5/27/2023 0 Comments Backaroo originI wouldn’t necessarily recommend reading Nailbiter, at least not in its entirety, but I do think there’s something to be said about the way the series looks at this wildly popular cultural phenomena and how it affects so many of us in ways we may not expect. Despite the havoc these larger-than-life figures wreak on their lives, they can’t help but be drawn to the stories of these killers, wondering who might be next to take up the mantle. Many teenagers are shown to be deeply invested in the narrative of the Buckroo Butchers, picking their favorites, arguing which would win in a fight, and creating rituals surrounding the legends of them. ![]() She is shown as someone who has been consumed by the culture who works to be someone better rather than giving in to her more monstrous urges.Įven the townsfolk themselves aren’t immune to the pull of this obsession. Rather than villainizing her, though, Williamson takes a more nuanced approach, with the woman ultimately getting help and seeing a therapist to work through her erratic behaviors. The one-off story explores how the woman’s obsession, stemming from her own mental instabilities, consumes her and sends her into a frenzy as she desperately scrambles to have her child, all while trusting no one. Issue 6 shows readers an extreme version of this, with a woman rushing to Buckroo in order to give birth to her baby there in the hopes that it might grow up to become the next Buckroo Butcher, making her famous. Media, police, and serial killer fanatics are shown to be obsessed with the small town, as the world is fascinated by the birthplace of the Buckroo Butchers. This is all further perpetuated by outsiders clamoring to flood Buckaroo. He suggests that he and anyone else whose lives are severely effected by the actions of the Buckroo Butchers deserve to gain something to compensate for their suffering. While there are those who look down on him for his supposed selfishness and greed, Woods points out on multiple occasions how his life was effectively ruined by being related to his father. With his family name forever tarnished, Woods had, by the start of the series, set up a serial killer souvenir shop in an effort to make a profit off of the legacy of death. Many minor characters throughout the series are directly related to the Buckroo Butchers, such as Raleigh Woods, whose father was the Book Burner, the first in the line of killers. While these themes are sprinkled throughout, the best examples of this comes from the first 10 issues of the series, taking a long look at the townsfolk of Buckaroo and how they cope with the traumas forced upon them. The boyfriend had nothing to do with it, but she couldn’t be that close to anything that evil.” And while Nailbiter may contain obvious references to various pop culture horror flicks, Williamson has stated that what he found more inspiring was “the documentaries about actors playing these types of roles.” In this sense, Williamson tugs on a more exploratory thread, questioning what it’s like to transition from an average person into a murderer.īut beyond the killers themselves, Williamson works to highlight the culture surrounding these killers, showing how the actions of the few affects the many in life-altering ways. In multiple interviews, he has cited that a prominent inspiration for starting the series was when “one of his coworkers who broke up with her boyfriend after finding out his uncle was a serial killer. It’s clear when talking about his inspirations for the series that Williamson was aiming to discuss just that. Author Joshua Williamson, by creating this world, shines a glaring spotlight on serial killer culture in the modern day and how the sometimes irrational behaviors associated with it can point to an underlying darkness in the common person. ![]() Thus, a focal mystery is established what makes Buckaroo the bedrock of wanton killing?Īnd while that narrative has its interesting moments, I think what Nailbiter does best goes beyond those tried and true tropes, past the contrived plot points, and settles in a more human place. He, as well as 15 other prominent serial killers referred to collectively as the Buckaroo Butchers, all hail from the same hometown, Buckaroo, Oregon. Built on the promise of great ideas and the bedrock of horror culture tropes, the series features the titular Nailbiter, a serial killer known for his penchant to chew the nails off his victims’ bodies. Nailbiter isn’t a particularly special or fantastic series.
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