Review by Ian Keogh

It’s always the case that the Monster High graphic novels feature the cast, so potentially increasing sales of the dolls they’re originated from, but it’s rare to see the accessories also promoted. Here, though, Sonia Liao draws the impressive looking carriage in which a number of the girls are transported to the supposedly haunted house where they’re taking a break.

As shown on Liao’s sample art, it would seem there’s a genuine danger of mystical jiggery-pokery, and should the Titan ever be loosed on Earth again there’s a possibility they could wipe out humanity. Oh, and the girls would be the first to go!

Despite being new to the series, Ben Kahn handles the established characters well, and the plot certainly raises the threat level considerably from the usual Monster High plot, with compelling manifestations of the threat developed to challenge individual students. These are visually interpreted by Liao in novel forms in very decorative art. Look closer, though, and there are occasional problems with perspective, the girls arriving at the house being an example, and also times when the girls appear weightless. Given how nice the art looks overall, though, it’s something that younger readers aren’t going to notice.

Kahn keeps the difficulties coming, while showing how credibly the cast overcome them, and includes little running jokes, such as the methods of transport used by other students to reach the house. Several good surprises are factored in, the best of them being the introduction of Maple Lode toward the end, and House Haunters continues a good run of Monster High graphic novels at IDW.