Graphic Content: Dead Mall by Adam Cesare and David Stoll

 For many adults, the mall was a distinct part of their childhood, whether as a hangout, a place to eat, or the place to get the latest Third Eye Blind CD or Stephen King novel. But the mall has fallen on hard times. More and more of these monuments of consumerism have become empty, derelict, and simply waiting on nature or a well-placed wrecking ball to end its misery. Such a structure makes it the perfect place where something malevolent can haunt and can hunt souls who simply want their heart’s desire. The Penn Mills Galleria from Adam Cesare’s and David Stoll’s Dead Mall is such a place.

The galleria has long been abandoned and is about to be demolished. Before the wrecking ball wipes it off the face of the earth, five teens decide to break in and see the empty stores before they’re gone forever. The galleria might have been dormant, but it’s still hungry for souls. These five teens must resist the siren call of the mall if they are to survive the night. The mall promises to give you just the product to fill the hole inside you, but that price will be very high indeed.

People might remember Adam Cesare as the twisted mind behind Clown in a Cornfield and its sequel, and he definitely brings that madcap kind of horror to Dead Mall, where the story is told by the titular mall who is not sorry that it must consume its patrons like they were Auntie Anne’s pretzels. Like in Cornfield, he takes the trouble of creating fleshed-out teen characters with their own wants and desires, then pushes them into the wood chipper–the chipper in this case being a mall that transforms its victims based on where they decide to shop within the mall (“shop” might be a misnomer since no money’s exchanged, but the mall’s victims pay the price with their humanity).

Stoll’s illustrations bring the mall’s victims to life in grisly detail, adding a touch of irony to their designs, such as a 50’s looking housewife who seems to have a doughy face (HALF HER FACE appears made out of dough). Stoll, however, shows some real cosmic horror chops as the teens descend into the mall’s depths and see all its fleshy insides and Cthulhu-inspired decor. Fans of the Hellraiser movie series (especially part 3, which had a man shoot razor-sharp CDs at people) will love the artwork here.

Overall, the book is great for fans of Cesare’s writing and of gutbucket body horror that skews ironic.