Ghosted Volume 1: Haunted Heist feels like a long forgotten (but always appreciated) 1980s horror movie. Part Poltergeist, part The Score, and all good fun, it's a con movie masquerading as real horror, since its heart is certainly more in the noir genre than anything else. Add to this equation the presence of other-worldy evil - in addition to the evil of flesh and blood, mind you - and the result is a comic book that is more entertaining than it is plausible. But hey, nobody's perfect.
The lead at the center of Ghosted is Jackson Winters, a convict, criminal, petty thief, etc, who gets an offer from a powerful rich gangster, Marcus Shrecken. The proposition: Shrecken wants Winters to go into a notoriously haunted mansion and steal a ghost for him. For what reason, he doesn't say, but if Winters does complete the assignment, he will be showered with untold riches, one of which may or may not include a fake Russian bombshell with big tits. So Winters puts together a crew of his most trusted friends/conmen/charlatans that he can find, and together they tackle the spooky house in hope of carrying out Schrecken's plan.
The story is fun, not to be taken to seriously, and as such feels more authentic as a campy horror-thriller than it has any right to be. Writer Joshua Williamson has obviously watched plenty of horror movies and late-night spooky TV, and knows just what notes to hit in order to generate a hungry nostalgic reaction from his readers, most of whom should remember the original pop cultural elements that his work has been inspired by. It also proves, in a cleverly ironic manner, that in the face of true evil, regardless of how supernatural it may be, the most corrupt and dangerous animal is still man. Ghouls and demons are saints in comparison.
Artist Goran Sudzuka (of Y: The Last Man fame) illustrates Ghosted in a manner befitting of its funny-scary-thrilling tone. His style isn't super-serious, but reminiscent of many 1980s American comics' style. Ghosted: Haunted Heist is a throwback to the tales of old, when bad men did very awful things, and we still cheered them on. Loving the crooked protagonist just seems to be the "in" thing these days. Or ghosts, for that matter.
B
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