Something Is Killing the Children #4 is a horror comic from James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera that was published on December 11, 2019 by Boom! Studios. It is the fourth issue in the Something Is Killing the Children comic series, the fourth issue of the five-part The Angel of Archer's Peak arc, and the fourth issue of the fifteen-part Archer's Peak saga.
Synopsis[]
The FBI has come to the small town of Archer's Peak, allegedly to help stop more children from being killed. But when the Sheriff's department turns their investigation to Erica Slaughter, the FBI is more interested in getting in the way. As the horrified townspeople watch Erica arm herself for a war they can't see, tensions rise to their breaking point in this penultimate issue.[1]
Plot[]
At House Depot, Henry shows Erica Slaughter the latest models of chainsaw he has, and brags about their safety features. She asks if she can see his "crappy, rundown models." As he looks at her basket of weapons, James approaches with sharp garden shears, which Erica tells him to put in the cart. She tells Henry that she will be paying cash.
Tommy Mahoney visits his father's house. At first, thinking it's Cynthia, Mr. Mahoney is sleeping naked on the couch. He asks if they have found Sophie, and Tommy says that they haven't, and that he had just come to check on him after he had failed to answer his phone seven times. As Tommy leaves, however, he shows Tam that he had stolen his father's gun, kept in a small cardboard box.
Sheriff Joe Cavanaugh and his brother, Tim Cavanaugh, the mortician, look at the scene of five dead children. Tim says that the deaths seem strange, as predators will always go for the kill quickly so that they can get their meat. However, whatever killed the children had ripped into them, but left them whole, which is more consistent with a vengeful human. Joe asks what could enter the house without leaving a trace, not touch a single piece of furniture as it killed the children, and then break through the wall to leave. Joe says he doesn't know. An officer then comes to Joe, telling him that a strange man had called him, saying extremely personal things about him to get him to go to the Sheriff. Joe asks if he's the one who sent Erica, and Aaron Slaughter responds that Erica is never with anybody.
Walking in the woods with their cart of weapons, James asks Erica what monsters are, and how one ate his friends if they aren't real. She says that they become real with belief, and that "believing is a different thing than knowing;" while James might know monsters aren't real, that wouldn't stop his subconscious from manifesting them out of fear. His "underdeveloped brain", while still giving him belief, also gives him an advantage against monsters, as he can still see them, but when he will get older, he will forget, and it will be for the better. She then tells James that they are in the last known location of Sara Washington, and she's going to Lake Michigan to find its den. James insists on going with her, and she says he only can if he does exactly what she tells him.
A watching John Richards calls Joe Cavanaugh, reporting that Erica has gone into the woods. Joe tells him not to follow her, and to let her do what she's going to do. Noting that Joe sounded scared, John gets out of his car to get boots from his trunk in order to follow her. Tommy Mahoney then approaches him, and pistol-whips him, knocking him out, blaming him for Erica being released.
Erica approaches the den, and realizing something is amiss, she yells at Octo for knowing "this was going to happen." She gives James her backpack and orders him to hide at the ridge, before taking a chainsaw into the den. Inside, she sees a bloody pile of children's body parts. Just as she approaches, Tommy Mahoney comes in, convinced now that she is the killer. Erica tells him to get down, seeing a monster above him. He refuses.
Characters[]
Order of St. George[]
Archer's Peak[]
Monsters[]
- Oscuratype
- Archer's Peak Oscuratype mother
Comic guide[]