Patrick Horvath (1)
Author of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
For other authors named Patrick Horvath, see the disambiguation page.
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Samantha Strong’s cardinal rule: Don’t murder the locals; the city is just beyond the forest and has plenty of potential victims. Sam has worked too hard to build a cozy life and have her thriving business in the small town of Woodbrook - the last thing she wants to do is disturb the peace. So, imagine the exasperation when Woodbrook’s own meets a grisly death. Now Sam will do everything it takes to find her rival before the town self-destructs.
The best way to describe this graphic show more novel: think Winnie the Pooh meets Dexter. It’s such a crazy concept to have beautifully drawn scenery and characters and then the next page is a brutal murder, it most definitely elevated the story for me.
You’re also kind of in this weird, “Who do I root for?” spot while reading this because Sam is her own serial killer, but then there’s another Woodbrook resident who is killing and now those murders may get framed to her (or someone else). Like, yea, she should probably get caught so she’s not killing anymore, but also, you don’t want her framed for something she didn’t do!
Overall, it was a fun read that I think any horror fan would enjoy (yes, even with the artwork!). show less
The best way to describe this graphic show more novel: think Winnie the Pooh meets Dexter. It’s such a crazy concept to have beautifully drawn scenery and characters and then the next page is a brutal murder, it most definitely elevated the story for me.
You’re also kind of in this weird, “Who do I root for?” spot while reading this because Sam is her own serial killer, but then there’s another Woodbrook resident who is killing and now those murders may get framed to her (or someone else). Like, yea, she should probably get caught so she’s not killing anymore, but also, you don’t want her framed for something she didn’t do!
Overall, it was a fun read that I think any horror fan would enjoy (yes, even with the artwork!). show less
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss. Content warning for graphic violence.)
-- 3.5 stars --
Samantha Strong lives in Woodbrook, a quaint small town where everyone knows everyone else. (Oh, and everyone is a walking, talking, furry or feathered animal.) She owns the local hardware store; visits with her best friend Lola, whose health is sadly failing; and is a respected member of the community. She's also a serial killer.
Sam lives by one rule: Don’t. Murder. show more The locals. Instead, she travels to the Big City when she needs to clear her mind via a little slicing and dicing. This has kept her safe for forty-three kills and counting. So when Woodbrook gives birth to a second serial killer - one who makes a public display of their depravity - Sam has a major fucking problem on her hands (her words). Now, she has to find and stop this new killer, before the trail of bodies leads the police straight to her door. (Or rather, forest floor filled with cans of paint and severed animal parts.)
I love the idea of juxtaposing horrific slasher violence with cute and fuzzy forest animals; Sam gives strong DEXTER vibes, and I'm here for it. The mystery aspect is engaging, though honestly, it's the absurdity of it all that's the real draw. Along these lines, Horvath's artwork is pretty much perfect - the animals are adorable, which makes the murder scenes all the more shocking (but also beautifully rendered).
I found it interesting that this world features both anthropomorphized animals, as well as regular ole, free-living nonhuman animals. Nonverbal bears bear (lol) silent witness to Sam's atrocities, and it's through witnessing a fight to the death between two bears that Sam realizes what she must do to survive this battle of wits (cue Dexter vs. John Lithgow). There's even some cover artwork in which the face of Cherry fucking Gherkins - a porcine Karen - is superimposed over a row of dead pigs in the butcher shop. I guess the message is that there's no escaping our animal nature? The ethical vegan/amateur anthrozoologist in me craved more meaning from this particular juxtaposition - but sadly, I don't think it's there.
Ultimately, BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES is an entertaining real, especially if - like me - you devoured books like CHARLOTTE'S WEB and THE SECRET OF NIMH alongside Stephen King books as a kid. show less
-- 3.5 stars --
Samantha Strong lives in Woodbrook, a quaint small town where everyone knows everyone else. (Oh, and everyone is a walking, talking, furry or feathered animal.) She owns the local hardware store; visits with her best friend Lola, whose health is sadly failing; and is a respected member of the community. She's also a serial killer.
Sam lives by one rule: Don’t. Murder. show more The locals. Instead, she travels to the Big City when she needs to clear her mind via a little slicing and dicing. This has kept her safe for forty-three kills and counting. So when Woodbrook gives birth to a second serial killer - one who makes a public display of their depravity - Sam has a major fucking problem on her hands (her words). Now, she has to find and stop this new killer, before the trail of bodies leads the police straight to her door. (Or rather, forest floor filled with cans of paint and severed animal parts.)
I love the idea of juxtaposing horrific slasher violence with cute and fuzzy forest animals; Sam gives strong DEXTER vibes, and I'm here for it. The mystery aspect is engaging, though honestly, it's the absurdity of it all that's the real draw. Along these lines, Horvath's artwork is pretty much perfect - the animals are adorable, which makes the murder scenes all the more shocking (but also beautifully rendered).
I found it interesting that this world features both anthropomorphized animals, as well as regular ole, free-living nonhuman animals. Nonverbal bears bear (lol) silent witness to Sam's atrocities, and it's through witnessing a fight to the death between two bears that Sam realizes what she must do to survive this battle of wits (cue Dexter vs. John Lithgow). There's even some cover artwork in which the face of Cherry fucking Gherkins - a porcine Karen - is superimposed over a row of dead pigs in the butcher shop. I guess the message is that there's no escaping our animal nature? The ethical vegan/amateur anthrozoologist in me craved more meaning from this particular juxtaposition - but sadly, I don't think it's there.
Ultimately, BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES is an entertaining real, especially if - like me - you devoured books like CHARLOTTE'S WEB and THE SECRET OF NIMH alongside Stephen King books as a kid. show less
In a Nutshell: A horror graphic novel filled with anthropomorphic animals and questionable moral compasses. (More ‘Dexter’ than ‘Zootopia’!) Gripping, chilling, creepy! Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Loved the plot and the character development. Appreciated the complex exploration of ethics. Recommended but not to all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
This graphic novel is a compilation of the six comics of ‘Beneath the Trees’, the critically acclaimed indie series. This edition has the complete story, no cliffhangers. (Thank heavens!)
It is strange to read a book filled with animals, most of them drawn in a cutesy art style and in lovely light pastels, and then to realise that this isn’t a sweet animal fable but the story of a psychopath (Or two!) My mind is still reeling from the aftereffects of this bizarre juxtaposition.
The core plot is brilliant. The story does exactly what a horror-thriller should, keeping us glued to the pages and horrified at the psyche of the murderers, which allows them to commit brutality without any qualms. There is no justification provided for why Samantha kills; she just wants to. This was the toughest part for me to accept - casual killings done just for the sake of it. Very disturbing!
The murders are as brutal as you can imagine, and a bit more. Think Dexter, but with a bear. The strange part is that when the second killer comes into the picture, the proceedings become more brutal, thereby ending up making Samantha look saner. While reading, we know we can’t support Samantha but nor can we support the other killer. Imagine reading a plot where you don’t know whom to root for – the protagonist (who is more of an antihero) or the antagonist (who is working against the antihero but still isn’t a hero.) Mindboggling!
The setting adds to the eerie vibes, with its messed-up lifestyle more like organised chaos. Anthropomorphic bears interacting with actual bears in the forest as if they were two separate species? A butchery where there are slaughtered pig heads on offer though there are pig citizens as well? Humanised animals having ordinary animal pets? Curiouser and curiouser!
All the characters are anthropomorphic animals of various species, so seeing them with human features and human flaws is utterly weird. I also loved the depiction of the townspeople’s fear and apprehension when they hear of a killer on the loose. The change in the town’s atmosphere is palpable through the graphics. The writing captures the small-town pulse excellently.
I read this along with my elder daughter, and both of us were somewhat grossed out by the proceedings, albeit for different reasons. She was more affected by the lack of morality while I was more predictably affected by the butchery. In fact, both of us were feeling so claustrophobic that we took a break after the fourth comic just to start breathing a bit easier. This just shows how successful the book was in its *execution*. [Pun intended.] There were some scenes that caused us to burst into laughter as well, but a part of me thinks it was more hysterical laughter out of nervousness than a genuine fun guffaw.
The ending might generate different reactions among different readers, but considering the inherent contradiction in the storyline, I was prepared for it and satisfied with it. Don’t look for closure, though. You will be confused about whether to heave a sigh of relief or continue to bite your fingernails.
The two main reasons I am not going higher in my rating are:
1. It was a bit too discomposing for my taste.
2. I’d had loved to see more clarity on the rationale of the second killer. The whys aren’t so convincing.
The illustrations complement the plot well, though it’s somewhat unsettling to see light pastels for such a dark story. The anthropomorphic animals are drawn with somewhat human expressions while the actual animals are sketched more true-to-type. This creates a neat distinction between the townspeople and the ‘animals’. The murder scenes are quite grisly – I watched them from between my fingers. (I think it is the killing of and by animals that affected me so much. I have never had any problem reading graphic novels with brutal human murders.) Many panels contain hidden clues in the background, so make sure you don’t race through just the text bubbles. I loved the font style, with Samantha’s inner thoughts coming in a different typeface.
All in all, the graphic novel has a screwed-up yet captivating storyline with excellent illustrations and many points to ponder upon. This is a debut series, so I am mighty impressed at how streamlined the plot development is. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for the future works by this author, even if it means that I’ll be reading his comics with my hands over my eyes.
Much recommended to horror/thriller lovers who are also graphic novel aficionados. This is one of those brilliant books that I’ll promote enthusiastically to all the right readers, but will never read it myself again.
4.25 stars.
My thanks to IDW Publishing for providing the DRC of “Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook || show less
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Samantha Strong is a brown bear who has spent most of her life in the small town of Woodbrook, where everyone knowsshow more
everyone else and everything about them. At least, that’s what the townsfolk think. But Samantha has a dark secret. Though she is a law-abiding hardware-store owner, she is also a serial killer with one golden rule: Don’t murder the locals. She chooses her target from a big city just beyond the forest. After all, the city is full of potential victims and no one will miss one person in the crowd. All these years, her modus operandi has worked perfectly. But now, there’s a problem.
A Woodbrook local has been murdered brutally. Samantha is wild at the thought of some other killer upsetting the status quo. With Sheriff Patterson (literally) barking up the wrong tree, Samantha knows that it is up to her to hunt her rival before she is caught for the murders she didn’t commit, or even for the ones she did.
This graphic novel is a compilation of the six comics of ‘Beneath the Trees’, the critically acclaimed indie series. This edition has the complete story, no cliffhangers. (Thank heavens!)
It is strange to read a book filled with animals, most of them drawn in a cutesy art style and in lovely light pastels, and then to realise that this isn’t a sweet animal fable but the story of a psychopath (Or two!) My mind is still reeling from the aftereffects of this bizarre juxtaposition.
The core plot is brilliant. The story does exactly what a horror-thriller should, keeping us glued to the pages and horrified at the psyche of the murderers, which allows them to commit brutality without any qualms. There is no justification provided for why Samantha kills; she just wants to. This was the toughest part for me to accept - casual killings done just for the sake of it. Very disturbing!
The murders are as brutal as you can imagine, and a bit more. Think Dexter, but with a bear. The strange part is that when the second killer comes into the picture, the proceedings become more brutal, thereby ending up making Samantha look saner. While reading, we know we can’t support Samantha but nor can we support the other killer. Imagine reading a plot where you don’t know whom to root for – the protagonist (who is more of an antihero) or the antagonist (who is working against the antihero but still isn’t a hero.) Mindboggling!
The setting adds to the eerie vibes, with its messed-up lifestyle more like organised chaos. Anthropomorphic bears interacting with actual bears in the forest as if they were two separate species? A butchery where there are slaughtered pig heads on offer though there are pig citizens as well? Humanised animals having ordinary animal pets? Curiouser and curiouser!
All the characters are anthropomorphic animals of various species, so seeing them with human features and human flaws is utterly weird. I also loved the depiction of the townspeople’s fear and apprehension when they hear of a killer on the loose. The change in the town’s atmosphere is palpable through the graphics. The writing captures the small-town pulse excellently.
I read this along with my elder daughter, and both of us were somewhat grossed out by the proceedings, albeit for different reasons. She was more affected by the lack of morality while I was more predictably affected by the butchery. In fact, both of us were feeling so claustrophobic that we took a break after the fourth comic just to start breathing a bit easier. This just shows how successful the book was in its *execution*. [Pun intended.] There were some scenes that caused us to burst into laughter as well, but a part of me thinks it was more hysterical laughter out of nervousness than a genuine fun guffaw.
The ending might generate different reactions among different readers, but considering the inherent contradiction in the storyline, I was prepared for it and satisfied with it. Don’t look for closure, though. You will be confused about whether to heave a sigh of relief or continue to bite your fingernails.
The two main reasons I am not going higher in my rating are:
1. It was a bit too discomposing for my taste.
2. I’d had loved to see more clarity on the rationale of the second killer. The whys aren’t so convincing.
The illustrations complement the plot well, though it’s somewhat unsettling to see light pastels for such a dark story. The anthropomorphic animals are drawn with somewhat human expressions while the actual animals are sketched more true-to-type. This creates a neat distinction between the townspeople and the ‘animals’. The murder scenes are quite grisly – I watched them from between my fingers. (I think it is the killing of and by animals that affected me so much. I have never had any problem reading graphic novels with brutal human murders.) Many panels contain hidden clues in the background, so make sure you don’t race through just the text bubbles. I loved the font style, with Samantha’s inner thoughts coming in a different typeface.
All in all, the graphic novel has a screwed-up yet captivating storyline with excellent illustrations and many points to ponder upon. This is a debut series, so I am mighty impressed at how streamlined the plot development is. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for the future works by this author, even if it means that I’ll be reading his comics with my hands over my eyes.
Much recommended to horror/thriller lovers who are also graphic novel aficionados. This is one of those brilliant books that I’ll promote enthusiastically to all the right readers, but will never read it myself again.
4.25 stars.
My thanks to IDW Publishing for providing the DRC of “Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook || show less
I saw the cover and thought, “Dark and twisted humor.” There’s actually not much humor, but it is pretty dark and twisted. And grisly (no pun intended). If you like serial killer horror, and don’t mind ruining your childhood memories of every cute little animal book you ever read, this may be the book for you. Me, not so much. But it gets points for boldly going somewhere shocking and really committing to the bit.
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