The Complete Harrow County Compendium
Classic Fantastic is our series of features on the classics of the format—please check out our other picks for the most important titles, 
in terms of appeal, innovation, and storytelling, that every library should own.
What’s it about?
This Southern Gothic fairy tale features Emmy, who lives with her Pa on his farm, enjoying a fairly idyllic existence, this despite the surrounding woods being home to all sorts of haints that don’t want to stay dead and monsters who don’t mind a little human in their diets. What lurks in these woods becomes front and center in Emmy’s thoughts when, on her 18th birthday, she discovers her connection to Hester Beck, a witch who tormented the people of Harrow County until the people finally had enough and murdered her. Upon discovering the truth about Hester Beck and the people of Harrow County, Emmy goes on a dark journey of self-discovery.
As the series progresses, Emmy must learn more about the supernatural world she’s discovered and the powers she’s inherited, while also ultimately deciding who she is. As the resident “witch,” Emmy becomes the one Harrow County’s human inhabitants go to when they’re plagued by dark forces and often she is also a mediator between the humans with whom she lives and the various spirits and supernatural creatures that respect her power. Luckily, Emmy has some help in protecting Harrow County from the things going more than bump in the night. There’s Bernice, her best friend who throughout the series becomes a formidable magic user; Priscilla, a goblin who helps Emmy in her interactions with monsters, and a skinless boy whose helpfulness extends beyond being both a skinless boy and an empty sack of talking skin. Throughout this series, Emmy grows in her powers while discovering more about her heritage, including her true “family,” a group of supernatural beings that, like Hester, considers Harrow County’s citizens expendable.
Revealing Emmy’s complete character arc, The Complete Harrow County Compendium truly lives up to the name by offering a plethora of extras. Not only does the book have the complete Harrow County story, but it also includes shorter comics, intros that were created for the library editions, sketchbooks used by artist Tyler Crook, scripts written by author Cullen Bunn, and more.
Notable Notes
While much of this book leans heavily on an idea of the early American South infested with haints, this universe offers many different kinds of tropes and stories. While there are some side stories that feel like “Monsters of the Week” tales where Emmy simply finds and then banishes a pesky monster or haint, the main story is Emmy’s coming of age story. Like many tales featuring fantasy protagonists, Emmy fights a constant battle between using her powers responsibly and letting them corrupt her, especially as her antagonists learn how to strike Emmy where it will cause the most physical and emotional pain. Along with Emmy’s story, the land of Harrow County and its strange, rich mythology is expanded upon throughout the series.
Bunn might be familiar to fans of mainstream superhero comics, having written for titles such as Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe and Green Lantern: the Lost Army. Bunn, however, also has quite a portfolio of horror comics series he created, including The Damned, a 2007 tale of crime families warring for souls, supernatural western series The Sixth Gun from 2011, and the monster horror revenge tale Basilisk in 2021. Harrow County, which was first published in 2015, is considered his most well-known horror work, if not his best.
Collaborating with Bunn while illustrating most of Bunn’s world of ghosts and monsters inspired by Appalachian folklore is artist Tyler Crook, who gave the book its signature look thanks to his use of watercolors, which makes each page look like they belong in the Saturday Evening Post or on a postcard purchased from a general store. However, just because this series’ aesthetic might remind people of a romanticized rustic life in early 20th century America, there are more than enough graphic depictions of violence to turn the most modern stomachs. Like any good historical horror, this book threads the needle between historical authenticity and skin-crawling horror.
Significance
Many readers think of EC Comics like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt when they think of horror comics, but there are also horror comics that construct richly textured worlds and deeply complex characters like Mike Mignola’s Hellboy and Joe Hill’s Locke & Key. Harrow County deserved to be mentioned alongside these seminal horror comics containing longer story arcs. Not only is this world gorgeously rendered in this book, Bunn and Crook’s universe has also led to spin-off series like Tales from Harrow County, which allows them to explore the backstories of the book’s secondary characters, meaning this book can be a spectacular jumping off point for those who love this fictional universe and Southern Gothic horror.
While many other creators like Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder helped define how to depict horror in a comic book format, Bunn and Crook also deserve their props for creating in Harrow County a book that’s nostalgic, terrifying, and heartfelt. And Harrow County isn’t just a flash in the creative pan for both men. Bunn has created several different horror graphic novels for Oni Press, Dark Horse, and Boom! Studios, and Crook has worked in both video games and in graphic novels like BRPD. Much like chocolate and peanut butter, when the two combine their talents, much like they did for , they create graphic storytelling magic. Harrow County can be seen as a book where Bunn and Crook were continuing to cut their individual creative teeth, but it also represents Bunn and Crook at what many will say is the height of their creative prowess. In a world where graphic novels can be optioned into movies and series, it may only be a matter of time before we see Emmy played by Anna Taylor Joy interacting with a CGI-rendered Priscilla.
Appeal
Fans of horror comics will love the gore that Crook renders in watercolor as well as his imaginatively rendered monsters. Those who love historical fantasy stories will want to visit Harrow County, walk through the town’s dusty streets, and be aware of the setting sun at their backs and what the darkness could bring. While not necessarily a book for the squeamish, and its depictions of blood and guts in watercolored reds might make it too bloody for a library’s teen section, Emmy’s story, despite taking place in a very significant period in American history, is still a timeless one about how a young person grows up and decides, through missteps and heroics, who they are.
Why should you own this?
Many dark fantasy shows like “Supernatural” utilize the trope of protagonists discovering a world lying just underneath the one that normal people take for granted, and that this underworld has very sharp teeth. Like Sam or Dean Winchester in Supernatural, Emmy must not only protect Harrow County from the encroaching darkness, but often has to make some difficult decisions to do so. Its setting offers up a slice of Southern Gothic Americana, its magical elements draw on a delightful mix of dark fantasy tropes, and its characters will, for many readers, feel like old friends who sadly will leave them once the book is closed. An important work of horror in the graphic novel medium, this should be a top choice if you’re a librarian building an adult graph novel collection for patrons who also love horror.
The Complete Harrow County Compendium
By Cullen Bunn
Art by Tyler Crook
Dark Horse, 2025
ISBN: 9781506745091
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
Some people like their horror subtle: the creak of a floorboard, the howl of something in the distance, or a breath on the back of one’s neck. There’s also the kind of horror that doesn’t mind not just making readers nervous but leaving them nauseous. These works are often painted with the most vibrant, yet stomach-churning colors: blood red, intestine pink, and empty eye socket black. Some of Jonas Scharf’s artwork in Basilisk, Vol. 3 definitely fits into the latter category. Throughout the book, Scharf demonstrates how he has no qualms coloring with a gory palette. However, Cullen Bunn’s story helps keep the more insane elements grounded in a simply brutal revenge tale.
