A series of happy coincidences led me to being on the staff at Cardiff's Film & Comic Con last weekend - at which, coincidentally, all-round good egg Arfon Jones had a new comic being "launched". Afron himself wasn't there, unfortunately, but the writers of said comic were - those being Matt Warner and AJ Ballard (of Hellbound Media), so after a bit of a chinwag I got the new issue of Slaughterhouse Farm (apparently I was the first one to buy it, fresh from the printers as it were), as well as the first and second issues. And this being a "comics blog" of sorts, and feeling oddly motivated today what with the aptness of it all (horror comic, Hallowe'en and so on), here's something that might pass for a "review".
Essentially, Slaughterhouse Farm is a video nasty in paper form, with all the grisliness and brutality you'd expect from such a thing. A Camden couple are driving a group of wayward teenagers into the heights of North Wales for a camping/team-building weekend, when they encounter the Welsh answer to Ed Gein - the appropriately-named Pigfucker:
And obviously, that's when things turn nasty - heads are sliced in half, brains are cooked, dogs are chopped down the middle, kids are impaled, decapitated heads are interfered with, characters you expect to be the "heroes" are suddenly and brutally killed off... All in good fun, of course.
"Reading the scripts for the first time can be quite a shock... They killed off a few I thought would make it!" - Arfon Jones (the one who does the drawings)
There's some hinted-at mysteries in there too, mysteries we won't know the full answer to until the fourth and final issue, which is due (I'm told) sometime around September next year. Gah!
So if this sort of thing is "your bag", or you just fancy something a bit different, Slaughterhouse Farm comes "recommended". The comics themselves might be haunted too, as they're DEFINITELY black and white, but under my scanner they seem to've picked up a somewhat psychedelic colour scheme. Interesting.
You can get the first two issues, and probably eventually the third issue, from the Hellbound Media shop - read them enough times and maybe they'll do for Snowdonia what John Landis did for the Yorkshire Moors (thunder crash, lightning etcetera).
For more "spookiness" on this here blog, have a look at Bloody Hell!, a horror anthology from Kev Sutherland, Nigel Maughan and so on; this list of things that frightened, disturbed or upset me as a youngster; a book of Spooky Riddles; some monstrous cartoons (a few dead links here, but most of them are still up); some gory stickers culled from a scrap book; some Hallowe'en music mixes (probably a bit late for that now, but it's still good stuff); Gahan Wilson's version of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven; Zig & Zag's "scary special" of their Zogazine by Kev Sutherland and John Moore; and some "spooky" Buster covers by Tom Paterson...
No reflection on AJ's drawing ability, THB, but I detest comics like this. Scenes of bestiality (however strategically staged) should never appear in any medium - sick, sick, sick. I remember someone showing me the rape scene in an issue of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and thinking it was wonderfully clever because the victim was the Invisible Man. The product of a sick mind, in my opinion. Give me an old issue of Valiant any day.
ReplyDeleteTrue, there's few things worse than bestiality, but it IS a horror comic - as in, designed to disturb or disgust, much in the spirit of the video nasties...
DeleteI think it does a good job of that, and that panel up there is about as graphic as it gets with regard to that particular theme.
Yeah, but even Horror stories can have a little class without resorting to such things, don't you think? However, I always thought Horror tales were about scaring people (in 'nice' way), not dragging the depths of depravity. Anyway, that's my view of things and, it goes without saying, people are free to disagree with my opinion.
DeleteOops! That should read (in a 'nice' way) - missed out the 'a'.
DeleteCertainly, certainly... But then, there's also different kinds of "horror" within the horror genre - psychological horror, supernatural horror, body horror... I think this one's clearly aiming for the kind of horror that was big in the 1980s, that nasty kind of horror that aimed to frighten, shock or disgust as much as it could (Friday 13th, Evil Dead, Driller Killer and so on), with a splash of that stuff that's more popular in recent years, the "torture porn" stuff like Saw and Hostel and all that palava.
DeleteDefinitely not for everyone, certainly, I agree with that... Just trying to give it a bit of context (maybe I should've done more of that in the actual posting?).
I suppose I'm just banging my own particular drum, THB, because I think that things like comics, movies, etc., work better when they operate within the bounds of good taste, and I deplore the modern attitude where absolutely anything goes. Not taking a dig at AJ, obviously (or you), because he's just drawing what's in the script, but I just think tales of this kind are incredibly unhealthy and don't advance the medium of comics in any way. Just call me Fredric Wertham. Haven't seen any of the films you mentioned, by the way. I try and remember the old saying when it comes to what I read or watch - you can't roll in the mud without getting dirty.
DeleteFair's fair, and I applaud your moral stance - there's a lot of things that in retrospect I'd prefer not to have watched or read ("Frisk" by Dennis Cooper comes to mind), but at the same time by exposing myself to "muddy" stuff, I'm less likely to be offended/shocked/scared by things in the future - call it pre-emptive coping, if you like (to coin a phrase?).
DeleteI think that's the danger 'though, THB. that the reader or viewer becomes unshockable, and then reads or watches the most offensive of things - without reacting to it in the way that they should. The fact that people watch all sorts of graphic horrors on TV or computer games without turning a hair - all in the pursuit of 'entertainment' - well, something just doesn't seem quite right about that, in my view. Becoming inured to certain things robs us of our humanity to a certain extent.
DeleteThere's being desensitised and then there's being sheltered... It's all about finding the balance, maybe? I just think the more of this kind of stuff we expose ourselves to, the less likely we are to be perturbed by the "real world" (which is obviously a LOT more horrific than anything that can be found in a comic, film or game!).
DeleteBut that's just it, THB. I don't think we should ever lose our ability to be perturbed by things in the 'real world'. I've never read Moore's Lost Girls (an exercise in pornography he calls it), but from everything I've read about its contents, I don't think those 'tastes' should be catered for.
DeleteI’m delighted that something I have worked on has made it on to your fine site sir!
ReplyDeleteI find Kid’s comments very interesting- I’ve enjoyed reading them. It might amuse many people to know that I don’t watch much modern horror, I only watched the Saw series so I could see what everyone was talking about… When a friend of mine suggested I watch ‘Driller Killer’ I did so and then suggested we watch the ‘Abominable Doctor Phibes’ and ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ afterwards…
As was pointed out, the top panel is about as graphic as it gets with regard to bestiality, that opening shot established the depravity of the killer in story. True that pig and a dog in issue 2 do not come out of this story too well but really is no fun being human… I approached this as a ‘B’ grade video nasty, making it look grubby and poorly lit (that I hope aids the atmosphere in the issue) deaths are treated as special effects so the deaths are over the top and look fake at times, there is humour there too… You just need to find it! Personally I believe that the writers have found a good balance. It’s pays a loving nod to 70’s/80’s slasher movies but they have added twist and turns to the plot so as to not make it predictable. I openly admit that I am not one that normally reads this sort of thing (more often favouring the before mentioned stories that operate within the bounds of good taste). But I must say Hellbound Media have a wide selection of horror titles, their psychological horror title and I understand it has proved to me their most popular title so there is a fan base out there… So I’m pleased that the comic and reader have found each other. Just you wait for issue 4…. ;)
Hi AJ. Perhaps that panel above is more shocking for being seen out of context, but I feel that for the writers to include a character that has carnal knowledge with animals is a step too far. It's beyond me why anyone would even want to read about such things, never mind write them. The idea of such subjects being presented for entertainment value is a step in the wrong direction for comicbooks and society as a whole, I feel. (In my famously humble opinion of course.) Bring back the Comics Code!
DeleteDon’t say that Kid I need to work! ;)
DeleteWhat can I say, AJ? Despite my liking for a 'Babe' or two (as in my Babe of the Day slot, nothing to do with pigs), I guess I'm just an old prude when it comes to sexual content or allusions in comics. I'm probably in a minority of one, so relax - your career is safe.
DeleteDon’t let that page fool you sir, we have babes in there too… 100%
DeleteFigured out those weird colours by the way... Seems I had my scanner set to "Colour Documents" rather than the usual "Colour Photos", whoops...
ReplyDeleteMystery solved! :)
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