Frost Road
Creative Team
writer: KEITH AREM
illustrator: CHRISTOPHER SHY
publisher: PCB ENTERTAINMENT
Frost Road is an atmospheric horror title that pulls from familiar dystopian stories while crafting its own path for a tense experience. It’s tense and visually captivating.
Set against the backdrop of a small town torn apart from an unknown infection, readers follow a handful of immune survivors as they traverse the horrors around them and distrust of each other.
This graphic novel begins with an unnamed man waking up from a violent car crash unaware of who he is or how he ended up in the woods. Bleeding and in pain, he heads toward the town of Frost Road and discovers self-mutilated bodies and a community in ruin.
Written by Keith Arem, Frost Road is a moody horror title that keeps readers engaged with the uncertainty between the various characters. While infected monsters appear throughout the story, this title focuses on the interpersonal struggles between the survivors Chris (who the protagonist goes by at point), Hanna, and Preston.
An additional core character is the town itself. Similar to games such as Silent Hill, the isolating community of Frost Road hides horrors within its quiet streets full of abandoned cars and bloody sidewalks. This allows for an anxiety-inducing narrative and combined with the unique art style makes for a solid thriller.
Illustrated by Christopher Shy, the art combines photorealism with a painterly style to create dream-like nightmare visuals that work well with the story. Readers may notice character designs match the likenesses of actors Yuri Lowenthal, Nina Bergman, and Chris Jai Alex, and gamers may find the design reminiscent of the first Max Payne game where cutscenes blended rough and textured art to engross readers into the narrative.
This style gives an industrial tone to the visual storytelling and allows moments such as rich blood red colors and broken glass, metal, and fire to pop off of the page. Additionally, the green-ish/blue hue works well to add a layer of visual mystery while making each panel captivating as characters struggle to work together.
Frost Road grabs hold of readers like a fever dream grounded in realism and horror.
