Paradise Court - a Zenescope mini-series

Back in 2010, there was a little show called The Gates, which was about a gated community where werewolves, vampires, and witches lived, free to be themselves - until a new sheriff arrives in the community, a human who has no knowledge of the supernatural nature of the residents. I absolutely loved this show, and I was extremely disappointed when they cancelled it after only one season (leaving off with a huge cliffhanger!).

So, when Zenescope announced it would be doing a mini-series titled Paradise Court, a horror story about a gated community, instantly my thoughts returned to The Gates, and I eagerly bought each issue. The story, as it turns out, is nothing similar to The Gates; however, it is a well-written horror tale that certainly kept my interest.

Amy, Robin, Christian, and Mike are headed to Las Vegas for a week of fun. On their way, however, they are taking a quick detour to visit an old friend of Amy's - someone she hasn't seen in fourteen years. Amy is excited, and a bit nervous, about catching up with her old friend, but as soon as they enter the gates of Paradise Court, it's clear that something is not right.

Amy catches a lecherous neighbor staring at her over the fence, pleasuring himself as he watches her.

Amy's friend, Janey, is informed that a girl from the community is missing - perhaps lost in the canyons that surround Paradise Court.

And when Amy decides to follow the lecherous neighbor on the first night, she discovers more than she bargained for when she comes across a human skeleton!

If you're thinking this is the perfect set up for a horror movie - four twenty-somethings in an isolated community, with perverts, missing girls, and dead bodies - then you'd be right!  The story reads just like a great horror flick.  A hooded figure with a demon-skull mask is terrorizing the community, using a huge carving knife to do some carving of his own. One by one, Amy's friends begin to disappear. The police think she is simply overreacting, dreaming of the terrifying things she has seen. Janey thinks perhaps it is the isolation of the community that is having an affect on her. But when they discover newspaper articles in the neighbor's house that reveal his murderous past, the community police have no choice but to act.

And just when you think you have it all figured out - writer Joe Brusha pulls the rug out from underneath the reader and gives you a twisted ending that will literally have you screaming, "NOOOO!" The art by Babisu Kourtis is visually appealing, the characters distinct, and the dark tone of the story is beautifully rendered (if you can call it that for a tale of blood and horror!). Each issue's cliffhanger leaves you panting to now what happens next, and while some of the characters are clearly stock / stereotypes (let's face it - all horror movies have them), you do - at least I did! - start to care about what happens to some of the characters, hoping they will make it out alive.

While I gave up reading Zenescope titles after the end of the first Grimm Fairy Tales series, if they produce more stories like this, they may just pull me back in!

RATING:  9 secluded, gated communities in the middle of nowhere out of 10 for a terrifyingly great horror comic!