"Harrow County: Countless Haints" is yet another witch-terrorizing-the-open-country horror tale

Much like Wytches, an Image graphic novel by writer Scott Snyder and illustrator Jock that (slightly) preceded it, Harrow County: Countless Haints, is a horror story about a girl living in the backwoods country, who's dealing with a curse of a witch.  Its heroine is Emmy, a young, naive girl living on a lonely farm with her father and their many animals, all consisting of either chickens and cows.  The thing is, Emmy has no idea how powerful she is, nor from what evil root her bloodline was originally spawned.

This first volume TP (which collects the first 4 monthly issues) deals with Emmy being ostracized from her small town, as she soon finds out she's wanted dead by not only her townsfolk, but also apparently by her father.  Her crime: she's a long lost offspring of Hester Beck, a witch that was lynched by her own neighbors (including her father) some 18 years ago after they found out just how far her evil influence can be traced back.  Before dying, Beck put a curse on the town: she would return, in form of another girl, once that young female reaches adulthood, and would once again terrorize those who have condemned her.

Emmy is a sweet girl, and it is apparent to any sane reader that she doesn't have an "evil" bone in her body.  Her entire character and temperament are nothing but goodness and compassion to all living things.  Aided by a skin-like (one could even call it an outfit of "flesh") costume of a boy who has long left it to roam the country side as a raw-flesh boogey man, she's able to summon and command those dark forces around her to fight the ever ignorant citizens of her small town, who have no idea that she has no witch-like intentions.

Harrow County may not have the creepy atmosphere - nor the stylish violence - of many other contemporary American comics, but what it does possess is a heroine who is unlike all others, a fine creation by its writer Cullen Bunn.  Emmy is no less than a child-like angel learning to master her newfound supernatural abilities, and she does it all through Tyler Crook's artwork, which is at once gloomy and dark, appearing as if we're looking at it through a dirty window.  It's a memorable piece of "writing via art", albeit not a very original one (Wytches has a similar storyline, and was released prior).  But based on the audacity of its debut, I'm willing to explore it further, come whatever ghouls may.
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