Crownsville is a haunting and poignant blend of historical fiction with supernatural horror. Rodney Barnes and Elia Bonetti craft a tale that’s a chilling, terrifying, and thought-provoking exploration of trauma, injustice, and the ghosts that refuse to stay buried.
Founded at the turn of the 20th century outside of Annapolis, Maryland, the Crownsville Hospital was a notoriously segregated, all-Black psychiatric institute. After decades of overcrowding and neglect—alongside darker, more-persistent rumors of patient abuse and illegal medical experiments—it was finally closed. Today, it stands condemned—a crumbling testament to a legacy of all-too-real terror inflicted on a marginalized and vulnerable community. But even as a ruin of its former self, Crownsville still casts a long shadow…
When an unexplained death inside the abandoned hospital is ruled a suicide, Annapolis police detective Mike Simms and journalist Paul Blairare are compelled to dig deeper, only to discover the reality of the horrors that once took place there… and the powerful connection they share to the anguished spirits of the dead that are still locked within its walls.
The ambitious and oversized premiere issue gives us a nice chunk of what we can expect from the rest of the miniseries. Crownsville is rooted in historical atrocity and wrapped in a supernatural horror. I expected a lot heading into this first issue with Rodney Barnes at the helm and was not wrong. Barnes uses creepy horror to leverage the forgotten legacy of the real-life segregated psychiatric institution outside Annapolis, Maryland.
While we get introduced to a few of the characters we expect to see, it’s Crownsville the building which is the most impactful character. Crownsville is more than just a backdrop but almost a living and breathing entity, adding even more of an unsettling vibe. The decaying hospital becomes a symbol and the ghosts are both literal and metaphorical.
The intentional use of real-life horrors within a fictional story makes for such an impactful read. When you blur the lines between the real-life institutional abuse of Black mental-health patients and the fictional world you get a truly terrifying tale. A thought-provoking and impactful story, while also entertaining.
Barnes really grabs my attention with the story at hand, but it’s Elia Bonetti’s art which is the standout here. The visuals give a sense of decay, emptiness, and unease which fits the tale so well. The sketchy and gritty art style adds a sense of horror to the pages that goes beyond just the word bubbles and immerses us within the story. With such dense tone, Bonetti’s art conveys what is felt more than what is said.
Crownsville is a blend of unsettling horror and true crime which is effectively scripted by Rodney Barnes and evocatively illustrated by Elia Bonetti. The extra-long debut issue gives us hope to where this impactful comic is headed.
Crownsville #1 hits bookstores everywhere on November 5, 2025 from Oni Press.
Crownsville #1 Preview
