House of Mystery (Vertigo)

This article is about the second volume of the horror comic book series. For the first volume, see House of Mystery.

House of Mystery
Cover of House of Mystery (vol. 2) #1 (July 2008), art by Sam Weber.
Publication information
Publisher	Vertigo
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Horror
Publication date	July 2008 - October 2011 [1]
No. of issues	42, plus 2 Halloween Specials
Creative team
Written by	Lilah Sturges (credited as "Matthew Sturges") Bill Willingham
Artist(s)	Luca Rossi
Letterer(s)	Todd Klein
Colorist(s)	Lee Loughridge
Editor(s)	Shelly Bond Angela Rufino

House of Mystery is an American occult and horror-themed comic book anthology series, based on the series The House of Mystery that ran from 1951 to 1983. The writers, Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges (credited as "Matthew Sturges"), ^{[2] [3] [4]} debuted the series in July 2008 under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. ^{[5] [6]}

Plot

Cain (of Cain and Abel) attempts to return to the House of Mystery, his home in the Dreaming, and finds that it has disappeared. Seven years later, in Texas, a former architecture student named Bethany "Fig" Keele flees her burning house, saving only a handful of sketches she once made of a house from her dreams. Keele is pursued by a "Pair of the Conception", agents of an entity known as the "Omneity"; they are two people, a male and a female, always holding hands. If they let go of one another, they will disappear. The pair chases her through a door and unwittingly into the House of Mystery, where she meets the inhabitants of the house bar and discovers the terms of what is, apparently, her imprisonment. Everyone must pay for their drinks with stories and no one can leave without being picked up by the house's mysterious coachman. None of the House's occupants are sure why some people might get to leave and others not, so each person's stay is, at least ostensibly, eternal until the coachman inexplicably turns up to take them away. This does not stop some of the inhabitants from trying to get out, nor does it stop Cain from attempting to get back in. ^[5]

Collected editions

The series has been collected into eight trade paperbacks:

• Room and Boredom (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #1–5, 128 pages, January 2009, ISBN   978-1-4012-2079-2) ^[7]
• Love Stories for Dead People (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #6–10, 128 pages, June 2009, ISBN   978-1-4012-2276-5) ^[8]
• The Space Between (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #11–15, 128 pages, January 2010, ISBN   978-1-4012-2581-0) ^[9]
• The Beauty of Decay (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #16–20 and Halloween Special 2009, 160 pages, released July 2010, ISBN   978-1-4012-2756-2) ^[10]
• Under New Management (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #21–25, 128 pages, released January 2011, ISBN   978-1-4012-2981-8) ^[11]
• Safe as Houses (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #26–30, 144 pages, released May 2011, ISBN   978-1-4012-3154-5) ^[12]
• Conception (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #31–35 and Halloween Special 2010, 160 pages, released December 2011, ISBN   978-1-4012-3264-1) ^[13]
• Desolation (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #36–42, 160 pages, released August 2012, ISBN   978-1-4012-3495-9) ^[14]

References

1. "Vertigo Comics House of Mystery #42". DC Comics. Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
2. Sturges & Willingham on the New House of Mystery Archived 2009-12-16 at the Wayback Machine , Newsarama, February 20, 2008
3. Sturges is Big Brother of Vertigo's "House of Mystery", Comic Book Resources, May 6, 2008
4. House Showing: Matt Sturges on House of Mystery, Newsarama, February 17, 2009
5. Irvine, Alex (2008), "House of Mystery", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 88, ISBN   978-0-7566-4122-1, OCLC   213309015
6. NYCC: Vertigo - Welcome to the Edge, Comic Book Resources, April 19, 2008
7. Room and Boredom details at DC
8. Love Stories for Dead People details at DC
9. The Space Between details at DC
10. The Beauty of Decay details at DC
11. Under New Management details at DC
12. Safe As Houses details at DC
13. Conception details at DC
14. Desolation details at DC

External links

• House of Mystery at the Grand Comics Database
• House of Mystery at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)