With Halloween just around the corner, acclaimed comics creator Norm Konyu previews his latest chilling, twisty graphic novel, The Space Between the Trees.
Published by Titan Comics, The Space Between the Trees is both written and illustrated by Aurora Award-winning creator Norm Konyu, the superstar indie creator behind such titles as A Call to Cthulhuand Downlands.
This gorgeously illustrated graphic novel draws you in from the very first page. It follows the beloved couple, Meera and Mark, as they search for a new home. After viewing a potential forever home, they find themselves stranded in a forest when a road in a sleepy village mysteriously ends. They crash into the depths of the woodland, only to discover that this isn’t just any woods; it bends time and defies all logic. They aren’t just lost; they are mere pawns in a forest with a mind of its own, governed by its own rules.
In our review, we named The Space Between the Trees “one of the creepiest comics you’ll read in 2025.”
“I suppose, simply put, it’s about a very very bad day in the woods,” Konyu says. “A couple, in the middle of the mundane task of looking for a new home, have an accident and end up in an ever-changing forest which they cannot escape.”
When we asked about the dynamic between the two characters, Konyu explained: “Mark and Meera are in that young and comfortable stage of their relationship, looking to the future, and looking to put down roots (no pun intended). They rely on each other, and when their situation worsens, and one of them has the inevitable breakdown, the other is there to support and carry them through.”
The woodland setting is creepy and tense. allowing Konyu to build a sense of dread. “Woods are a sort of primal place, and a true forest of thousands of acres shows you how small you really are in the scheme of things,” he said. “They’re the sort of place that well-meaning parents warn kids about going into as ‘you’ll never be found!’ The woods feature prominently in several of my books, so though I didn’t draw upon any particular myth or folklore for this visit to the woods, they are obviously part of what my subconscious thinks is a good setting for danger and mystery. Saying that, the rest of my brain likes nothing more than a good walk in the woods.”
While it might not draw upon any particular myth or folklore, he does take inspiration from places he’s lived. “It’s definitely inspired by my short time living in the Canadian Pacific Northwest, and especially the last stands of Old Growth forest on Vancouver Island, ancient forests constantly threatened by the encroachment of man and logging.”
Turns out, Konyu himself isn’t unfamiliar with being lost in the woods. “I’ve been lost in the woods twice in my life though never in a ‘so far away from the nearest sign of civilisation they’ll only find my bones’ sort of way,” he says. “I think both times I was lost for only about an hour or so, but even that leaves an impression when you realise you don’t know where you are and all the trees look the same. It doesn’t take much imagination once lost, that somebody or something is purposefully stopping you from finding your way out. So I suppose that is at the core of the book. That’s the story side. As for the actual graphic novel side, I suppose I’m just a glutton for punishment and want to lock myself in a studio on my own for absolute ages in order to commit it to the page!”
One thing about The Space Between the Trees that’a particularly unique is the lack of a visible nemesis. The story doesn’t rely on a traditional monster. “I think the ‘unseen’ can be scarier than the visible and quantifiable,” Konyu explains. “Jaws is generally acknowledged to be more effective by the fact that you rarely see the shark. Personally, I don’t think it made the storytelling tension any more difficult or any easier to sustain for me. The threat is there just as much as a visible monster, it’s just hidden in the trees or just out of the viewer’s sight…”
His story takes on a unique narrative structure. The woodland itself toys with Meera and Mark, and timelines become warped and intertwined. “I absolutely love intersecting timelines, with being presented strands of a tale out of sequence until they all fit together in the end,” Konyu said. “Some of my favourite movies feature this and I suppose that has spilled into my books, but especially so in this one. Maybe it’s a cheat, but playing with the usual linear nature of time helps preserve reveals until you choose to reveal them. So in this case, I thought why not have the breakage of linear time be the actual story itself?”
As for what you can expect from Konyu next, he has plenty of projects in the works. “I’m always thinking about the next story – usually I have 2 or 3 in varying states of completeness rolling about in my head. I have a graphic novel I’m artworking at the moment, but when I’ll actually finish it is anybody’s guess. Too bad I can’t employ those shifting timelines just to skip to the part where it’s complete!”
We thank Norm Konyu for his time.
You can buy The Space Between the Trees here.
