Serial killers have been a staple in horror movies for decades. One thing that makes people love them so much is that there are many different types of them. Comic book writer Kyle Starks took the idea of “where do these serial killers go when they’re not killing?” and created the comic “Where Monsters Lie” with artists Piotr Kowalski and Vladimir Popov.
Wilmhurst is a gated community and a haven for horror movie serial killers. One day, one of the residents, Puzzleman, violates the rule about killing people in the community. What’s worse, one of his victims escapes and now the police know about the community.
The idea that all these serial killers live in a gated community that helps them out with their jobs and has rules (the killer clown has an HOA violation by having overflowing trash cans) is brilliant. There is even a wide variety of serial killers. There’s the puzzle-loving killer, the killer clown, the ventriloquist, the psycho hillbilly and even the “nice” old lady. Besides the serial killers, the thing that makes the story interesting is “what if one of them messed up?” While we see the beginning of that at the end, in the next issue we’ll see the full consequences of it.
The only noteworthy thing about the art is the character designs. Each of these characters looks exactly like what any horror fan would think each of them would look like. Bonus points for making the ventriloquist a female and the killer clown look similar to what John Wayne Gacy wore. The rest of the art is OK for what it’s worth.
“Where Monsters Lie” has a brilliant premise that should be explored further but for now we get the consequences of a rule breaker. While the serial killer designs are spot on the rest of the art isn’t as noteworthy.
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