Have You Read This? Horde

Many people are familiar with the psychological phenomenon known as hoarding. Many are familiar with it because of shows like Hoarders, which reveals our morbid fascination with watching people whose lives are overtaken by their possessions. Objects can have meaning beyond their function, but becoming overly attached to so many things can pollute one's living space, to which the subjects on the show can attest. However, it's also surprising that very few horror stories have tackled this phenomenon since it involves both a psychological compulsion and an environment that slowly turns against its owner. An exception to this dearth of coverage, and a well-conceived one, is the new graphic novel Horde by Marguerite Bennett and Leila Leiz.
The story focuses on Ruby Ando, a young woman tasked with helping her mother Mia clear her hoarding house of its massive collection of treasures and trinkets that Mia seems to love more than her flesh and blood. Mia loves them so much, in fact, that these items become alive and very possessive of Mia. Of course, Ruby doesn't know this until she shows her anger toward the house and the house retaliates by pulling Ruby deeper into its clutches but also deeper into her Mother's mindscape, a literal maze full of monsters and memories that will either absorb Ruby into their ranks or simply dispose of her.
Bennett's story is rich in symbolism as she creates a fantasy world that not only keeps Mia trapped in memories of the past but actively tries to stop Ruby from freeing her. Ruby even has a dead cat that serves as her Virgil-like guide through the layers of her mother's psyche. Bennett has created a world that is fed by Mia's misguided love for her possessions while those possessions, given a semblance of life, allow Mia to avoid living beyond her collection, a symbiotic relationship that ensures Mia's imprisonment. I would also be remiss to not mention Leila Leiz's disturbing artwork, whether it involves furniture and household items becoming monsters or people becoming mere treasures themselves. Seeing someone become a vase has never been more horrifying as it is depicted in the book. My only critique of this book, if it is a critique in fact, is that it seemed too short. There seemed to be a much more developed world not yet explored, but Bennett does provide some emphatic resolution that prevents anything like a sequel from happening. That simply means, though, that I, as a reader, must resign myself to eagerly anticipating more collaborations from Bennett and Leiz.