By d. emerson eddy — A handful of years ago, the Winchester Mystery House got swept up into the zeitgeist again. There were a couple movies, at least one novel, and a few documentaries on the likes of A&E and Discovery that delved into Sarah Winchester and the potential madness that drove her to build room after room in her California mansion. In my estimation, the best of them, and among the first in the recent sequence, is the comics retelling of the tale in House of Penance by Peter Tomasi, Ian Bertram, Dave Stewart, and Nate Piekos.

House of Penance is a meditation. A visual poem that will lead you through a guided trance focusing on violence, obsession, guilt, and the seemingly mad lengths that someone will go to in order to make reparations. It's a story that you feel as much through poring over the artwork as you do the dialogue and narrative flow. Tossing you into a world that you're somewhat unsure as to whether you should trust the hallucinatory art or if you're just witnessing madness.

Ian Bertram, Dave Stewart, and Nate Piekos deliver a tour de force throughout this story, pulling you in like the mass of blood that threatens to swallow Sarah Winchester herself. There aren't a lot of artists in comics like Bertram. There's an almost woodcut, old-school approach to his stippling and shading that reminds me a bit of Basil Wolverton. His exaggerated characters and the tactile, rope-like nature of the blood and some other textures, gives it all an otherworldly, off-putting feel that is palpable. The deep, rich red from Stewart's colors against a more neutral palette just making it feel more threatening. All of it surrounded by Piekos' BLAM!ing as the sounds of the hammers ring through his letters, reinforcing the story point of the idea that the ghosts that haunt Sarah Winchester would get through if that hammering ever stopped.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there are two instances of the n-word being used in the story. I understand why in terms of the character and in how it plays out for a very important eruption of violence in the story, but I'm also of the mind that this particular racial slur shouldn't be used by people who are not Black. I'm also aware that there are some who will not purchase or read a story with its inclusion, so I wanted to forewarn anyone so as to not be blindsided.

Overall, House of Penance from Tomasi, Bertram, Stewart, and Piekos is a transformative experience. It's at its heart a horror story, but also one of weird romance, retribution for a lifetime of violence, and the strange things guilt might make us do.

Classic Comic of the Week: House of Penance

House of Penance
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Ian Bertram
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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.
Release Date: April 9 2019 (library edition)
Buy House of Penance: Digital / Physical

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.