WORMS CRAWL IN – Indie Review

In WORMS CRAWL IN, available from Dan Schmidt on October 7, 2020, a hopeless psychic who talks to dead people teams up with a corpse-hopping spirit to free souls trapped by a vindictive crime lord.

The Details

• Written By: Dan Schmidt
• Art By: Dan Schmidt
• Letters By: Dan Schmidt
• Cover Art By: Dan Schmidt
• Cover Price: $12.99
• Release Date: October 7, 2020

Was It Good?

Yes. It was good for several reasons, particularly for taking the zombie genre and finding a new twist. As you’ve already picked up from the summary the lead zombie is one-half of what amounts to a supernatural buddy cop pairing.

I haven’t seen something like that since 1988’s Dead Heat, a supernatural action-comedy. But make no mistake, this is definitely not a comedy. There is action, but it’s intense and gory as you’d expect in a proper zombie story. Schmidt puts considerable effort into playing up the emotional effects on the lead duo as they follow through on their main mission.

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The art is above-average for an underground indie project. The static and slow-moving panels look great. Some of the fast-moving panels look a little awkward but not so much that it detracts from the essence of the scene. Overall, this is an impressive 160+ page GN for one person to put together.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Delane is a down-on-her-luck psychic who’s the real deal. She makes what little money she can by running a fortune-telling table on a street corner. To Delane, the dead are everywhere, and her journal writings reflect a morose view of life as she struggles to find meaning or purpose.

Delane’s friend, Faith has been missing, and we learn she was killed by a local crime lord in a bizarre manner. Her body was dumped in the nearby swamp waters as food for a zombie chained to the muddy bottom. Unfortunately, the body-dumping was performed incorrectly (she has to be shot in the head first before the body is dumped) and the zombie is able to escape his prison by transferring his spirit into the fresh corpse with an intact brain.

Whenever you’re establishing a supernatural/fantasy world, it always helps to establish the rules of how things work. It wasn’t immediately clear in the beginning, but it becomes very clear in the next chapter the spirit who’s trapped by a specific ritual can hop bodies. By creating these very unique and clear rules, Schmidt sets up creative ways to play with those rules later on.

The spirit’s name is Marco and he was trapped in his dead body as a zombie when he crossed a local crime lord. Father Henry, a priest with access to dark rituals from his archaeological background, was forced into performing the zombie ritual numerous times for the crime lord as payment for un-priest-like addictions.

Marco escapes the swamp in Faith’s body, and Delane eventually connects to their presence when Marco makes it back to the city. After her initial shock, Delane agrees to help Marco by finding Father Henry to undo the spell so Marco can rest in peace. Of course, undoing the spell isn’t so simple. There are more rules, clear rules, but their not easy rules.

Each zombie is tied to a totem, a personal item such as a necklace or bracelet, and the zombie must destroy its own totem to be set free. Now, the players are established and the mission is set. Marco will help free all the zombies created by the crime lord, with Delane’s help, so he can undo all the wrong’s he performed in life and move on with a clear conscience.

It’s sound straightforward, but what adds to the tension is time. The longer a person is a zombie, the more their body decays, the more their hunger for human flesh grows, the harder it becomes to free them.

With each release, Marco can feel his own hunger for human flesh taking over, and Delane is conflicted about having to lie to the few acquaintances she about her “partner.” Schmidt does an excellent job of pushing the stress and dark weight of Delane’s agreement to help Marco, but it turns into a sort of redemption arc for both of them. Marco learns to appreciate the life he squandered, and Delane learns to live by opening up to those who care about her.

We conclude the GN with endings and beginnings.

How Does It End?

Delane makes peace with her power in a satisfying (and fun) way. Marco’s quest ends badly… or does it? Some spirits turn into something dark and nasty.

Final Thoughts

WORMS CRAWL IN successfully merges the buddy cop drama and zombie genres for a wholly unique and entertaining story. The writing is excellent and the macabre art style suits the material well. This is a recommended purchase.

Score: 8/10