Not totally sure how I feel about this book. It was a decent story but the art style took some getting used to. I did enjoy the bonus stories from the artifact room

This is a prequel to the movie The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. While it is connected it's not necessary to know anything about the movie or The Conjuring film franchise before reading.

There's a main overarching story for half of each issue that was good. There's a great deal of homophobia (it's set in the 1980s and is unfortunately accurate for the time) towards the main character Jessica, a lesbian that's haunted by a demon rehashing her internalized homophobia. The other half of each issue is based on real Ed and Lorraine Warren cases (the inspiration behind The Conjuring, Amityville Horror, The Cure of La Llorona, and The Haunting in Connecticut) as well as campy vintage-style ads that fit better into the aesthetics of the book than the mini-stories did.

I'm a big fan of The Conjuring franchise and expected to like this series more than I did. It's fun, the Jessica story was good, but overall a bit underwhelming for my taste. Glad I read it though!

That. Was freaking cool.

I love the Conjuring movies, and the tie-in to "The Devil Made Me Do It" was really well done. It really told the story of what happened to poor Jessica.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

5 mini-srories about 5 of the Artifacts in the Warren storeroom! The Accordion Monkey! The Ferryman coin! The Music Box from The Conjuring 1! THE WEDDING DRESS! And the Chalice from Conjuring 3! SOOO COOOL!

Thanks to Netgalley, DC Comics Horror and the amazing Writers and Illustrators (and Inkers and everyone else who makes comics awesome!

All opinions are my own.

This is supposed to be a prequel to "The Devil Made Me Do It" from the conjuring series, but aside from one tiny, blink and you'll miss it mention of the Warrens, there's just really not much here to capture the reader. I found myself enjoying the short stories "Tales from the Artifacts Room" much more than the main story.

Ed and Lorraine Warren have lived very weird and bizarre lives. Coming face to face with pure evil and sending it back to where it belongs. It’s honestly what nightmares are made of.

The Conjuring movies are some of my favorites. They get under your skin and make you feel uneasy. You get that feeling as if you’re being watched and then the hair stands up on the back of your neck. So I was excited to finally read this. Oh, I also loved to be scared.

I hate to say this but this was kind of a disappointment. Okay, scratch that. This was a disappointment. The stories were just plain boring and none of it was interesting. The art wasn’t even that great. Some of it was too dark and not eye-catching at all. I wanted evil! I wanted disturbing! I wanted blood and guts! *yawn*

The Conjuring: The Lover was quite the snooze-fest. The creepy, pulp looking ads were the best part about this graphic novel and you didn’t get to see those until the end. I’m sad that I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. Kind of glad that I didn’t waste money on this and I would stick with the movies in my opinion.

The terrifying debut of the tie-in to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It begins here, with a story that’s bursting at the seams with clues about the new film.

Meet Jessica. Jessica just returned to her freshman year of college after winter break, bringing with her the anxieties of last semester’s poor grades, the awkwardness of facing a boy she wishes she’d never slept with, and an undeniably unnerving feeling of being watched.
She soon comes to realize that something evil made her its target, and it will not rest until it has her in its unholy grip. But why did this sinister presence set its sights on a seemingly normal college freshman?- Goodreads

I never seen any of The Conjuring movies. I love me some horror but I got burned out of the spiritual, 'the devil did it' horror movies, so I know nothing about the movies. So anyway, I picked up this book not putting two and two together. And it wasn't bad but it also wasn't great either.

I didn't mind the fact that it was slow. But it felt all over the place and it did feel like I started in the middle of everything. I was confused for a bit, unsure where the book was going and at some point, I did figure it out and I can honestly say it didn't leave me with enjoying the book more.

The illustrations for each story all blended in together and although there was great detail, eveyrthing looked the same. However, the illustrator gets kudos for bring in the creep factor.

This is a short review mostly because I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

Overall,

1 Pickle

I had a lot of high hopes for this comic as I LOVE LOVE LOVE the conjuring, unfortunately this fell a little flat for me. The plot of predictable and was not has scary as I had hoped. I hoped for a lot more for this comic and felt like it was too short for a full story. Unfortunately a 2.5/5 for me.

I wanted to read this because I absolutely love the Conjuring universe and the Warrens. They’re all pretty scary and super interesting so I assumed this would be too… welp, you know what they say about people who assume things!!!…

So, Jessica’s story really falls flat with me. The art is especially cringeworthy. The plot is all over the place and just not very intriguing. I kept glancing down to see how far I had left to read. Which is not a good thing. The ending was okay, but didn’t bring this up very much. So Jessica’s portion of the book is 2 1/2 stars rounded down.

Then there are a few stories on the artifacts that the Warrens have collected over the years and that part is great!! Very succinct and creepy and I’m finding myself hoping for more of those stories in the future. I would even go through another story to get to the artifact tales. They were just very entertaining!! Five stars for that portion.

Since Jessica’s section takes up the majority of the book, I chose three stars for the book overall. I would be all into a whole graphic novel of the artifact tales!! I don’t recommend the first part since it wasn’t all that great, but the artifact stories were awesome and I highly recommend those!!

A little mixed emotions on this one. I felt the plot was kinda obvious and predictable. The art was okay. It is hard to review one comic when there is more of the story to come. I did feel for her and was invested in what would happen with her. I did not like how the monster is like herself, I was not sure how i liked the concept being played out in this book.

Jessica, a college freshman, is being terrorized by a demonic entity, making her see things that aren’t there and doing things that make others think she’s crazy. *minor spoilers ahead* We later find out that Jessica is in love with her best friend Katie, and she considers this to be her biggest secret. And because of this, you can view this comic one of two ways: First, you can take this at face value, with demons tormenting a girl seemingly for no real reason. Or, you can see this entire comic as a girl’s refusal to accept herself, and she’s mentally killing herself over it. Considering how one of the demon’s main focus is to comment on Katie, and constantly plant doubts in Jessica’s head, I’m guessing it’s meant to be part of Jessica herself. Regarding the art, I thought it fit the horror theme very well, and our unreliable narrator kept me on my toes, trying to discern reality from illusion. There are also some short features at the end of the comic that I appreciated. Overall, I would reccommend this to any horror fans looking for a quick spooky read.

Jessica isn’t doing so well in college. She doesn’t want to go back, but her mother insists. This is the 80s; women can do anything, and Jessica is going to do college. She’s got the normal anxieties, exams, term papers, a boy she regrets sleeping with, but more than that, she cannot shake the feeling that she’s being watched, and not by some benelovent spirit. Something evil is following her.

This is a prequel/tie-in to the film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and as a lover of this series, I thoroughly enjoyed this comic. Jessica’s story is the main plot, but it’s chocked full or shorter stories and themed, retro-inspired ads. It reminds me of a visual representation of some of my favorite horror anthology podcasts. I can’t wait to see the finished artwork, and I really hope DC continues this trend. I’d love to read more.

It’s out in March, so keep your eyes out for it if you’re a horror, comics, and Conjuring fan.

I absolutely enjoyed this graphic novel. It was a bit spooky to read, had amazing graphics, and was eerie. I read through the entire book in 2 sittings on the same day.

My thanks to NetGalley and DC Entertainment for an advanced copy of this new horror/media tie-in graphic novel.

Growing up in Connecticut gave me the opportunity of seeing Ed and Lorraine Warren on their seasonal roadshows, detailing their entanglements with demons and the occult, complete with slides and some props in a Ramada Inn conference room. They always played the hits, Amityville, living dolls, I think I remember a train or a hunted bridge, all for under $10. If anyone had told me back then they would be the basis for a successful film series, that didn't have the name Troma or Corman, or Full Moon, and has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, I would have laughed and wondered what was in that contract they signed with the devil.

DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover written by David L. Johnson- McGoldrick and Rex Ogle, illustrated by Garry Brown is a prequel to the film The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. A young girl returns to college after a winter break, with a litany of troubles. Bad grades, bad decisions with boys, odd parents, and a girl from home she has feelings for. And strange murderous thoughts and dreams. There is also shorter stories featuring some of the oddities from the Warren collection.

There is not much to the story. It's not scary, not horror, just there. Starts, ends, with spooky art. No jump scares to hide a weak story like a horror movie can get away with. Maybe knowing the movie would help, but nothing here makes me want to know more. Why does a demon bother with people who are so bland? The follow up stories about the Warren collection reminded me too much of the Simpson's episode from Treehouse of Horror, where Homer goes to the Evil store and everything is of course evil and or cursed, including the free Frogurt. Some of the stories were ok, but not high on the horror scale. The art is good, very much a throwback to Sandman in the 1980's. For fans and completists of the Conjuring movie series.

By now I’m sure most horror fans know of The Conjuring. This graphic novel is set in that same world of the possessed and demons. I grew up reading the horror comics of the ‘70s; Eerie and Creepy to name a few, and I’m sure they shaped some of the ideas and beliefs that I still hold today. My favorite is when the bullied or odd kid, finds a nice gruesome way to get back at their tormentors. Those actually taught a very valuable lesson; things can get better. You can win, you are better than them. Don’t give in, don’t give up, don’t let them win. Being the oddball teen, the crazy one, the weird one, I took these lessons to heart and knew one day their hatred would come around and somehow bite them back.

This is why I have a problem with the main story told in The Conjuring: The Lovers.

We meet Jessica. A teen who is not handling her first year in college very well. She has little to no friends, she misses home, and she misses her best friend. She begins to hear voices, evil voices that tell her she is worthless, no good, shameful, wrong. These voices drive her mad, causing her to do things that make her look crazy when the writer wants us to believe she is possessed. The demon keeps referring to her being unnatural, a hidden shame that will send her to hell, the reason why she is being tormented.

To make a long story short, she quits college and goes home when she realizes that all she wants is to love and be loved by her best friend. Yes, her deep dark secret that will send her to hell is the fact that this girl is a Lesbian.

Really? In 2022 we are still telling kids that this will send them to hell? This will bring nothing but damnation and insanity if they don’t go straight? This made me angrier than I can even begin to say. Those of us in the older generation have been telling young LGBTQ kids that it will get better. That they are not sick and are worthy of love. Being gay is not a death sentence yet here DC Comics is, not only tormenting the girl but making her do an unspeakable crime, cus, you know...all Lesbians are dangerous and sick. Then of course, because this is what she deserves, she is made to kill herself.
Unforgivable. DC should know better. Should do better!

The rest of the book was better, the Warren archives were actually better stories than the bashing in the first one.
Overall I enjoyed the ads the most. They did remind me of the ’70s when you could buy sea devils, (sea monkeys) and man-eating plants. They made me laugh when I was a teen and they still do.

Maybe just skip the first tale, and you will find a better book.

Thanks to @Netgalley, DC Comics, David L. Johnson-McGoldrick, Rex Ogle, Garry Brown, and Mike Spicer for giving me the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest opinion

It was nice to get some back story behind the cliff scene in the most recent Conjuring movie. I also enjoyed learning more about the items in the artifact room. I'll keep reading it if they add any more to the saga, but that mostly comes from my love for the movies.

The Conjuring: The Lover, is just dull. I’m a fan of horror and The Conjuring franchise, but this just falls completely flat. Cheap thrills and clichés are plentiful in this graphic novel. The faux ads and horror camp art between stories were the best part in my opinion and the only reason I would ever consider buying this. The stories just had no depth to speak of, and when bad things inevitably happen to the characters you end up feeling nothing.

I love horror so I was definitely intrigued by this. I didn’t feel like it added a whole lot with the main story The Devil Made Me Do It. I was hoping for a little more depth or unique pieces to the story. Jessica is returning to college but finds herself haunted by a voice no one else can hear. She wants to go home, but her mother insists she stays in college, but the evil voice only gets louder and louder. I did like the follow up stories about various artifacts from the Warren’s collection. I thought overall those shorts were the best piece and would read more of those. I also liked the evil advertisements, but I thought there were so many they kind of turned into filler. I probably landed on a 2.5 but rounded up for the addition of the short pieces of the Warren’s collection.

Wow! This is amazingly creepy. I recommend it for fans of the movie, and fans of horror in general.

Outstanding graphics and narration!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I am huge fan of the horror genre and have seen all the Warren movies. So, I was delighted to read this book.

It goes over some of the artifacts the Warrens collected over the years and it was really good. I love the random inserts of advertisements for dark magic and the occult.

I hope there is sequel to this. I would love to read more about the other artifacts and their backstory.

Thank you #NetGalley and DC comics for giving me the opportunity to read this.

I'm not sure if this was meant to be a positive LGBTQ horror story set in The Conjuring universe, but it most certainly wasn't.

First off, it's set in the 80s, which was a very bad time to come out of the closet. Secondly, the first half of the graphic novel is centered on a college-aged woman who is ruthlessly picked on, at least by the demon haunting her. The words get way dark and went beyond what I wanted to read. Then, as soon as the woman finally embraces herself just a little bit, she's tricked. Oh, and she ends up doing something that very much doesn't let her discover that it gets better. As a lesbian, I've read a lot of tired stereotypes and 'kill your gays' behavior, but this one is really, really bad.

The rest of the book is filled with several short stories and a bunch of fake ads. The ads brought a bit of a smile to my face because of nostalgia. The stories, though, were all a weak bunch with none of them deserving more than 3 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.