Review by Frank Plowright

When we left them Gabby and Trudy were well and truly regretting moving to a remote farm that’s haunted in so many different ways. On the plus side they disposed of a killer during Volume 1, but on the minus they don’t know Trudy’s malicious relatives are heading in their direction to add to the multiple other threats Kyle Starks has on the boil. As with much else about I Hate This Place, they unite horror standbys, in this case combining the hillbilly killers with religious maniacs.

The hillbillies dominate the opening chapters, but as with the first volume, Starks keeps everything moving incredibly fast, sending Gabby and Trudy from one threat to the next so rapidly it’s just as well they’re wearing their running shoes.

As before, we can be thankful artist Artyom Topilin is a cartoonist, because if he was employing realism to depict some of the chunder-inducing situations only psychopaths would be reading. The method delivers a full helping of horror and seconds, and while some reactions may seem exaggerated, how would you look on seeing a fifty foot spider spitting out venom?

Readers able to speak German will pick up on one matter briefly before it’s revealed, and it’s consistent with American settler history, but there’s enough going on that few will pick up on it until Starks considers the time is right for disclosures. Incredibly, he manages to add a new wrinkle to the rush of terror, and it’s a clever way of tying everything together. It’s also smart how several neat moments here depend on what was set up in the first volume.

The best way to enjoy Volume 1 was without too much advance knowledge of what’s going on, and that applies even more to this conclusion. It’s extremely unlikely any horror fan’s going to be disappointed.