I honestly don't consider myself a horror fan. However, Will O' the Wisp struck the right balance of creepy yet suspenseful for me. An orphan, Aurora, is out of her element as she goes to live with her strange grandfather on an eerie, swamp island full of the supernatural. Curiosity gets the better of Aurora and she gets caught up in the secrets of the bizarre islanders.Will O' the Wisp is very similar to an old-fashioned mystery. I could honestly see Vincent Price playing the role of the estranged grandfather. Also, the art is very beautiful in a dark, macabre sort of way. Overall, a good, graphic novel read! I got this free from Netgalley and this my honest review of it.Aurora Grimeons parents are dead from mushroom poisoning. They really should have known better. In lack of other relatives she is sent to live with her paternal grandfather on Ossuary isle out in the swamplands.Her grandfather treats her curtly and the other inhabitants while not exactly unfriendly are a strange bunch of people.Most everyone there seems obsessed with death and the dead in some form be it her grandfather whose profession is making skeleton casts to the hoodo lady who would like to talk to her dead husband...Since there arent many young people on Ossuary Isle Auroras only companion is her grandfathers pet racoon Missy who provides some comic relief. Together they roam around the swamp.That is when she is not helping her grandfather sort animal skulls.But things are about to take a turn for the weird(er) when mysterious deaths starts to occur and people go missing when the ominious will o the wisp moves through the swamps. The will o the wisp is a bad omen indeed. I was pleasantly surprised by this graphic novel as I went into it with no expectations. But before long I was in the Ossuary Isle with the main character and was engrossed in the story. The art isnt what I would call overly pretty but its good and brings the right atmosphere to the story.There is something eerie about it that made quite an impact on me and even at times caught me off my guard as I was turning to a new side. If I have any complaints is that Aurora remains a bit impassive to some frightening events that she is exposed to but then as I was thinking back on the story and her character I came to the realization that she might have ended up in a strange new place but she is quite the odd one herself. It fits with her as a a character even if I found it a bit cold.In fact I was reminded of Courtney Crumrin though Aurora has a bit more of a pleasant disposition towards people. I would love to see more of her.
