But IDW’s newest horror series Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees is exactly that- a twisted serial killer horror in a very familiar sort of world.

Patrick Horvath and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou bring this tale of small town terror to life.

Samantha Strong is Woodbrook’s favorite bear, owner of the small town’s hardware store. However, she’s something so much more- a prolific serial killer with a series of rules that has prevented her discovery for decades. That’s about to be put in jeopardy though when Woodbrook’s bicentennial is turned upside down, and with it everything Sam has built over the years.

This pitch caught my attention immediately when it was announced. Everyone can think of a favorite storybook from their childhood full of talking animals. For me, it was Richard Scarry’s Busytown series. I’m sure others will think of stories like Arthur, Franklin and more. That’s exactly what Horvath is evoking here.

His illustrations are cute, and they remind me of all the different children’s classics that I mentioned above, and more. He has a fantastic eye for page composition though. In the first two pages, he shows you everything you need to know about Woodbrook, he establishes Samantha’s character, he sets the scene for the twist. We know it’s coming, but it doesn’t make it any less horrific. As the narration begins to set out Sam’s rules of killing, there’s a sense of dread that creeps in, and he paces the panels just right that we know it’s coming but when she drugs and kills her victim, it’s no less horrifying.

Even better, that makes the final page twist even more shocking. She’s a careful and twisted sociopath, fulfilling her need to kill quietly and discreetly. But the last page of this issue endangers all of that, and we instantly know that this story is so much more than we might have thought it was.

Otsmane-Elhaou uses a mixture of fonts in his lettering that lulls us into a false sense of security. Sam’s narration is through hand-written notebooks, making it feel much more intimate than a standard narration box would. Then his dialogue balloons feel very close to the sort of lettering you’d see in the storybooks. It all comes together in a complete package that makes it one of the strongest horror stories I’ve read in a very long time.

Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees #1 is available now from IDW Publishing.