Locke & Key
Jan. 19th, 2020 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
singedsunHey friends. So, in this Day #9 of the Snowflake Challenge (which I am definitely behind on) we're supposed to rec a fandom people might not know about. Okay and here's the thing. I WOULD LOVE to tell you all about the Dracula TV show from 2013. Especially now in these days of Moffat & Gatiss attempt that swung and missed pretty big. If you want a dramatically written, beautifully lit, cinematicly shot version of Dracula with very pretty people and very little substance, this TV show has you covered BIG TIME. It's no masterpiece, but it's beautiful and very gay and deserves more than what it was given. I wrote more about it here though, and so I recommend you go back and read that. It also has my second favorite TV show people don't seem to know about, Being Erica. Which is also on my always asks for Yuletide. So, give those a shot.
BUT if you're looking for something a little different, let me offer you this very interesting comic which is likely about to be everyone's buzzy horror/fantasy Netflix show.
LOCKE & KEY
You might have seen that this is about to become a Netflix series, and boy howdy am I excited for it. Locke and Key is a comic series from 2008-2010 written by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son and horror writer of a variety of things including Into the Tall Grass and Nos4a2) and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (which earned him an Eisner Award nomination). The series came out in six acts (mini-series), each containing six issues. The first act was called Welcome to Lovecraft. You can buy the entire collection now as an omnibus. The whole six-act series is also available as an audiobook from Audible, performed like a radio play with foley work and a variety of voice actors (including Tatiana Maslany & Kate Mulgrew). I listened to it last year and I thought it was really, really well done. The upcoming Netflix series isn't it's first attempt at live action though. There was a movie deal early on, which got dropped and then FOX picked up the series and shot a pilot. When that was cancelled Hulu tried to pick it up and now it's in the hands of Netflix with Joe Hill rightfully on as writer/producer.
This is very strongly a horror series, with a lot of twists and turns. At it's core, it's about three kids (Tyler, Kinsey & Bode Locke) who move back to the boyhood home of their father after he passes away, leaving them the family estate, Keyhouse. It's an oddly large house in the backwoods of Massachusetts and the kids are not excited about living there. However, the kids learn that mysteries abound in this new strange house as they discover strange keys which open much more than just doors.
I don't want to say too much about the plot other than there's a lot of large puzzle pieces to how the story comes together. It's not exactly linear or chronological. It's deeply engaging though and it'll keep you on the edge of your seat. Bode Locke, the youngest of the Locke siblings will absolutely steal your heart and he's probably the best and the worst of them at all times.
If you're looking for shipping potential, you'll find it, especially as you meet Dodge who befriends Tyler and Kinsey at school. He spends a good deal of time at the Locke home and shares a lot of their exploits in looking for keys and discovering exactly how they work. There are others, but I really don't want to give all the characters away. Mostly though, this is a group piece, it's a family story and that's where 99% of the charm in this story comes from.
Yes, as the name of the first act might suggest, there is a (small) affiliation with the Lovecraftian mythos but it is very small and barely worth mentioning. If you're looking for a horror series, something with a touch of the fantastic, this is definitely worth checking out. While the characters at the center of the story are mostly children/teens, the subject lines can be very adult.
CW: blood, violence, death, depression
If you have a paid subscription with Comixology, the series is part of the Unlimited collection to read for free, here. If you're on Audible, the entire series is here in a 13 hour audio drama. Or find the comics wherever your local shops are, most good shops carry the collection for at least Welcome to Lovecraft. I'm sure a lot of places will be digging their copies out to sell as soon as the Netflix show airs too.
BUT if you're looking for something a little different, let me offer you this very interesting comic which is likely about to be everyone's buzzy horror/fantasy Netflix show.
LOCKE & KEY
You might have seen that this is about to become a Netflix series, and boy howdy am I excited for it. Locke and Key is a comic series from 2008-2010 written by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son and horror writer of a variety of things including Into the Tall Grass and Nos4a2) and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (which earned him an Eisner Award nomination). The series came out in six acts (mini-series), each containing six issues. The first act was called Welcome to Lovecraft. You can buy the entire collection now as an omnibus. The whole six-act series is also available as an audiobook from Audible, performed like a radio play with foley work and a variety of voice actors (including Tatiana Maslany & Kate Mulgrew). I listened to it last year and I thought it was really, really well done. The upcoming Netflix series isn't it's first attempt at live action though. There was a movie deal early on, which got dropped and then FOX picked up the series and shot a pilot. When that was cancelled Hulu tried to pick it up and now it's in the hands of Netflix with Joe Hill rightfully on as writer/producer.
This is very strongly a horror series, with a lot of twists and turns. At it's core, it's about three kids (Tyler, Kinsey & Bode Locke) who move back to the boyhood home of their father after he passes away, leaving them the family estate, Keyhouse. It's an oddly large house in the backwoods of Massachusetts and the kids are not excited about living there. However, the kids learn that mysteries abound in this new strange house as they discover strange keys which open much more than just doors.
I don't want to say too much about the plot other than there's a lot of large puzzle pieces to how the story comes together. It's not exactly linear or chronological. It's deeply engaging though and it'll keep you on the edge of your seat. Bode Locke, the youngest of the Locke siblings will absolutely steal your heart and he's probably the best and the worst of them at all times.
If you're looking for shipping potential, you'll find it, especially as you meet Dodge who befriends Tyler and Kinsey at school. He spends a good deal of time at the Locke home and shares a lot of their exploits in looking for keys and discovering exactly how they work. There are others, but I really don't want to give all the characters away. Mostly though, this is a group piece, it's a family story and that's where 99% of the charm in this story comes from.
Yes, as the name of the first act might suggest, there is a (small) affiliation with the Lovecraftian mythos but it is very small and barely worth mentioning. If you're looking for a horror series, something with a touch of the fantastic, this is definitely worth checking out. While the characters at the center of the story are mostly children/teens, the subject lines can be very adult.
CW: blood, violence, death, depression
If you have a paid subscription with Comixology, the series is part of the Unlimited collection to read for free, here. If you're on Audible, the entire series is here in a 13 hour audio drama. Or find the comics wherever your local shops are, most good shops carry the collection for at least Welcome to Lovecraft. I'm sure a lot of places will be digging their copies out to sell as soon as the Netflix show airs too.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-20 03:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2020-01-20 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-20 12:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-20 01:35 pm (UTC)Ohhh, I had just watched a trailer for Locke & Key! (I wondered why it sounded familiar. *head desk* my brain) I'm not much of a horror fan, but it looks pretty good!
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Date: 2020-01-21 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-21 01:52 am (UTC)