Every time I pick up a new trade of this series, I consider going back to the beginning to read it again--perhaps a bit more carefully. It's complex plot and large cast of characters make it challenging to keep track of of what's happening. When getting screenshots of the cover photos from Amazon to make this entry, I found that my feelings are not unique. Customer reviewer Garietta Falls said, "I really liked this series in the beginning, but I am beginning to
wonder what the point is. The story, concerning Fig usually, makes large
jumps that are hard to follow." In Volume 7, the story quite literally jumps, as the house lifts off its foundation, leaving everyone but Fig and Cain behind. This provides the opportunity--or, as it so often turns out in House of Mystery, the challenge--of following multiple plot lines within what would more usually be a single story arc. In this case, we alternate between Fig and Cain's struggle through a series of increasingly smaller houses that reveal parts of her earlier life; the choices the characters left behind make in order to occupy their time and continue their lives; the efforts of her (estranged, and possibly dead) brother, father, and grandfather to find (and maybe kill?) their sister/daughter/granddaughter; and the origins of the still bizarre and increasingly confusing, creepy couple called the Conception. It's become equal parts confusing and compelling. Another Amazon customer reviewer, Jason Upton, explained, "The story started strong and now feels like there's no plan. It jumps
around without following the stories teased out. I'm hoping the next
one is better or I'll have to move on." I'm right there with him.
In fact, I'm just starting Volume 8 now, so you'll have to wait a short time to see what I conclude!
Update: It looks like Garietta, John, and I were not alone in our struggles to stay engaged in an increasingly pointless plot. Volume 8 of House of Mystery starts out with a typed summary of all seven previous trade collections, hitting on the main points that create a consistent storyline--but leaving a heck of a lot out. When it gets boiled down this way, it easier to see what the underlying premise is. However, it would have been much simpler to keep that idea at the forefront all along rather than cluttering it up with extraneous side plots. As it turns out, I need not worry about whether or not to continue with the series, as Volume 8 appears to be the end. And, while I can't say that it was tied up nice and neatly, at least there was an effort to conclude in come way that made sense of the whole thing. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this series unless you are a diehard horror comic fan, and even then I'd say you may want to stop after trade 3 or 4--when the ideas are still fresh and interesting but haven;t yet become a tangled mess.
I almost gave up on HoM after trade five, I must admit. It just got a bit too crazy for me, and that's saying a lot for a series that requires you to accept a LOT of craziness. It wasn't the appearance of sort-of-dead relatives, suicidal (or killed) poets, the fictional becoming real, or a house that is no longer a house that got to me, however: it was the chaos. I felt that I was losing my grip on the story line in the last arc; too many things were happening too quickly for me to follow. I just looked back at my review of trade five (Here's the link if your interested.) and am amused to note that I didn't comment on my befuddlement. Instead, I essentially summarized the basic premise of the series and left it at that. In retrospect, I recognize this as a classic strategy my students used when faced with a challenging task: deflect or backtrack to discuss something with which you are comfortable.
Fortunately, trade six slows down a bit and mainly follows a single story arc, with only a couple of tangents. Sure, that single plot might involve Fig (the main character, whose vivid imagination is responsible for the existence of the mystery house and multiple worlds) and the goblins being called upon by witches in order to defeat the Thinking Man, flying robots, huge carnivorous earthworms (think Dune), and an immense monster dampening the torch needed to keep the Summerlands alive. And, yes, the victory comes when Turgis, a gay goblin, takes over leadership to lead the goblin army (explaining to the former leader as he kills him, "It takes great strength to be gay in this world.") and Fig invents a "big, swirly, cutty thing" (looking like an immense length of toilet paper with a smiley face on it, no less) to kill the monster. Still, this is imagination and mystery I can wrap my head around and follow, and even the few tangents clarified some loose strands from trade five. I'm glad to have things sorted out now, as the concepts of imagination, creation, and reality that originally attracted me to the series are so compelling.
One thing this experience underscores for me is a major difference between classic and modern comics. While characters in early comics did evolve and plots built, you could pretty much pick up any single issue and have a coherent story to read. This is not the case of most current adult series, which depend on readers having enough back story to muddle through some fuzzy parts, often reaching very-limited conclusions within story arcs. If I had picked up trade five without having read the earlier HoM issues, I would have put it aside within a few pages--convinced it was complete rubbish. And, I would have missed out on some thought-provoking ideas as a result. The bottom line: if a comic series appeals to you for some reason, start from issue one.
