltergeists and/or be the murderer.However, John soon learns that he is in fact in a game-show which is being broadcast only to the denizens of Hell, who have chosen him to be the next contestant. Now he has to figure out who's the killer but also how to escape with his own soul in one piece.

From Publishers Weekly

Popular mystery novelist Rankin writes fan-favorite John Constantine, from the long-running comic Hellblazer, in this original tale from the new Vertigo Crime imprint. Although the character has a history dating back to Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, Dark Entries requires no prior knowledge. Paranormal investigator Constantine is recruited by a television executive to look into a locked-room mystery reality show that appears to be haunted. The guests, already on edge, are tormented by terrifying visions that only they can see. Of course, the only way for John to investigate is to join them. The job becomes very personal very quickly as Constantine comes to know and care about the people who share his privacy-free prison. The show's producers are more concerned with ratings than the human suffering before them, and in a way, they seem almost as inhuman as any horror Constantine has gone up against. Dell'edera's work is expressive and crisp, done almost entirely in sharp pure black inks with barely a hint of shading in sight, with an elegance to horror sequences that's far more Dante than slasher film. Possibly the best Hellblazer work in years and a strong ghost story in its own right. (Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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