26 October: Harrow County

 

"Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

"Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good."

---William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Pull up a stool to the caldron, because we’ve got “Witchcraft” happenin’ today for Cinematic Void’s 31 Days of Voidoween. There are plenty of great witchie movies out there, but I want to focus your attention on a comic book series that ran from 2015 to 2018: Harrow County.

Published by Dark Horse Comics, written by Cullen Bunn, and drawn by Tyler Crook, Harrow County is set in rural America in the 1930s. It follows the exploits of Emmy Crawford, a young girl who may or may not be the reincarnation of the witch Hester Beck, who was hung from a tree on Emmy’s pa’s property. As Emmy (and the reader) uncovers the truth about herself, her friends and family, and all of Harrow County, she discovers that nothing is as it seems. There are “countless haints” living in the fields and forests, and they all seem to fear and hate Emmy. Who is Emmy? What is her story? Is she really a witch? Why does she keep the skin of a boy in her dresser drawer?

So many questions!

Harrow County is gorgeous in both its storytelling and art. It’s been described as a southern gothic fairy tale, and I can’t think of a better way to sum it up. As good as Emmy’s story is, it’s the artwork that will pull you in. Eschewing working on a computer, artist Tyler Crook chose to use watercolors to bring Harrow County to life. It was the perfect choice. Every page is filled with lovely, rich, sepia-esque color. It gives the reader the sense that he/she/they are seeing pictures from the distant past. The shadows that surround Emmy seem to come alive on the page. It’s staggeringly beautiful work.

If you have a library card, you can use the Hoopla app to read Harrow County. I can’t think of a better - or scarier - way to pass the time this Halloween.