The Hotel is an entry in the Brain Anthology on Webtoons. The Heart and Brain anthologies are outstanding collections of works taken from Webtoons’ 2020 short story contest. The site has moved on from its previous creator rewards program, but these anthologies are treasure-troves of passionate experimentation and new ideas.
Frank Calico’s four-episode story is a masterful exercise in style that evokes unease when a professor takes an after-dark taxi ride with a talkative driver. The unsparing exaggeration of Calico’s drawing style and the Cheshire-cat grin of the driver carry unacknowledged menace as the two discuss the weather. The lanky professor relates everything to the local legends he has respectfully studied, foreshadowing supernatural developments to come. When he arrives at the hotel, events take a turn for the bizarre and spectral.
After reading so many webcomics that attempt to evoke horror with carnage and disfigurement, it is refreshing to encounter an artist who understands the quiet terror of a nocturnal taxi ride and the foreboding of a hospitable country inn.
