Hotell is a graphic novel about an off the beaten track hotel. If you drive down Route 66 in the middle of the night and you are desperate for shelter, sanctuary or secrecy, you will see its battered sign on the side of the road. The Pierrot Courts Hotel is where the tormented made their last stand as well as the demons that haunt them. It's where customers check in but few check out.

Some of the characters include Jack Lynch, the hotel check-in clerk, who gives his customers more than enough evidence that he is much more than a strange man. The first customer is a pregnant woman named Alice who is running away from a physically abusive boyfriend. Alice is the reason why I found this horror story compelling. As she sleeps in her room, she has nightmares about the boyfriend which is understandable. She also has dreams about her unborn child who comforts her as much as she comforts him. Hearing noises from an adjoining room, Alice knocks on the door and meets a man intent on killing his wife, but she does not know that. Going back to her room Alice tries to convince herself to leave the hotel but she is just too tired and needs another night's sleep. The story then moves on to the tenant next door. Several more storylines concerning other tenants follow and all are gripping.

While I am not a horror or noir fan, Hotell had me captivated. I couldn't put it down and though it is only 96 pages in length, I felt like I had read a full length novel. ( )

400th review of the year...how the hell did THAT happen? ...oh yeah, COVID...

This one was different. To be honest, I almost set it down after the first of the four stories. I've rarely been a fan of supernatural/demonic babies. No particular reason, but like zombies, they just don't rub my Buddha like other horror tropes do.

But there was two weird little spots in the story where I literally didn't have a damn clue what was going on. The weird situation with the neighbour in room 2, and the fire going on toward the end. Like, where the hell did these come from, and what do they have to do with the story?

So, here's the thing...for the most part, each story is self-contained, however each one tends to harken back to one before it, and give a little glimpse into the one after it.

And, if you read all four stories, as I ultimately did, you get a much bigger payoff.

Now, I wasn't the biggest fan of the art. It was only okay. And the writing was maybe a notch above the art. But when I got to the end and got that payoff, I had to mentally look back over the four stories, and I liked how it all worked together, so I absolutely had to give this one a better rating. ( )