I’ll tell you what, if you read stories such as Cult-de-Sac by stellar horror writer Cullen Bunn and fantastic artist Fico Ossio, you’d never even think twice about staying away from any Home Owners Associations when buying a new home. Bunn and Ossio craft an unsettling, terrifying, and honestly infuriating tale that makes me want to grab the Hanson family and tell them to RUN!
The Hanson family just moved into a new home, and they’re ready to make it all their own. Or so they thought… because in this neighborhood, you don’t want to find yourself on the HOA’s bad side. Unexplainable and terrifying things happen to those who break the rules, and the Hanson family is about to find out what happens when evil hits close to home in Cult-de-Sac!
I have seen many real-life horror stories that come from living within an HOA. However, these stories are based around just the annoyance and sticking to the letter of the law of an HOA and those power hungry, sometimes awful, people who are in charge of enforcing the rules. Not so much the horrors you’d expect to find in a fictional story such as Cult-de-Sac.
One of my favorite episode of The X-Files is Arcadia from season six where Fox Mulder and Dana Scully go undercover at a planned community only to discover something much more sinister. These types of terrifying HOA stories are some of my favorite horror tales. There is something even more frightening about the what should be helpful neighbors turning into something so terrifying that just chills me to the bone.
Bunn does a wonderful job introducing us to the Hanson family in way where we can quickly embrace them and care for their wellbeing, knowing well they are likely in for a hell of a ride. We also meet a few of the neighbors, ones that come off as super nice, others I can tell I will love to hate (some that are just straight assholes), as well as those lurking in the shadows and behind the curtains. The community itself might not have a creepy vibe, but each new person we meet gives off unsettling vibes.
The artwork from Ossio is just gritting enough to convey the sinister plot of Cult-de-Sac, but also clean enough to show the polished neighborhood the Hanson family has just moved into. Ossio always conveys horror in such a great way with his illustrations and this story is no different.
The debut issue might not be the most frightening story yet, but you can tell it is gearing up to something big. It’s not what I fully expected, but it’s only the first issue and by the end, I was eagerly wanting so much more. What lurks in the shadows in this HOA run community is something sinister and I cannot wait for more.
Cult-de-Sac takes something that should be mundane, an HOA, and turns it into a creepy and unsettling horror story. Cullen Bunn and Fico Ossio lay the foundation for what will be a deeply sinister mystery, all while making you really care about the Hanson family. Cult-de-Sac transforms suburban anxiety into an irresistibly creepy horror and infuriated me in just the right way.
Cult-de-Sac #1 hits local comic shops on August 12, 2026 from Ignition Press.
Cult-de-Sac #1 Preview
