Harrow County is a horror comic by Cullen Bunn and artist Tyler Crook published by Dark Horse Comics from 2015 to the present. In 2019, a Dark Horse began publishing a Spin-Off series called Tales from Harrow County (not to be confused with the Tales of Harrow County backup stories) featuring storylines from other time periods of Harrow County.
In a rural county in an unspecified part of 1930s southern USA, a witch named Hester Beck pulled herself from the earth and began a life. At first she acted as a healer and benefactor to the denizens of Harrow county, but over time as her powers grew, the monstrous costs associated began to be known. Strange monsters lurked in her shadows, strange blights followed in her footsteps, and her evil acts began to be overt. And so she was put to death (shot, stabbed, beaten, hung, and when all these failed, burned). But with her last breath, hanging from the branches of a withered oak, she promised an eventual return, and with it, a violent revenge.
18 years later, a peaceful farmgirl named Emmy goes about her life in Harrow County. She lives with her father and is satisfied with a simple, rural existence though as she grows older, some things give her pause. She has violent dreams about the old oak on the edge of the property, the family's cattle has been struck by a strange blight, and her father looks at her with a new glint of suspicion and perhaps fear. And strangest of all, the ghosts and monsters of Harrow county—the haints—speak to Emmy like old friends. Could it be that Hester Beck's prophecy is being fulfilled in the form of Emmy?
With this basic plot as the start, Harrow County creates a scary, grotesque, yet somehow charming world of skinless boys, eldritch demons, and shady townsfolk (not to mention southern dialects) all filtered through the naive eyes of Emmy as she tries to understand her place in the world. Giving the book much of its distinct look and feel is Tyler Crook's artwork which is colored exclusively with moody, rich watercolors.
Tropes:
- Ax-Crazy: Kammi after her resurrection. The calm, collected Rich Bitch is replaced with a raving, wild-eyed psychopath on a killing spree
- Badass Normal: Bernice, who dives into the craziness of Harrow County despite lacking any magical abilities. Though she picks up some useful hedge magic in time to save herself and Emmy from some Scary Scarecrows.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Odessa, seemingly a nurturing Team Mom who is actually just as cold-hearted as her Obviously Evil compatriots.
- Buried Alive: Kammi is dragged into Hester Beck's grave by the woman herself.
- Eldritch Abomination: More than a few but special mention goes to the dark, goat-eyed monster living in a cabin in the woods. In a book of terrifying monsters, this is the most imposing, monstrous of all.
- Flaying Alive: How it happened isn't clear, but the skinless boy has been flayed alive and he still lives.
- Folk Horror: The series makes liberal use of Appalachian and Southern folklore, such as haints
and rural hedge magic.
- I Know Your True Name: Inverted, Emmy gives the haint living in the grainery the name 'Priscilla' to emphasize its humanity since haints traditionally have no name. The Skinless Boy also seeks to discover his true name in a one-shot.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Emmy is horrified after she kills and cannibalises Kammi, to absorb her sister's magic.
- Slasher Smile: A lot of the villains wear creepy smiles, especially while committing evil deeds.
