On April 16, Abrams Fanfare will publish the genre-bending graphic novel thriller The Harrowing by illustrator Rye Hickman and writer Kristen Kiesling. This stylish, surprising, suspenseful, and unsettling book follows a psychic teen who hunts potential killers — until she discovers the boy she loves is her next target.
Abrams Fanfare has supplied Cemetery Dance with the following exclusive excerpt. Before you dive in, the comic’s creators offer some insight about this part of the story.
“It’s a vision time warp,” said Kiesling. “Up to this point, Rowan believes the serum will prevent her from losing her mind. We learn in this scene that like many of the medications currently on the market, the unintended side effects are useful. It’s not a diabetic drug used for weight loss but it does possess unexpected, yet beneficial side effects. Rowan’s mother discovered the medication protects Harrows’ minds but also grants them the ability to manipulate their visions. Having this opportunity sets up Jackie’s motives.”
Hickman adds: “There’s actually a delightful amount of synchronicity here in what Rowan is learning how to do (move through time inside the killer’s spree) and what the art must do in order to take the reader along on the ride. Anchors, in comics, are objects and people that appear consistently from panel to panel in order to help the reader understand movement in space. But here in The Harrowing, movement/space is secondary to time, so the people and objects on the train are performing a slightly different little trick.”
Enjoy the excerpt, and order your copy of The Harrowing today!Continue Reading
The Synopsis
Terror doesn’t stumble and moan—it walks silently among us, cloaked in the guise of the overlooked. 
It begins in an unnamed city nicknamed “the Fairest,” distinguished by many things from the river fair to the mountains that split the municipality in half; its theaters and many museums; the Morgue Ship; and, like all cities, but maybe especially so, by its essential unmappability.
Jill Girardi is no stranger to horror. She runs the independent publisher 
In a secluded mansion hidden away from the outside world, young Kosa lives under the strict and overpowering rule of her enigmatic mother. For Kosa, the rules set by Mother are the guiding principles of her life, shaping her beliefs and actions. She has been sheltered from the truth about the world beyond the confines of their home, conditioned to fear the darkness and malevolence that supposedly lurks outside.
I just finished John Hornor Jacobs’ 