There is a man in the house. He feels strange. Maybe, it is only a feeling. Wait, there are visions and disintegrated words. Is he really seeing these or are they only in his mind?
This 44 pages comic book is pushing the boundary of comics, also horror and anxiety. The strongly illustrated images are composed to create fear and unstable mental conditions. A short yet intense comic book is designed to experience strangeness and confusion.
Goo Hyunseong analyses different components of comics and disassembles them. He considers this activity to be part of experimental comics. Through his experimental comics, he aims that people can find something to relate to and think about. The editor met the artist and talked about House of Delusion.
Editor: One reviewer said that it felt like she had been to a haunted
house after reading the book. How do you feel about that?
Goo: Fantastic. I will consider it a success if she felt that way. Very glad.
Editor: House of Delusion’s main character is the house. It is unusual for comics. What did you want to do or tell through House of Delusion?
Goo: I wanted to express delusion under anxiety and fear. I used panels, gutters, and narration to make it more effective. It was a challenge to experiment with the comic’s elements.
I used mirrored images too. If you look at House of Delusion, there are images flipped horizontally or vertically. This can make you feel unsettled and nervous. Also, the language slowly falls apart along with the images.
At the beginning of the book, it is normal. The normal changes more and more into something abnormal, something which can’t be real. I believed the readers would learn or imagine what is going on. I thought experimenting with comics components could be fun for this project.
Editor: Who is the man in the house?
Goo: It’s me. I spent too much time at home, so I got inspiration from inside of the house.
(to be continued...)
