Just in time for Halloween, Aftershock presents a new original graphic novel from Marguerite Bennett (ANIMOSITY, DC’s Bombshells, Batwoman) and Leila Leiz (ALTERS, Nvrlnd) that will have you flipping its fear filled pages to uncover the mystery of the Horde.
In Horde, Ruby Ando tries to reconnect with her estranged and isolated mother, whose hoarder house is a nightmare labyrinth of secrets and dangers. All the love Ruby was never shown she sees her mother lavish on her treasures and trinkets, the possessions that possess her. But when Ruby desperately tries to free her mother, the house wages war, ensnaring both women within its maze. Brought to hideous and twisted life by a mother’s love, the “Horde” is determined to purge Ruby from the collection—or see her join it forever.
This terrifying tale draws its horror from relatable experiences inspired by “… the treatment of people as things,” says writer Marguerite Bennett, “even in this raw nerve of a familial melodrama, this is the crux – all the suffering, all the frenzy and madness and emotional climax all stem from this. Separate from the tragedy of mental illness is the deliberate dehumanization of human beings.”
The story’s protagonist, Ruby, will connect with “anyone who has felt ‘collected,’ dehumanized, disposable, [or] tokenized,” says Bennett, “The struggle to define and then seize your own self-worth, to prove yourself to others but especially to the ones who ought to love you above all things is a vicious battle. Ruby is the fear of every overachieving child desperate for love and recognition, filled with anger and grief and still that longing for one last chance.”
