Dwellings

Jay Stephens is a three-decade veteran of the Canadian alt-comics scene, starting out in the early 1990s with the influential creator-owned series' Sin, The Land of Nod, Atomic City Tales, and Jetcat Clubhouse, while also dabbling in licensed comics work like Aliens, Star Wars, Teen Titans, and The Invisibles. Also known for his kids' comic strips Chick & Dee, Arrowhead, and the syndicated newspaper strip Oh, Brother!, as well as the underground weekly strips, Oddville! and Nod. Jay's side career in film includes working in the Art Department on a few low-budget horror movies, and creating and producing animated television like Jetcat, the Emmy Award-winning Tutenstein, and Cartoon Network's The Secret Saturdays.

Release Date: May 7, 2024

Length: 272 pages

ISBN13: 9781637152911

"A gags and gore combo that looks like Charlie Brown turned into a psychopath." —Publishers Weekly, Top 10 Adult Comics for Spring

"Recommend this book to fans of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, where along with gory content comes a healthy dose of dark humor." —Booklist

“Quite possibly the best horror comic of the last 20 years.” —The Comics Journal

“A twisted horror comedy series where darkness lurks beneath the squeaky-clean exterior of an idyllic small town.” —IGN

“This year’s most unique and twisted horror reading experience… Retro cuteness and bloody gore make for a disturbingly nostalgic twinge… An oversized helping of deliciously discomforting horror.” —House of Nerd

“Add in the cutesy, distinctly vintage style of Stephens, and what you get are deeply horrific tales of small town life that speak to deeper ideas about community and the human condition.”—AIPT

“Imagine telling dark and terrifying cult horror stories through the lens of a Peanuts comic strip. In a nutshell, that's exactly what Dwellings is, and it is fantastic. Using the art and style of our childhoods to deliver real fear is such an effective idea. If anything, the feeling of safety usually provided by the style adds to the unsettling vibe of the book. [The stories] are absolute home runs that you will be thinking about for days. What a disturbing little treat this book is” —Comicbook.com

“Glorious and gorgeous old-school cartooning with a sinister underbelly. Highly recommended!" —Jeff Lemire

“Dwellings is an unnerving collection of interconnected short stories set in the town of Elwich. Each story combines the aesthetics of classic all-ages comics with horror tropes to create a unique, unforgettable reading experience.” —CBR

“Superb… a compelling read from start to finish.” —Comics Beat

"Genuinely disturbing...if you feel brave, check it out." —The Toronto Star

"DWELLINGS is like Lynchian horror as a Saturday Morning Cartoon... Jay Stephens has an impressive resume when it comes to cartoons, having worked on a variety of delightful genre pastiches such as The Secret Saturdays, Tutenstein, and the JetCat segments from the Nickelodeon classic KaBlam!, as well as the comic book series Welcome to Oddville! But his newest work, DWELLINGS ... takes this aesthetic in a new direction, combining Saturday Morning Cartoon-esque art and vibes with the gruesome atmosphere of Lynchian horror. It's an unsettling genre mashup... [and] I can tell you: it's an absolute delight. Probably the most fun I've had while flinching squeamishly on the edge of my seat in quite some time." —Boing Boing

“For many years, Harvey Comics thrilled millions of readers with essentially child-like friendly versions of characters who easily COULD have been horrifying - a ghost, a witch and a demon (Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch and Hot Stuff). Well, in Jay Stephens' hilariously twisted Dwellings, he approaches that concept from the OTHER direction. Using seemingly child-friendly depictions of characters, Stephens instead tells ghastly stories of horrible violence. The stories are excellent in and of themselves, but done in this art style it is a true mind screw.” —CBR

“Something special.” —The Workprint