Carlos Morales
In the tranquil and welcoming little town of Woodbrook, humanoid animals happily live in harmony. This cute community isn’t quite as calming as it seems, though. On the surface, Samantha is the friendly face who owns and manages the hardware store. But beneath the surface lies something more terrifying. She visits the nearby city to let her violent urges loose and buries her victims in the woods… But what happens when the killing comes back to her harmonious home town and Samantha isn’t the only one unleashing her inner animal?
IDW Publishing proudly presents BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES, a cozy horror series arriving this October and unlike anything else currently on the stands. This twisted yet adorable tale is written, illustrated and colored by Patrick Horvath (Haha: Sad Clown Stories) with lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (CRASHING).
“One of my guiding principles for this series is to strike a balance between cute, fun, dark, and disturbing, and I think that readers will be very pleased with the results,” commented Horvath. “A lot of the creative work that I do tends to be these dark little existential explorations, carving a path through the dread of having your life up-ended. For as strange, or insane, or idiosyncratic your interior life might be, that type of story resonates with a ton of people. Every person goes through it in some form or other, and with BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES that person happens to be a cuddly brown bear who is a serial killer and owns a hardware store.”
Horvath is confident the weird and shocking premise will keep readers eager to witness how the adorable yet appalling events unfold. “It struck me as sort of profane, but setting this story in an idyllic little town of animal-folks just felt like the absolute right move. You can’t help but want to see how the events play out issue-by-issue, watching the horror unfold in this adorable community.”
“BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES is proof of the magic you get when you trust creators’ voices and give outstanding talent like Patrick the freedom to let loose,” commented Maggie Howell, Group Editor for IDW’s Originals line. “He came to us with a dream to mix the cute with the unconscionable and this book never loses its grip on that goal. For every shocking page turn there are a hundred delightful and terrifying Easter eggs.”
Howell added, “It’s a perfect example of a creator doing his best possible work on a project that’s uniquely his own and it shines through in the reading experience. Everyone who joins us in cozy Woodbrook is going to savor this story… and it’s a testament to Patrick’s skill and vision that they’ll worry they’re savoring it a little too much.”
BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES #1 goes on sale October 18, 2023, featuring primary covers by Horvath and Story Book variant covers by Riley Rossmo (Harley Quinn). The debut issue is available for pre-order now at a comic shop near you or wherever comics are sold online.
