"This Is MY Jurassic Park."

[numeronone]

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.

Far safer, of a midnight meeting
External ghost,
Than an interior confronting
That whiter host.

Far safer through an Abbey gallop,
The stones achase,
Than, moonless, one's own self encounter
In lonesome place.

Ourself, behind ourself concealed,
Should startle most;
Assassin, hid in our apartment,
Be horror's least.

The prudent carries a revolver,
He bolts the door,
O'erlooking a superior spectre
More near.

- "One need not be a chamber to be haunted", Emily Dickinson














(Between these scans, Howitzer tells his clients of another job, one in which a demon was bothering an innocent family, forcing them to try to saw off limbs and eat broken glass. A presence which burrowed under the skin like a tick seeking blood.

"What did you do?" Gabby asks.

"We burned the house to the ground.")









"Can you do the exorcism now?" Gabby asks.

"CAN I DO THE EXORCISM?!" Howitzer bellows back.



("Come out evil spirits!; Go away, Phantoms, no one loves you!"

Comments

[huntleyhaverstock]

No slight to the comic, which looks impressively creepy, but I loved that poem. Thanks for including it.

[numeronone]

Why, thank you! Sometimes you just get lucky. Found it literally five seconds before posting.

[blues32]

Not familiar with the series so I'm not sure if this happens often, but it would appear that the Horned Man is attacking through fears and regrets. Those ticks are manifestations of the people who Howitzer failed to save, hence the screams for help. The other two are so...subtle.

[numeronone]

It's the first appearance of Horned Man since his mention in issue #1, where the general advice was to run away, so yes, from context that would appear to be the case. In a panel I cut out, Howitzer is screaming"Get out of my head!", so likely it's a psychic attack to confuse his victims.

[blues32]

The wound on Howitzer's neck seems physical enough.

[numeronone]

That was the tick, though! And they seem to be afraid of the Horned Man, so probably aren't his minions.