Of the two Hill House books so far, The Dollhouse Family #2, by a legendary creative team, is weaving the story that will haunt my nightmares for years to come. That's because it has the perfect blend of supernatural horror and the horrors that real kids encounter every day. Read Full Review

Now two issues in, the min-series is shaping up to be wonderful. That said, I fully hope that there is more about the Dollhouse, more about the magic, and just more about Alice in the next issues. With that being said, The Dollhouse Family #2is a solid entry with a great ending moment. It's hard to do, but each issue has so far ended conclusively. The single issues work entirely by themselves as stories, while also leaving enough thread for the next issue to hold onto when it picks back up. Read Full Review

This series is just getting better and better and in just two brief issues has already hit my top recommendations of 2019! Seriously people, get out there and buy The Dollhouse Family! Read Full Review

Time and guilt are the main players in this slow-burn horror that continues to up the stakes in its second issue. Read Full Review

This sophomore chapter keeps the audience both emotionally engaged and mildly terrified at the secrets we will likely unearth as the series continue, confirming that the strength of the debut issue was far more than a fluke. Read Full Review

I absolutely loved the first issue but I wasn't quite sure what to think about this second one the first few times that I read it, but as I wrote the review I got more into it. We already know that all of the members of the Dollhouse Family had not met each other before they one by one came into the dollhouse, but now we have confirmation that they are all from the same family tree; which starts with Joseph. And then his son Cordwainer, who is now in the dollhouse, and could also be the spawn of the evil beast. So questions are answered and more questions arise, and I'm still looking forward to seeing where it goes. Read Full Review

Hill House comics have been terrific across the board. I definitely suggest this to any horror/vertigo fan.

Great artwork and a wonderfully depressing issue. This issue definitely improved on the first issue. The ending was great.

I've had the entire Hill House line of comics on my pull list prior to the first issue launching. Due to the random and scattershot nature of my reviews, I haven't got nearly as far into this initial wave of stories as I would like but I will...eventually. Of the three titles, Basketful of Heads seems to be the most mainstream and accessible. The Dollhouse Family is a lot more interesting in scope and scale.

Dollhouse Family #2 opens in the aftermath of the cliffhanger of the last issue. Alice has brutally killed her father after seeing visions of her mom's death while in the Dollhouse. The Mother decides to take the blame for the death and is incarcerated. Alice is sent to a group home.

Due to the trauma of the events, Alice elects to be mute and not speak again to anyone. The fact that she won't talk, is allowed to keep her dollhouse, and gets her own bed puts her in the crosshairs of other children who bully her.

The story also jumps back to 1826 and continues what appears to be a parallel story of how the dollhouse came to be and more specifically how the entities came to reside in the dollhouse. Kent makes his way back to civilization after being lost in the cave and seduced by the entity there. While in recovery he falls madly in love with his nurse. Shortly thereafter they have a child but the mother dies during childbirth. This establishes the Bloodline that I assume is informing what is happening in the Alices timeline circa 1986.

I also really like that the sinister nature of the dollhouse is coming into focus. It's hinted at in the first issue but the cliffhanger here goes a lot further than Imagined it would. The sinister undercurrent being cultivated by Peter Gross is palpable. This is especially the case in the conclusion of the issue which is genuinely scary and comes out of nowhere

The series also seems to cover similar ground as Daphne Byrne with the entities influencing events but it's too early to tell if the two series have a connection. Wrapping things up, I'm definitely intrigued by the story here and I'd consider The Dollhouse Family a potential must read depending on the quality of the next issue or two.
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THE GOOD:

-This was a good issue. This series is getting better.

-The art's improving. It's still not great, but it was tolerable here.

-The emotions felt solid here.

-Joseph's story was much better here. It felt connected to the overall story, and the birth sequence is probably the scariest thing to come out of any Hill House comics yet.

-The page with the maid was really effective and creepy. Plus, I was actually compelled to see where it went.

-The last page was solid. I love the imagery and execution.

THE BAD:

-God, those bullies are just so poorly written. I groaned as soon as Alice was being introduced to other girls in the orphanage, because I knew where it was going.

-The layout of the Dollhouse was just random filler. There was some creepy stuff there, but it really interrupted the flow of the story, especially as it was labeled an artist's impression of the interior. more

I think I liked this more than issue one, but it's not without its problems. I cannot stand characters like Jenny. They're just so unrealistic and frankly dumb. And that was a major problem as it sort of tanked Alice's story. Like, with issue one, I couldn't be bothered with Joseph's story, but this time around I was way more interested in that than Alice's story. Unfortunately, that leads to an uneven reading experience. That's a shame because I can see there's greatness here, but I can't see past the shoddy execution.

Still no spooks to be had, nothing really special or interesting here tbh.