I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! I stayed tucked inside and played a compelling mystery game with my husband called Telling Lies. This game was developed by Sam Barlow, the same developer that released Her Story back in 2015. Both are very fun games and I highly recommend them if you are the sort of person who likes to catch clues and foreshadowing in shows and movies. The ‘game’ is watching videos and searching terms (within the game UI) for more hints until you solve the crime or ‘story’. They are quite compelling and had both my husband and I stuck to the screen trying to figure it out well past bedtime. Again, highly recommend!

But games are not why we are here! Today we’re going to delve into both the novel and show versions of Locke and Key. The story centers on three young siblings who return to their family’s ancestral home after bearing witness to their father’s murder. It’s a pretty gruesome start, but the intrigue not only lies in why their father was murdered, but the mystery of Keyhouse itself. Several different magical keys are hidden around Keyhouse, and the kids start finding them one by one. Each key has its own purpose and helps to drive the story forward.

Locke and Key season 2 was released on October 22, just in time for everyone to watch for Halloween. Surprise, surprise, but I actually found the time this weekend to blow through the whole season. If you enjoyed the first season, you will probably like this one. If you didn’t like the first season, or if you’re not invested in the story, then I would say don’t bother. The show did have some very frustrating character decisions that were hard to look past, and straight up irritating to watch at times. However, I did think season 2 was better than season 1.

As for the books, they are a very dark, but enthralling read. I read them first when S1 of Locke and Key released and really enjoyed them. If you like graphic novels or enjoy inventive horror with magic and demons, then I highly recommend this series. Also, the artwork is superb.

Netflix simply did not go as dark in the show as the novels did. With a young cast armed with magic keys, it was almost like they were trying to recreate a Harry Potter fanbase with S1, but it fell short. However, S2 seemed to ‘grow up’ a bit and upped the stakes on character lives in an attempt to align with the feel of the novels, and it kinda worked. There are new keys in the show that didn’t exist in the novels, so some plot points couldn’t be achieved, while others were introduced. I will say that some of these new plot points were interesting, but sometimes the execution fell short.

I was actually satisfied with the ending of S2, and almost disappointed knowing there is going to be a 3^rd season. It’s at this point it feels like they’re drawing the story out longer than it should be, as most of the plot points in the novels have already been covered. That being said, I will watch S3 when it releases just because I’m so drawn by the magic and uniqueness of the keys. I absolutely love stuff like that. I do hope they are able to expand a little more on the lore and the world behind the Black Door in the show, but we will have to see. I’ll be there for it, regardless.

Until next week, Happy Reading!