Image credit: IDW Comics
Cozy horror with anthropomorphic animals? Looks like it’ll handle itself just fine.
Oh, how wrong I was.
Starting off with a quirky look at the lives of animals in Richard Scarry’s small town, where everyone dresses like a human and lives and works at home (and even goes to school if they’re still kids!), the first issue of Under the Trees introduces Samantha, a kind bear who runs a hardware store and helps the locals with their DIY needs.
But beneath Sam’s kind exterior there is something very dark. She has a very twisted and creepy secret. And when activity very similar to hers becomes very public in town, it seems like she needs to find out who is responsible.
The juxtaposition between the cute and cozy artwork, the anthropomorphic townsfolk’s daily lives, and Sam’s frankly horrifying secret is great and really helps push the horror aspect of the story even further.
Not only that, but it’s worth noting that Sam’s initially homely narration starts to waver in places, correcting certain words she uses before continuing to narrate the story, adding an even more interesting element to the delivery of the more horrifying moments.
They’re scary too. There is a further juxtaposition here. Despite being self-correcting, Sam’s calm demeanor, along with the vivid gore, makes things even more disturbing just when you think they can’t escalate any further.
It’s a great concept and really well executed (not that it was intentional). It’s easy to see why this series has become such a huge hit, even though the first issue was just published.
This is a bold attempt to unsettle the reader, and is very effective, especially in that everything is presented factually. At this point, I can’t wait to see how the series develops, especially after the confessions and demonstrations of horrific acts like those seen here.
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