The Courtyard

Alan Moore does some Lovecraftian horror in this two issue collection.

I know it's a cliche and I really don't say it very often, but books like this are why I read comics. There I've said it now. It's utterly brilliant, I keep thumbing through it as I write this, remembering not only the pleasure I took reading it but the incredible feeling of foreboding that pervades every page. It really is wonderfully crafted psychological horror.

It's only two issues in length but there isn't a single wasted page and you're enveloped completely and utterly in Moore's creation from the very first page. It's much like being told a story under the duvet by torchlight. Even considering the relative brevity of the collection it tells a wonderfully complete story, one that feels whole and leaves you incredibly satisfied. That's not to say that I couldn't read more, I'd happily read stories like this by Moore from now until Cthulu actually rises.

I won't give away much of the plot but it revolves around an undercover agent trying to get to the bottom of some rather gruesome, and seemingly related, murders. The ending you see coming pretty much from the second page but it's handled so unbelievably well that it still provides that all important payoff. The last few pages are outrageously creepy, then much like at the end of a story under the duvet, the light goes out and you're expected to return to the real world as if nothing had happened.