What passes for horror these days is usually gore or gotcha moments. Blame it on the instant Internet or fast paced transportation or the lowest denominator or whatever, but there seems to be little room for old school suspense these days. The reason in your correspondent's reasoning is that trepidation takes time. It requires, nay exalts in, those long building moments that set the scene, shows the character of the players, and makes for the slow build to the crescendo that, if done well, makes for an experience that brands itself into the memory. While the ever devouring mouth of impatience doesn't often allow for such long moments these days, The Veil manages to escape its toothy maw to deliver a fantastic story.

Unfortunately, if you're just coming in on The Veil #4, you've come in at the end of the scene, where the alien jumps out the astronauts chest (as it were), but it's still glorious. However, for those of readers not keeping up, I would recommend starting from the beginning or waiting for the (unsure to be released) trade. For the readers brave enough to have kept up with the story until now, if you are on the fence as to spend more money to see how the story folds out, rest assured it will be worth your cash.

Regardless, this chapter, indeed the entire story, makes your correspondent reluctant to give away too much. So reluctant, in fact, that I won't, but will only say it draws together elements of the main character as a pyschic medium (a trope it ridicules at the same time it embraces) and the mass insanity or mindlessness of the zombie genre. Not an easy task, but one it accomplishes seamlessly. In this issue, though, we see more than just the craze of humanity, but the possible birth of something from humanitys' worst mental places that is much more hideous than any zombie horde.

But what makes the horror of The Veil truly unsettling is that it taps into the idea that all of us carry that evil inside us and it might be turned against our own will. Whether it's that poor soul that climbed into that Texas tower on that warm Spring day or any the paranoid schizophrenic that feels compelled to do horrendous things, The Veil draws on the horrible idea that people are sometimes pushed to do things because of the worst in themselves.

While this review has mostly concerned itself with the themes of The Veil it should be noted that this couldn't be accomplished by the creators without a firm grasp of their craft. The story has been plotted and paced carefully, beginning and end attached perfectly, while the art portrays mood, action, and characterization nearly perfectly. And best of all, while telling a rip roaring supernatural horror tale, it leaves just enough room for doubt to be truly scary.

If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author’s work at http://madbastard.hypersites.com

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