Back when the first few graphic novels came out, a number of reviewers made the same observation: The island is full of strange entities, but the islanders seem entirely oblivious to them. It creates a somewhat creepy effect. That part of the storytelling was not my decision.

It could be assumed that islanders used to protect themselves by trying not to know what was going on around them. Perhaps they didn’t care, and felt no interest in the eyes in the dark. Fear, or complacency, apathy or despair – there are many reasons not to bother with what’s around you.

The life of the island has changed as we’ve gone along. The Hopeless, Maine Scientific Society first turned up as a two page spread in one of the books – it was my idea, as I wanted to dig in more with islander life. I went on to use the Scientific Society repeatedly in the aftermath of the kickstarter where I had to kill one hundred people.

Since then, the Scientific Society has taken on a life of its own, including those splitters who are now in the Horticultural Society instead. Islanders have started paying a lot more attention to the flora and fauna around them.

There is a kind of horror in weird obliviousness, and people who do not care enough to engage with the world they live in. Frankly, I think there’s enough of that kind of horror out in the ‘real’ world. Better then, to have the kinds of horrors you can find by gazing back at the weird things, gazing into the void, gazing into the bushes and so forth.

(Image and text by Nimue)