House of Mystery (Vertigo)

Plot

Cain (of Cain and Abel) attempts to return to the House of Mystery, his home in the Dreaming, and finds that it has disappeared. Seven years later, in Texas, a former architecture student named Bethany "Fig" Keele flees her burning house, saving only a handful of sketches she once made of a house from her dreams. Keele is pursued by a "Pair of the Conception", agents of an entity known as the "Omneity"; they are two people, a male and a female, always holding hands. If they let go of one another, they will disappear. The pair chases her through a door and unwittingly into the House of Mystery, where she meets the inhabitants of the house bar and discovers the terms of what is, apparently, her imprisonment. Everyone must pay for their drinks with stories and no one can leave without being picked up by the house's mysterious coachman. None of the House's occupants are sure why some people might get to leave and others not, so each person's stay is, at least ostensibly, eternal until the coachman inexplicably turns up to take them away. This does not stop some of the inhabitants from trying to get out, nor does it stop Cain from attempting to get back in.

Collected editions

The series has been collected into eight trade paperbacks:

• Room and Boredom (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #1–5, 128 pages, January 2009, )
• Love Stories for Dead People (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #6–10, 128 pages, June 2009, )
• The Space Between (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #11–15, 128 pages, January 2010, )
• The Beauty of Decay (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #16–20 and Halloween Special 2009, 160 pages, released July 2010, )
• Under New Management (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #21–25, 128 pages, released January 2011, )
• Safe as Houses (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #26–30, 144 pages, released May 2011, )
• Conception (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #31–35 and Halloween Special 2010, 160 pages, released December 2011, )
• Desolation (collects House of Mystery (vol. 2) #36–42, 160 pages, released August 2012, )

References

References

1. "Vertigo Comics House of Mystery #42". DC Comics.
2. link. (2009-12-16, [[Newsarama]], February 20, 2008)
3. [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16316 Sturges is Big Brother of Vertigo's "House of Mystery"], [[Comic Book Resources]], May 6, 2008
4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090221000829/http://www.newsarama.com/comics/020917-House-Mystery.html House Showing: Matt Sturges on House of Mystery], [[Newsarama]], February 17, 2009
5. Irvine, Alex. (2008). "The Vertigo Encyclopedia". [[Dorling Kindersley]].
6. [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16084 NYCC: Vertigo - Welcome to the Edge], [[Comic Book Resources]], April 19, 2008
7. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-1-room-and-boredom ''Room and Boredom'' details] at DC
8. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-2-love-stories-for-dead-people ''Love Stories for Dead People'' details] at DC
9. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-3-the-space-between ''The Space Between'' details] at DC
10. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-4-the-beauty-of-decay ''The Beauty of Decay'' details] at DC
11. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-5-under-new-management ''Under New Management'' details] at DC
12. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-6-safe-as-houses ''Safe As Houses'' details] at DC
13. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-7-conception ''Conception'' details] at DC
14. [http://www.vertigocomics.com/graphic-novels/house-of-mystery-vol-8-desolation ''Desolation'' details] at DC