The Hidden

"'Gothic humor' sounds like an oxymoron. That's probably why so few comics creators — Charles Addams, Edward Gorey — have pulled it off. You can now add Richard Sala to that short list." — Details

"Sala's new book, The Hidden, does not wholly depart from the campy fascination with the morbid that marks his previous work, but is even darker in tone, despite the vibrant watercolor work. The visual markers of Sala's humor are present — the affected font, the twisted faces — but there is arguably something more serious and disturbing at play here." — Jenna Brager - Los Angeles Review of Books

"The Hidden feels like a Poe short story, but Richard Sala actually reaches further back into gothic literature for information, filtering Frankenstein through a zombie apocalypse. Just like Poe, the fun here is all in the telling, and Sala's campfire-ghost-story illustration is blunt enough to be cynically hilarious and cruelly gory, often at the same time. The allegory is the same as from Shelley's original, but like the best gothic writing, the fun comes from putting the pieces — all the pieces — together at the end." — David Berry - National Post

"Sala's work is like a fusion of Hergé and Charles Addams, yielding a simple, cartoon-like style that makes his moments of gothic horror all the more disturbing. ...[The Hidden] is a beautifully pulpy and incredibly imaginative book that gives a fresh spin on a well-used set-up." — Publishers Weekly

"In this outing, [Sala] combines motifs of a postapocalyptic landscape, wanderers, some vampiric businessmen, and, ultimately, Dr. Frankenstein. The stew works perfectly... and it is only at story's end that the opening pages become horrifyingly clear. Sala works with a full palette of beautiful, gemlike hues held in generous panels." — Francisca Goldsmith - School Library Journal