House of Penance

by Peter J. Tomasi, Ian Bertram (Illustrator), Dave Stewart (Illustrator)

Overview

A horrific take on the true story of the Winchester haunted house and one woman's mission to wash away the blood curse of the Winchester rifle from claiming her own life and soul.

This is a tale about guilt, ghosts, and guns...of how fortune brings misfortune, as a grim and determined woman oversees the construction of a house twenty four hours a day for twenty years with the simple motto of keep busy building or get busy dying.

"Peter Tomasi and Ian Bertram make you want to sleep with the lights on after reading this tale of horror and dread that wraps you around the throat and doesn't let go. There's a price for everything, and we are reminded of that in the most entertaining, and disturbing, way."
- Geoff Johns (Justice League)

"House of Penance is Peter Tomasís finest work to date, a haunting, macabre experience that will stay with any thoughtful reader long after its conclusion. A fine tale well told, and highly recommended."
-Garth Ennis (Preacher)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506700335
Publisher:	Dark Horse Comics
Publication date:	01/24/2017
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Peter J. Tomasi is an American comic book editor and writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. As an editor, he oversaw numerous books featuring the Justice League, including books starring various members of that team, such as Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and the Flash. As a writer, he has written books featuring Batman-related characters, such as Batman and Robin and The Outsiders, and Green Lantern-related books such as Blackest Night, Brightest Day and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors.

Editorial Reviews

01/30/2017
With this unusual take on the real story of the Winchester house in San Jose, Calif., Tomasi (Batman and Robin) and Bertram (Zero), have created perhaps the first biographical horror graphic novel. Sarah Winchester, widow of firearms magnate William Winchester, employs men to continually expand her San Jose house, night and day. Tomasi depicts Sarah hallucinating about the dead killed by Winchester rifles: pools of blood and enormous veins threaten her and the house, with only the continued hammering keeping these horrors at bay. Fictional workman Warren Peck is a newcomer to Sarah’s house and, like all the men working there, has a past of horrible violence. Partially because of this, he and Sarah become close. Bertram brings to gory life all of Sarah’s delusions as well as Warren’s memories of those he killed. His male characters tend toward the grotesque, perhaps closest to the work of Frank Quietly, while Sarah is all cheekbones and huge eyes. The ghosts here are all in the characters’ minds but frightening nonetheless. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

04/01/2017
Having recently lost her husband and only child, Sarah Winchester inherits a vast fortune owing to her husband's holdings as heir to a rifle manufacturing empire. She's haunted by terrible spirits she believes to be the ghosts of those killed by the very machines that brought William Wirt Winchester so much wealth. Possessed by the notion that endless construction work on her mansion might keep the apparitions at bay, Sarah funds constant renovations on her home, transforming the estate into a maddening maze of twisted corridors and stairways to nowhere. Inspired by the legend of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA, Tomasi (Batman and Robin) introduces into the tale a wandering gunman troubled by his own past and explores themes of guilt, madness, and the possibility of redemption. Bertram's (Bowery Boys) illustrations, with the help of colorist Stewart (Heroes), seethe with menace as his exaggerated figures traverse panels packed with dangers both real and—conceivably—imagined. VERDICT Fans of historical fiction and horror will find plenty to enjoy, although some might be turned off by the focus being more on character and a sense of dread than gore.—TB

Library Journal