I Luv Halloween

I LUV HALLOWEEN

All hail writer Kieth Giffen and artist Benjamin Roman! The two volumes of their I Luv Halloween semi-manga series are gruesome and grotesque like nothing you’ve ever seen or read. The smallish black and white books deal with an innocent enough subject, neighborhood friends go trick or treating. But, there’s nothing ordinary about what happens to these kids. Lead character Finch’s parents are both dead, decaying corpses propped up at the dinner table. His preternaturally strong little sister Moochie likes to collect molars, from her dead parents or anyone else unlucky enough to cross her path. Spencer, AKA Mr. Kitty, his brother Spike (who never says anything but the piratey “I be Spike!”), Pig Pig and Devil Lad round out the troop.

I LUV HALLOWEEN

These kids tromp through the evening dealing with bloody death and dismemberment as casually as they do the depreadations of the neighborhood bully; they’re all nothing but obstacles in the way of our heroes’ true goal, candy. In fact, the whole story is a logical extension, taken to extremes, of the kid-centric concept of “candy as God” that you’ll be familiar with if you’ve ever been around a child or, like some people, were once a child yourself. The second volume is even better as the kids continue their grimly determined march towards free candy even as their town is being completely overrun by cannibal zombies. If anything, actually bloodier and more extreme than volume one, book two introduces several new characters. Three sisters, one of whom is already a zombie, another who gets eaten by pieces as the story progresses, and the epileptic Hully Gully round out the latest additions. Again, the destruction surrounding them and their own mortal peril at the hands of characters living and dead, pale in comparison to the possibility of free candy. Zombies attack! Noses are eaten! Hully Gully has a seizure as his candy is zombie slimed! Mr. Kitty sets a man’s wife on fire! Pig Pig gets his first kiss! Zombies trick or treat for body parts!

I LUV HALLOWEEN

A third volume was planned for October of 2006 but has yet to appear. If it ever shows up the kids will be seeking out their candy in the middle of an alien invasion. If it doesn’t materialize that’s OK, the two volumes so far written have little interconnection and characters who die in book one are mysteriously resurrected for the next installment. High literature it’s not, but it is ghoulishly entertaining. So, if you have a strong stomach and a sense of humor that skews toward the strange, you’re in for a real treat. It isn’t Harry Potter.

[Buy I Luv Halloween Volume 1]

[Buy I Luv Halloween Volume 2]

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Posted on April 14, 2007

Comments

7 Responses to “I Luv Halloween”

Rustycat on April 14th, 2007 8:42 am

I think I’ll be ordering this, thanks D!

geekgasmic.com on April 14th, 2007 8:46 am

I Luv Halloween

Dthompson of The Plugg reviews this macabre look at Halloween and a group of kids quest for candy. Well worth checking out.