Warning: contains potential spoilers for Hunt for the Skinwalker #1!Boom Studios‘ new Hunt for the Skinwalker brings one of the most enigmatic cryptids to eerie and unsettling life. The real-life Skinwalker Ranch is a hotbed of paranormal activity, ranging from sightings of bizarre creatures to UFOs. Thanks to a best-selling book as well as a handful of documentaries and reality shows, the Skinwalker Ranch has become part of pop culture, and now Boom Studios is taking readers on a terrifying excursion into the unknown.
Located in the Utah Basin, the Skinwalker Ranch, as it has come to be called, has puzzled scientists and other researchers since the 1990s. In 1994, Terry and Gwen Sherman purchased the ranch, and shortly thereafter, odd occurrences began. Two years later, scientist Robert Bigelow purchased the ranch, and embarked on a landmark, nearly 20-year study of the Skinwalker Ranch; the Ranch was so named because some believe that skinwalkers, evil beings from Navajo folk lore, are behind the odd happenings. His findings were popularized in a 2005 book Hunt for the Skinwalker, which helped launch the area into pop culture. Now, Boom Studios is releasing a graphic novel adaptation of the original book; next year, the publisher will release both the Hunt for the Skinwalker graphic novel and the original book in deluxe editions. For fans eager to join the hunt for the Skinwalker, the first issue has now arrived in stores.
Hunt for the Skinwalker Gets Off to an Unsettling Start
Hunt for the Skinwalker is written by Zac Thompson, drawn by Valeria Burzo, colored by Jason Wordie and lettered by Joe Sabino. The issue opens shortly after the Shermans buy the ranch. They begin experiencing puzzling phenomenon; Gwen, after unpacking bags of groceries, returns to find them back in the bags. A few nights later, the family encounters a giant, wolf-like creature that, while benign to humans, attacks the Sherman’s cows. Terry and Gwen then begin a nightmarish descent into a world of cattle mutilations, UFOs and bizarre creatures. The issue concludes shortly before Robert Bigelow and his team arrive at the Ranch.
The Skinwalker Ranch Makes for a Great Comic Book
The story of the Skinwalker, whether one believes it or not, is downright terrifying, and defies rational explanation; nearly every conceivable bit of paranormal phenomenon known to humanity has happened there. While it may be horrifying to experience, the goings-on at the Skinwalker Ranch make for a great comic story, and Zac Thompson and Valeria Burzo have brought the Skinwalker Ranch to unsettling life. Thompson’s script, using actual text from the original book, slowly builds suspense throughout, and Burzo’s artwork perfectly captures the weird and eerie nature of its paranormal events, set against the everyday splendor of the Ranch itself.
Welcome to the Skinwalker Ranch
The Skinwalker Ranch continues to exert an influence on pop culture, nearly 30 years since the Shermans first bought it. In 2018, a documentary of the same name of the book was released, which was followed up by a reality-tv series airing on the History Channel. The Skinwalker Ranch invites fans to think outside the bounds of what we perceive as reality, and think of worlds beyond. This can be quite terrifying, and Boom’s Hunt for the Skinwalker brings this unique place to eerie and unsettling life, recreating its original owner’s gradual, dawning recognition of the weirdness around them.
Hunt for the Skinwalker #1 is on sale now from Boom Studios!
