The Mare

A teenager overwhelmed by personal conflicts combats a supernatural entity disguised as sleep paralysis in Martel’s evocative horror graphic novel. Teenage Indigo’s life just keeps going from bad to worse. Her father and stepmother’s marriage recently ended in a contentious divorce, driving her father to take refuge in drinking; Indy was fired from her food service job for repeated tardiness; and Indy’s been plagued by sleep demons that evoke the appearance of a blue-hued creature. She finds steadfast support in best friend Kasia, who offers comfort even in Indy’s lowest moments. Kasia infers that the sleep paralysis Indy is experiencing is caused by the Mare, “someone who was wronged, or a rejected woman who visits in the night,” and suggests various solutions, such as sleeping upside down. But when Indy wakes one night standing outside her stepmother’s house, she worries that something more sinister is afoot. Martel portrays Indy’s menacing nightmares using oceanic hues and the waking world in thinly lined b&w images; this direct juxtaposition lends a surreal element to the grounding normalcy of Indy’s everyday life. Centering conflicts both fantastical and mundane, Martel delivers a tale redolent in suspense and earned plot twists. Ages 13–up. (Mar.)