An atmospheric, gothic, feminist horror story set in 19th century New York from Laura Marks and Kelley Jones (of Batman and Dracula: Red Rain fame), Daphne Byrne is a graphic novel that examines death and loss and the nature of demonology. It's the 19th Century story equivalent to the film Hereditary (in a way).

When grieving, support can come in many ways. For Daphne, it came as a demon. Turn-of-the-century New York is a growing metropolis for many, but not for Daphne Byrne. After her father's death, her mother is drawn to a spirtualistic group that claims to speak to the dead. Daphne sees through their act right away, but something from the other side sees her too. Or someone? Daphne finds herself in new company, Brother. He offers support and encourages Daphne to stand up for herself...and to use the powers he has too to save herself and her mother. Daphne isn't quite sure what Brother is or wants. Is he a ghost? a Hallucination? A demon?

Kind of a mish-mash, storywise, with the tale of a young girl with a demonic friend intertwined with that of her mother, being taken advantage of a fake clairvoyant whose interests are considerably darker. I'll admit the story feels a bit uneven but overall I enjoyed it and I liked that Daphne used her dark powers to stop evil from happening to her and her mother. It's interesting that her new found dark powers concur with her awakening as a woman as well.

Kelley Jones art is a pretty great throughout. There are some deeply disturbing panels he created.

I'd recommend this if you like gothic horror stories with a feminist bent. ( )

Now, this is a delish little bit of Gothic fun. DAPHNE BYRNE, by Laura Marks and Kelley Jones, from @joe_hill & @dccomics Black Label imprint, Hill House Comics. The story hits all the perfect Gothic horror notes, and Jones’ mastery of the Grand Guignol fits this story and it’s macabre flavor perfectly. Perfect for your spooky season reading! ( )

A boring tale of a widow, Althea Byrne, who falls under the sway of a medium who claims to be talking to her dead husband, and her daughter, Daphne, who wants to debunk the psychic while she herself is having supernatural visitations. I was hoping it would trip over into being laughably bad when all the Satanists showed up, but it couldn't even manage to do that. Absolute and utter meh. ( )