The Milkman Murders

Ummm..... holy shit was this one dark tale. I felt dirty just reading it, yet I couldn't stop myself from reading more and more of it. This is definitely a tale of horror, but not such horrors as werewolves, zombies, or vampires. No, this is a horror story because it is very possible that there are people actually like this in our world.

This is the story of a mother and her family. She is overweight, has low self-esteem, and covets a normal life like that of the family on her favorite tv show. Her husband verbally and physically abuses her and blames his crappy life on her. Their son is a morbid little bastard who kills the neighborhood residents' pets and disects them for fun. Their daughter is a slut, plain and simple. All in all this is one ugly, disfunctional family, yet I can see how there are families like this out there today, possibly even one of my neighbors.

As the story progresses, you see each family member's lifestyle and how it leaves them feeling incomplete. This incompleteness only adds fuel to their self-destructive fire. The father snorts coke just to feel normal. The son becomes more visceral in his animal mutilation. The daughter starts sleeping with her gym teacher. All the while the mother watches and loathes her life. The pointlessness and hopelessness of thier lives hits you like a ton of bricks. I felt myself awash in emotions of hopelessness myself as I turned each page, wondering how far it could go.

It only gets worse as time goes on until the mother snaps. All of the time she's spent living in her own personal hell, she's built up a rage that is almost palatable and as she acts out upon it, instead of feeling sorry for what she does to her family, you'll feel that justice is being served.

Accompanying such a dark story is an art style that I initially thought wouldn't fit. It's very cartoony and non-proportionate, but the coloring style really helps to keep the story feeling dark instead of cartoony.

Really, anyone who wants as close to a first hand experience as possible to being a part of a horribly disfunctional family without actually having to be in one should read this. If you're also looking for a good, non-traditional horror tale, this comes with my highest recommendation!

Ratings
Art: 3.5
Story: 4
Overall: 4