peritract's review against another edition
4.0
Vengeance is a common human desire and, like other human desires, also a dreadful sin. For each sin, there is a demon; the sin given flesh and summoned into the world by people who think they can survive the experience.
After a hit-and-run leaves children dead, a vengeance demon is raised to hunt down those responsible. With no other hope for survival, the demon’s victims raise demons of their own. A rural American community is torn apart – both metaphorically and literally – by inter-demon conflict.
This is a monster story; the major focus of the narrative is on the various demons attacking and fighting. Like all good monster stories, there’s a needlessly-complicated backstory and a strong moral element to who dies and how. Similarly, the titular monster is not a full antagonist – half the time, you’re rooting for it.
The violence is explicit but rarely that graphic – things get crushed and slashed and melted, but it’s not revelled in. This is good – fictional violence should be a means not an end. In fact, I was expecting the comic to tend edgier – it has personifications several mortal sins, but they don’t do much to live up to their reputations.
In fact, demon design is one of the weaker parts of the book. Lust’s most seductive action is beckoning once, and she’s got spider legs. Sloth spits acid and climbs on things – one of those characteristics is strange, the other is bizarre. None of the demons are particularly obviously themselves, and I think that the creators missed a trick here; why use iconic evils if you aren’t going to make them iconic?
Before reading this, I was not familiar with the source material. In fact, I wasn’t aware that there was source material at all. There’s a 1988 film called Pumpkinhead which I understand is the original work. This is not an adaptation though – same general themes, same monster, but a different story and characters.
The monster is called Pumpkinhead because of a bad choice by the original source material – it doesn’t have the head of a pumpkin, though it does rise from a presumably humble pumpkin patch. Other than that detail, pumpkins are unimportant to the narrative; if you were hoping for authentically autumnal horror, then this is not quite what you want.
The art is consistent and clear, which I appreciate – a lot of comics, particularly horror ones, seem to go with a more abstract and impressionistic style. This is fine in theory, but often ends up with confusing images and limited differentiation between the characters. That’s not the case here – it’s always clear who everyone is and who each limb belongs too. There is a supplementary story which is sepia-toned and more abstract, but it’s still clear what is going on.
Pumpkinhead is a satisfying supernatural slasher story in which all the right things happen in the right places. It’s a b-movie in comic form, and I find that that appeals to me.
After a hit-and-run leaves children dead, a vengeance demon is raised to hunt down those responsible. With no other hope for survival, the demon’s victims raise demons of their own. A rural American community is torn apart – both metaphorically and literally – by inter-demon conflict.
This is a monster story; the major focus of the narrative is on the various demons attacking and fighting. Like all good monster stories, there’s a needlessly-complicated backstory and a strong moral element to who dies and how. Similarly, the titular monster is not a full antagonist – half the time, you’re rooting for it.
The violence is explicit but rarely that graphic – things get crushed and slashed and melted, but it’s not revelled in. This is good – fictional violence should be a means not an end. In fact, I was expecting the comic to tend edgier – it has personifications several mortal sins, but they don’t do much to live up to their reputations.
In fact, demon design is one of the weaker parts of the book. Lust’s most seductive action is beckoning once, and she’s got spider legs. Sloth spits acid and climbs on things – one of those characteristics is strange, the other is bizarre. None of the demons are particularly obviously themselves, and I think that the creators missed a trick here; why use iconic evils if you aren’t going to make them iconic?
Before reading this, I was not familiar with the source material. In fact, I wasn’t aware that there was source material at all. There’s a 1988 film called Pumpkinhead which I understand is the original work. This is not an adaptation though – same general themes, same monster, but a different story and characters.
The monster is called Pumpkinhead because of a bad choice by the original source material – it doesn’t have the head of a pumpkin, though it does rise from a presumably humble pumpkin patch. Other than that detail, pumpkins are unimportant to the narrative; if you were hoping for authentically autumnal horror, then this is not quite what you want.
The art is consistent and clear, which I appreciate – a lot of comics, particularly horror ones, seem to go with a more abstract and impressionistic style. This is fine in theory, but often ends up with confusing images and limited differentiation between the characters. That’s not the case here – it’s always clear who everyone is and who each limb belongs too. There is a supplementary story which is sepia-toned and more abstract, but it’s still clear what is going on.
Pumpkinhead is a satisfying supernatural slasher story in which all the right things happen in the right places. It’s a b-movie in comic form, and I find that that appeals to me.
queenkoko's review against another edition
3.0
Good story, loved the art, and the hilbillies. Could have been better without the 7 deadly sins aspect, that took away from the vengeance part of the story. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be though. The gore was spot on though.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
jhstack's review against another edition
2.0
Being unfamiliar with Pumpkinhead canon/lore didn't help with this trade. Neither did some inconsistent artwork. If you're a fan of the film series, you'll likely enjoy this. Otherwise, I found little engaging. (e-galley from NetGalley)
carroq's review against another edition
2.0
Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Pumpkinhead seemed like the perfect book to read going into Halloween. It's a horror tale featuring a demon of vengeance. It started out okay with a nice intro about a group of witches. The most prominent is Haggis, who ends up controlling Pumpkinhead. I'll start by saying I wanted to see more about these characters. This intro shows them as young women just coming into their power and then the story jumps ahead roughly 60 years and there is nothing about the interim period.
The switch from the witches brings us to a Hillbilly revenge story. It actually picks up after the event that causes the whole mess that goes on in this book. So there are the two families that have a feud going on, and then there is the sheriff investigating everything. Amongst all these characters, I didn't find any that were particularly interesting. The story does pick up again once the witches reappear to cause havoc.
So the best part of this book for me is the mythology. The structure behind the relationship between the witches and the demons seems pretty strong, although we only really get to see glimpses of it. It goes on to incorporate the seven deadly sins, which I thought was a nice touch. The bonus story at the end does a better job showing why only Pumpkinhead has been brought to our world over the years. The art is okay. I can't say anything bad about it, but it didn't stand out or excite me in any way.
I found this book to be underdeveloped despite an interesting idea.
Pumpkinhead seemed like the perfect book to read going into Halloween. It's a horror tale featuring a demon of vengeance. It started out okay with a nice intro about a group of witches. The most prominent is Haggis, who ends up controlling Pumpkinhead. I'll start by saying I wanted to see more about these characters. This intro shows them as young women just coming into their power and then the story jumps ahead roughly 60 years and there is nothing about the interim period.
The switch from the witches brings us to a Hillbilly revenge story. It actually picks up after the event that causes the whole mess that goes on in this book. So there are the two families that have a feud going on, and then there is the sheriff investigating everything. Amongst all these characters, I didn't find any that were particularly interesting. The story does pick up again once the witches reappear to cause havoc.
So the best part of this book for me is the mythology. The structure behind the relationship between the witches and the demons seems pretty strong, although we only really get to see glimpses of it. It goes on to incorporate the seven deadly sins, which I thought was a nice touch. The bonus story at the end does a better job showing why only Pumpkinhead has been brought to our world over the years. The art is okay. I can't say anything bad about it, but it didn't stand out or excite me in any way.
I found this book to be underdeveloped despite an interesting idea.
jmanchester0's review against another edition
3.0
I requested this ARC because I‰ЫЄve read some of Cullen Bunn‰ЫЄs stuff and though it amazing.
This was kind of fun in a B-movie sort of way, but I don‰ЫЄt know if I‰ЫЄd go out of my way to recommend it. While the idea of the different sins was pretty cool and creative, the execution kind of watered it down in a silly, schlocky horror sort of way.
In one sense, I would have liked to see a more serious horror story with those demons - and in another, I think this would have been more fun if the demands were a little more ‰ЫПsilly‰Ыќ and ‰ЫПschlocky‰Ыќ.
Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Dynamite Entertainment for a copy in return for an honest review.
This was kind of fun in a B-movie sort of way, but I don‰ЫЄt know if I‰ЫЄd go out of my way to recommend it. While the idea of the different sins was pretty cool and creative, the execution kind of watered it down in a silly, schlocky horror sort of way.
In one sense, I would have liked to see a more serious horror story with those demons - and in another, I think this would have been more fun if the demands were a little more ‰ЫПsilly‰Ыќ and ‰ЫПschlocky‰Ыќ.
Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Dynamite Entertainment for a copy in return for an honest review.
howlinglibraries's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't think anything from the Pumpkinhead franchise could be quite this bland and boring, yet here we are.
I loved the 1988 Pumpkinhead movie as a kid. My mom and I had a Blockbuster membership (wow, I feel old), and whenever we had free rentals to use and nothing new was out, we'd see what the cheesiest horror movie we could find was, and I'll never forget us laughing our way through the film, but it was a classic that you couldn't help but enjoy, you know? Sadly, all of the camp and twisted fun is sucked right out of the story in this graphic novel. I found it incredibly boring, and even Pumpkinhead's terrifying destruction couldn't pull me in, sadly.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I loved the 1988 Pumpkinhead movie as a kid. My mom and I had a Blockbuster membership (wow, I feel old), and whenever we had free rentals to use and nothing new was out, we'd see what the cheesiest horror movie we could find was, and I'll never forget us laughing our way through the film, but it was a classic that you couldn't help but enjoy, you know? Sadly, all of the camp and twisted fun is sucked right out of the story in this graphic novel. I found it incredibly boring, and even Pumpkinhead's terrifying destruction couldn't pull me in, sadly.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
etienne02's review against another edition
1.0
Pumpkinhead is an old horror movie series, even if there were a bit cheap, there were entertaining enough and this book don't do them justice. The illustration are really not that good, the story is very light (I didn't really expect anything but still...) and the gore/action/horror scenes are not well put into place. Bad adaptation!
astoldbybex's review
2.0
Note: I received a copy of Pumpkinhead by Cullen Bunn via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I know a lot of people can relate -- when a book makes you feel absolutely nothing, it's hard to review said book. I didn't dislike Pumpkinhead, but I also didn't enjoy it? There were some gruesome scenes & the art was phenomenal, but I just didn't care much for story as a whole. I guess, at the time of reading it, I was like okay, this is fine -- it's alright, but yet I was still trying to rush through it, just to get it done asap.
I honestly don't know what could have made the story better. It did have rhyme & reason; it all made sense, it flowed nicely together. This is just in the category of forgettable & that really breaks my heart as a horror fan.
I know a lot of people can relate -- when a book makes you feel absolutely nothing, it's hard to review said book. I didn't dislike Pumpkinhead, but I also didn't enjoy it? There were some gruesome scenes & the art was phenomenal, but I just didn't care much for story as a whole. I guess, at the time of reading it, I was like okay, this is fine -- it's alright, but yet I was still trying to rush through it, just to get it done asap.
I honestly don't know what could have made the story better. It did have rhyme & reason; it all made sense, it flowed nicely together. This is just in the category of forgettable & that really breaks my heart as a horror fan.
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