First I must say that the art style is amazing. I love anything retro/vintage. The color palettes are perfect for that era.

The illustrations are cute but the story is serious and one hundred percent adult content so don’t let the illustrations fool you.

Creepy, eerie and fun, the shorts within this graphic novel will stay with you.

This was a fun, spooky read. All of the stories we clever takes and the mixture of the dark subject, gore, and adorable illustration was fantastic. The one page devil comics and the fake ads were clever additions that cracked me up. Elwich is a twisted cursed town but it was a fun visit. I'd definitely recommend this and it would certainly be the perfect Halloween read.

I don’t normally read comics or graphic novels but the cover spoke to me. This was a wild ride! I loved the artwork and the stories. It was creepy, bloody and a good time. I can’t recommend this enough.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher.

Dwellings is one of the most unique reading experiences I’ve had.

It was gory horror, funny at times, gross, uncomfortable, and unexpected.

This makes me think of the best of the worst slasher movies mixed with Tales from the Crypt with a retro Casper-esque art style.

I loved the cute characters doing weird things and the town of Elwich. I was sad when the book was over because I want more weird horror features.

So fun and disturbing. And I just want to say the level of detail is astonishing, right down to the retro advertising that fits so well with the stories.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for an advanced E-copy of this graphic novel.

Exquisite art of horrible things!

Cartoon dementia!

Demons! Demon birds! Demon children speaking Polish!

Great graphic that puts the "graphic" in graphic!

(Thanks for the read. I love Oni Press)

A series of interconnected urban legends in the fictional town of Elwich, Ontario. Stephens’s retro-cute art leads us through the horrific, violent stories in a contrast that really brings home how awful things can happen to anyone. The overall effect is reminiscent of early arcs from Sandman, a sort of “bad mythic things happen to normal people” vibe that I apparently can’t get enough of.

I made a few notes about each specific story but overall, I loved the way little details were sprinkled through each story to help tie them together. I was also obsessed with the art style - I'm a big fan of mixing cute and horror aesthetics, so the adorable character designed paired with the grisly stories worked really well for me. I've toyed with the intersection of suburbia and the occult in some of my personal writing for years, so I loved that this collection also dug into that concept through the cursed town of Elwich. I also loved the advertising inserts, etc scattered throughout the collection. The retro vibes were such a fun addition and they helped round out the world building as I was reading.

The first two stories were the strongest for me but I enjoyed the final story a lot as well! I would definitely read more installments from this creepy lil Canadian town.

#1: I looooove a good creepy crow story, no notes.

#2: Gory + crazy cultists + a clean reveal at the end.

#3: Can't go wrong with a creepy puppet.

#4: Not my favorite of the stories but did some heavy lifting on world building in the town!

#5: Revenge time!

#6: I love stories that explore children's capacity for cruelty.

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honor review.

I loved this comic. It was so interesting enjoying a comic that visually reminded me of Casper and Wendy, but read like a Grady Hendrix novel. The cop being a factor that tied the stories together was great. Please keep these coming.

Ok, wow. I just finished this and… it got dark. This was a true horror graphic novel, but in the style of kids comics I remember reading growing up, complete with fake advertisements that reference items in the story.

The stories centre around creepy and mysterious things that happen in the town of Elwich and have layers of history and nuance that sneak up on the reader.

The art style is so opposite to the tone and content of the story it just creates an extra layer of unsettling discomfort to the whole experience. Watching murder and violence carried out by, and enacted on, Chibi style characters was just my level of horror. Creepy kids singing nursery rhymes in horror movies have been overdone, but this is the graphic novel version of creating that same experience. And, at least for me, was a totally new and refreshing take on a horror genre.

I will admit that I didn’t expect it to be full horror when I picked it up specifically BECAUSE of the art style, but it was apparent quickly that I was wrong. But I also didn’t mind a book that could mess with my expectations so thoroughly.

If “cosy horror” is a genre, this strikes me as the kind of thing that fans of the Magnus Archives might enjoy as well, since there seems to be a bit of a cross over in the concept of a gentle way to tell a really creepy story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to Oni Press for providing an advance reader's copy of this horror graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

The art work in this was fantastic and reminded me of vintage comics. Even the colour scheme reminded me of that. The stories were so weird and so much fun. They're all interconnected in some way and they all take place in a town called Elwich. The stories were quite violent with a lot of gore and this is not for everyone. I enjoyed reading them. The little ads throughout the book ere very well done and provided some snippets and clues.

A fast paced, entertaining read!

This was a great read. I really, really, really loved the art style: it's so adorable and vintage, reminiscing of those comic strips I used to read in the newspaper as a kid.

There are six short stories in this book and they're all full of horror, gore, violence and insanity. I liked how most of them were connected some way or another. There were also some one-page stories sprinkled here and there that were really fun to read. I love the author's creativity to come up with these crazy plots.

This is a really great graphic novel that will keep you entertained and disturbed at the same time. It's not my favorite book of all time, and definitely not my favorite genre, hence the three star rating. But I want to emphasize how much of a great job the author did. I really liked this book and its colorful and visually pleasing pages.

5 stars

Buckle up for the most adorably horrific graphic novel to be penned. With a cursed town full of slaughter, hauntings, and clowns, this book is captivating from the first page to the last. With old fashioned cut out and send away advertisements between each chapter, this novel's whimsy is starkly contrasted by the grotesque depections of horror on every page. It was so enthralling that I read every single little advertisement and sign in the background, looking for another piece that shows the thread between each story. This is a must own for any fan of art and horror.

Dwelling is a collection of short stories about what lurks in Elwich. There is a lot of old-school comic art style in Dwellings, both in color and in black and white. NOT FOR CHILDREN. There are many trigger warnings in this book
Self-harm
Criminal acts
Murder
Violence
Blood
Overdose
Drugs
Addiction
cult
You will enjoy this comic if you like horror, eerie stories, and a bit of dark humor

2.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the captivating juxtaposition of a vintage cartoonish aesthetic mixed with horror stories, which was creating a distinctive and appealing contrast you can't help but to enjoy. The illustrations were particularly praiseworthy. However, among the collection, only two stories resonated with me, as the others failed to captivate my interest as much.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

thanks NetGalley,

I don't know how to describe it but I loved here so here it goes. I thought the artwork was fantastic and loved the twisted little stories of Elwich. I loved the style of the graphic novel which makes you think it's suitable for kids...It is 100% adult from the language, sexual references, and gory deaths. If you like weird and dark comics this one is for you.

Welcome to Elwich—an oasis of small-town perfection, where the schools overflow with cheery-eyed children, lovingly adorned homes line the historic boulevards . . . and only the crows can see the deep, festering rot that lurks beneath the pristine surface.

Murder.
Demonology.
Possession.
Obsession.

Elwich has them all on offer—and behind every dwelling awaits a horrifying new story to be told.

If you like horror, and violence, with a little Eldricthy vibe thrown in at times, but you also want your stories to have cute pictures and characters, then this is def for you.

Dwellings is an absolute hoot! A series of dark horror stories told in a cartoon style reminiscent of Harvey Comics characters like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich. The stories are dark and macabre (and sometimes gory), and the cartoony style enhances the horror of it all.

The stories flow nicely and reference one another obliquely. While reading the book this afternoon I found myself thinking of both Stephen King and Pulp Fiction.

This is a great comic and would be an awesome recommendation to horror fans.

Older horror fans will recognize similarities between Dwellings and the Creepshow film series of the 1980s. The premise of a cursed town is interesting enough, and the art style is delightfully disarming. Unfortunately, there are so many plot threads that the reader may find themselves more confused than chilled.

My thanks to both NetGalley and to Oni Press for an advance copy of this graphic novel horror anthology that's both spectacular and horrifying in its own right.

“History is a horror story.”

Jay Stepehns in this collection tells the creepy story of the town of Elwich. A town plagued by possessions, violent acts and strange behaviour. Each story brings a new type of horror to the legacy of Elwich.

I loved this collection. Each story is bizarre and becomes darker the further you read. The representation of people literally losing their minds over something macabre and evil is portrayed in a way that was clever and addicting to read.

The cartoon style of this graphic novel made this even more fun and twisted. There is a great mix of chilling stories followed by vintage adverts which in this style of illustration make it even creepier.

Overall a brilliant collection of stories mixed with vintage advertisements made this a fun and messed up read. One I would definitely recommend.

Many thanks to @netgalley for a copy of this graphic novel.