'In a post-apocalyptic New York City obliterated by a Big Night that wiped out most of civilisation, bands of children struggle to stay alive in the wreckage, hunting for food under billowing clouds of toxic fog and running from hungry zombies. One child is endowed with the power to keep them at bay, but will it be enough to protect the survivors from the terrifying creature that has just risen out of the Hudson River? Meanwhile, a raving old man with a house full of books says the worst is yet to come…'
Post-apocalypse stories seem to be more popular than ever these days, guess the pandemic has got people wanting stories about the world being pretty much destroyed for lighter reading than what we're seeing in the news right now. Luckily for readers Creatures doesn't feature a killer virus or anything as grim as that, just dark otherworldly forces seeking our destruction. Much nicer really!
The story begins after the end of the world we know, where a bunch of children seem to be some of the only survivors in the ruins of New York City. We soon discover that this is because something terrible has happened to all of the adults, forcing the children to have to fend for themselves as their parents turn against them.
We open in a small apartment that's home to Vanilla, a young girl, and her brother Peanut, along with their mother, who's being kept in a hazy and unresponsive state with sleeping pills. Whilst Peanut stays at home looking after their mother Vanilla ventures out into the city armed with a shotgun, looking for supplies. On her way back to the apartment, loaded up with canned goods, she's spotted by a pair of kids, Chief and Emma, who's sometimes called Dirt Face.
The pair track Vanilla back to her apartment and watch from outside as she and her brother argue about what to do with their mother. As the duo plot a way to get in and steal the supplies a storm begins to roll in, which causes Vanilla and Peanut to run for the roof where they seek shelter inside a storage unit. Unfortunately, Peanut sneaks away and returns to the apartment where he finds the other kids stealing their stuff. Before they're able to explain away their presence there though the door is thrown open and a crowd of adults make their way inside, acting like zombies. Not only that, but they're joined by this black, tentacle covered creature, one that seems to be controlling them, and wants the children.
Creatures is a pretty spooky first volume, one that sets up this new world nicely, without really giving much away. We learn pretty quickly that something bad has happened, and that the adults have been taken over by some kind of strange mist; but we don't get told why. It leaves enough mystery that you want to learn more, but gives you just enough information to make sure that you don't get too confused or lost.
Much of the issue seems to be setting pieces in place for further volumes. It introduces the reader to the world and the main characters, and gets these characters into an uneasy alliance establishing relationships that can evolve further in the future. It also gives us a few interesting glimpses at some of the creatures to come, and hints at much bigger and scarier things. There's the mind controlled adults, the strange tentacle man, a creature that seems to be some sort of horrific spider that catches children in a cage, and Peanut dreams of some huge, dark, skeletal figure hidden in the mists. It's creepy, and disturbing stuff, and draws upon some very nightmarish ideas and themes.
The final page of the book perhaps gives the biggest insight into the horrors to come as the thing behind this apocalypse is named; Yog-Sothoth. Yep, this book is diving into the Lovecraftian horror. I was already interested in this book come the end, but as soon as this name got dropped, and you're just able to make out some giant, tentacled horror hidden in the storms that surround the ruins of the city it definitely grabbed my attention. Whether you're well versed in the Lovecraft gods or not, just the very notion that they exist here and are playing a part in these horrors is a hell of a tease to end things on.
Overall I had a lot of fun with this book, the characters weren't hugely developed, but still get pretty clear personalities laid out, and I expect they will get more time to evolve over time in future volumes. There's a big sense of mystery, and wanting to find out answers that will also have me returning for more later on. And the art, provided by Djief, is really pretty. It has an almost cartoon-like quality, yet remains grounded enough that it never feels completely too unreal, and it makes the moments of horror stand out all the more.
I'll certainly be picking up the second volume as soon as it's available.
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