I can think of a number of situations when it would be convenient to have a Head key.

This review may contain spoilers for the first volume in the series, so if you want to remain unspoiled, you may want to proceed carefully.

Following a shocking death that dredges up memories of their father’s murder, Kinsey and Taylor are thrown into choppy emotional waters, and turn to their new friend, Zach Wells, little suspecting Zach’s dark secret. Meanwhile, six-year-old Bode Locke tries to puzzle out the secret of the head key, and uncle Duncan is jarred into the past by a disturbingly familiar face. Open your mind – the head games are just getting started. 

Having finally settled at their new school, the eldest Locke kids are shaken when Mr. Ridgeway, the elderly drama teacher is found dead in his home. Mr. Ridgeway used to teach their father and uncle as well, and the kids have no idea that he was murdered by their new friend Zach, who needed to make sure Mr. Ridgeway didn’t reveal that he was once a close friend of the Locke brothers when they were young. Also known as Dodge, the malevolent creature who was trapped down a well on the Keyhouse estate for decades, Zack now has the Anywhere key, that lets him travel in space, and open any door. He spends as much time as possible with the Locke kids, trying to find the elusive Omega key.

After the harrowing events when they first arrived in Lovecraft, Bode Locke is playing around with the new mysterious key he found. He discovers that with it you can open up the top of your head and access all your memories. You can easily remove your fears, literally, or memorise whole books by just inserting them into your head. Zack Wells is especially interested in the key. After all, if you can unlock people’s heads and remove or rearrange their thoughts, there’s no need to resort to murder to hide your tracks.

The plot continues to build in volume 2 of Joe Hill’s effectively chilling horror comic. There are some amazing concepts explored with the various keys, and occasionally it would be very convenient to have a Head key to access your every thought and emotion. I love Gabriel Rodriguez’ very expressive art, and as I have heard that the comic just keeps getting better, I suspect I will read it till the end, even if I find it creepy and unpleasant at times.

Also posted on my blog.