BETWEEN THE PANELS: COFFIN HILL

I have been looking for a good current horror comic book for a long time, one I could really sink my teeth into. I know of Walking Dead, and I've read some of it but I'm not buying it regularly. I'm trying American Vampire and a few others but so far the one that has really captured my attention is a little book by Vertigo called COFFIN HILL.

Witches. Murder. Sex. Monsters. I became intrigued with the book after a little preview of it inside another Vertigo title, The Wake (also good). The story begins with a cop in her mid-twenties named Eve Coffin solving a big murder case her first night out as detective. There is something off about Eve. She has one strange eye, the white of the eye is completely black with the iris a stark white. Death seems to follow Eve wherever she goes. Soon after she is shot by a drug addict/wife-beater putting her in the hospital.

The plot flashes back 10 years to a quaint little town in Massachusetts called Coffin Hill. An expansive gothic mansion stands on the edge of the town, a massive steel gate in front reading Coffin House above the arch. Eve's house. We meet Eve as a 15 year old girl obsessed with finding real darkness. The Coffin family is descended from a long line of witches. Her great great great grandmother was one of the original real witches from Salem, one who fled to this area during the Witch Trails. Since then Coffin House has stood here at the edge of a dark forest. Eventually a town grew around it becoming Coffin Hill.

Eve's aware of her family's history. She knows magic is real. She's just never seen it. One night her and three friends steal an old book that has been in the family for years. They hold a seance of their own, spill there own blood as sacrifice... and something comes out of the darkness. The girls wake up naked and covered in blood. Dead rats, snakes, and insects lay everywhere around them. And one of them is missing. Eve asks her friend what happened. Her friend shivers and says, "She's with them now."

Flash forward. Eve has recovered from her bullet wound, leaves the police force, and comes back home to Coffin Hill. Once there another young girl of about 15 years turns up missing. Eve soon discovers more people disappearing upon entering the woods just beyond Coffin House. Something out there in the forest is taking people, just like it took her friend 10 years ago. She has regretted that day all these years. What is it? Can Eve stop it? Does she want to stop it? Or will it claim her as it did her friend?

The first story arc wraps up after about six issues. The writing is pretty good. Feels like an episode of CSI: MASSACHUSETTS if such a show existed. Its a detective story revolving around occult style murders. Eve Coffin is a pretty cool character and the book doesn't pull any punches. I've read the first seven issues and plan on continuing reading. The books read fast and the story keeps you intrigued the whole time, never a dull moment. The character's back story unfolds with the front story in a cool way that keeps you guessing. So far it's off to a good start. I'd highly recommend it if you're interested in this sort of thing.

6 out of 10 so far.
Worth taking a look.
BUY IT HERE!