Locke & Key

Locke & Key is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, and published by IDW Publishing.
This plot is presented in chronological order.
In 1775 during the American Revolution, a group of Rebels, hiding in a sea cave in Massachusetts Bay beneath what will one day be Keyhouse in the town of Lovecraft, discover a portal to another dimension, the plains of Leng. It is filled with demons who can mesmerize anyone that sees them and possess them through touch; two men are possessed over two days and they kill several rebels. However, when the demons attempt to enter the real world without possessing someone, they are transformed into "whispering" iron which young smith Benjamin Locke forges into a variety of magical keys. The first key he makes is the Omega Key (which has an Omega character on the head) that seals the entrance to the dimension. The magic of the Keyhouse gradually evolves over the years, including a spell which causes occupants to forget about the keys and the magic of the house when they pass their 18th birthday. In 1988, a group of teenagers, having used the keys extensively in their high school years to their great delight, decide to open the black door with the Omega Key, hoping to trick a demon into entering the real world in order to provide more metal with which to make more keys. Rendell Locke's younger brother Duncan follows the group into the cave, but he is mesmerized demons in the open door, and attempts to walk through it. He is stopped by Lucas "Dodge" Caravaggio who accidentally puts his hand through the doorway and is possessed by a demonic being. He plots to kill his friends and enslave the others; Dodge kills several and causes another to lose her memory. He also extracts a part of his spirit to be hidden in a jar in the home of Ellen "Ellie" Whedon, one of the surviving friends, as a contingency plan. Dodge is killed finally by Rendell before he can force more people to be possessed. Rendell discovers a small piece of "whispering" iron from the sea cave and disguises it as a fishing lure.
Around 2010, the fragment of Dodge's spirit partially possesses Ellie, who then conjures the rest of Dodge's spirit the physical world at the magical well at Keyhouse, but Dodge is trapped within the well house. In 2011, Dodge's spirit reaches out to a young, abused prodigy, Sam Lesser, and convinces him to force Rendell to give him the Anywhere Key (which will allow Dodge to escape the wellhouse) and the Omega Key. When Rendell refuses, Sam murders him, but Sam is then incapacitated by Tyler, Rendell's oldest son, and captured by the police. The Locke family, children Tyler, Kinsey, Bode, and mother Nina, move across the country to Keyhouse, reuniting with Duncan, and begin discovering the house's secrets. Sam escapes prison with Dodge's help and follows the Lockes to Massachusetts. Sam attacks the family again at Keyhouse, but Dodge also tricks Bode to bring him the Anywhere Key in case Sam fails again. Dodge escapes from the wellhouse with Bode's help, kills Sam, and returns to Lovecraft in the same body as he had thirty years before.
Dodge intimidates his way into living in Ellie's home, who is now a teacher at the same high school she originally attended with Dodge, and where Tyler and Kinsey are now enrolled; Dodge also re-enters the school under the guise of a new student and cousin of Ellie. Over the next year, Dodge secretly tries to recover the various keys – particularly the Omega Key – from the children, collecting many, though hindered by Tyler and Kinsey. Dodge is eventually discovered but manages to switch bodies and possesses Bode before they can kill him. Now free to explore the house as Bode, Dodge finally finds the Omega Key and plans his takeover during after-prom party in the sea cave. Several students are possessed by demons and many others are killed. Dodge is ultimately undone by Tyler, having re-discovered the "whispering" iron from his father; he forges an "Alpha Key" with Duncan's help, which can exorcise a demon from the possessed soul, though it is a fatal to the physical host. Dodge spirit in Bode's body is forced back into the well, killing the spirit again, though Bode's empty body is cremated before Bode's soul has a chance to return into it.
In the epilogue, Tyler conjures Dodge's spirit again and uses the Alpha Key to finally exorcise Dodge from Lucas' soul, allowing Lucas' unpossessed soul to finally rest in death. Tyler uses the well's magic to speak with his father one last time. Finally, Tyler restores Bode's spirit into his physical form using the Animal Key.
The narrative of Locke & Key has a three-act structure, with each act covering two story arcs. Act One's first story arc, Welcome to Lovecraft, was a six-issue limited series published by IDW Publishing. The first issue of Welcome to Lovecraft was released on February 20, 2008, and sold out in a single day, requiring a second printing to be done immediately. The second arc of Act One, Head Games, commenced with the release of the first issue on January 22, 2009. The actual Head Games story was printed in four issues, with a standalone prologue ("Intermission" or "The Joe Ridgeway Story") and a standalone conclusion ("Army of One").
The first storyline of Locke & Key Act Two, Crown of Shadows, began in late 2009. The second storyline, Keys to the Kingdom, began in August 2010.
The first storyline of Act Three was announced as Time & Tide, but was retitled Clockworks. The second, and concluding, storyline is entitled Alpha & Omega.
Originally, the plan was to release the first five story arcs in a monthly format with the sixth arc published as an original graphic novel. The plan changed and the concluding story arc appeared in monthly installments.
In the universe of Locke & Key, there are many keys created from whispering iron that have different magical properties. Some of them are extensively featured in the series, while others are featured very briefly. The known keys are:
These keys have not made an appearance in the official comics but appear in merchandise, promotional tie-ins, and/or non-canon materials. They may have also appeared in concept art. Regardless, their purpose or abilities are unknown.
These are locks that are seen in the art that could hint at the existence of potential Keys. Names are not official.
These keys were designed as merchandise and based off several famous novels and fairy tales. They were created as a limited series by Skelton Crew. They do not appear in the comics or the Netflix Series.
The final arc is titled Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega; it collects Omega #1–5 and Alpha #1–2.
At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, Joe Hill confirmed that a new Locke & Key series called World War Key was in the works. This storyline as Hill puts it is "about the idea that the past is never gone... and I think a lot of ghost stories are about ways the past keep bleeding through to the present. We'll visit the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and World War II to show how those past events have had lingering effects on our heroes today." As of 2019, the series is expected to run thirty-seven issues across six books (not including The Golden Age). World War Key is designed to be both a prequel and a sequel to the original run of Locke & Key.
A series of short stories set in the past. In his newsletter, Joe Hill referred to the book as "World War Key 0: The Golden Age".
Locke & Key: …In Pale Battalions Go… will be a three-issue story that leads into World War Key, set at the beginning of the 20th century and will feature characters from "Small World" and "Open the Moon". It will also lead into the Locke & Key/Sandman Universe crossover comic. On February 21, 2020, IDW announced via their Twitter that Locke & Key would be crossing over with DC Comics's Sandman Universe. The story, Hell & Gone, will center around DC's Key to Hell from The Sandman: Season of Mists. Hell & Gone will wrap up The Golden Age arc.
According to Joe Hill, ...In Pale Battalions Go... was originally supposed to be just two issues, but he quickly realized that it wasn't enough to tell the full story so it was increased to three.
Joe Hill has stated that the chronological order of the Golden Age chapters is as follows:
The first arc of World War Key. Joe Hill stated in an interview that Revolution "takes place during the Revolutionary War and it's about how the magical keys won the Revolutionary War."
The second arc of World War Key according to Joe Hill. He described the plot: "leaps forward to the modern-day, [where] we visit some favorite characters from the Locke & Key series, and we see how they're doing. And we all see the events of the Revolutionary War staining through into the present."
Many fans believed that "GRINDHOUSE" and "DOG DAYS" were a part of the Golden Age arc until Joe Hill stated via Twitter that they are at the moment their own standalone stories that are not a part of any arc.
On November 11, 2014, the first six volumes were collected as a slipcase set of paperbacks.
Locke & Key was also collected in three hardcover books with all-new cover art and design by Gabriel Rodriguez.
All six arcs (Welcome to Lovecraft, Head Games, Crown of Shadows, Keys to the Kingdom, Clockworks, and Alpha & Omega) of the main story are to be published in one compendium edition, featuring new front and back cover art by Gabriel Rodriguez. The compendium had an original release date of October 2020, but it was delayed and eventually published July 20, 2021.
On November 11, 2007, Subterranean Press announced a pre-order for a hand-numbered, signed, limited edition of the six-issue run of Welcome To Lovecraft. This edition consisted of 250 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies, both of which sold out within 24 hours of being announced. This edition was a hardcover release in a specially designed and illustrated slipcase, and featured exclusive dust jacket art by Vincent Chong and reprinted all 250 pages of Joe Hill's script in addition to the actual comic work.
This was followed by the publication of Head Games, which was also limited to 250 hand-numbered and signed copies as well as 26 lettered copies. The third volume, Crown of Shadows, is available for preorder, and like the previous editions is signed and numbered with the same limitations and also comes with an illustrated slipcase. Cloth-bound trade editions limited to 1000 copies (unsigned, unnumbered, and without the slipcase) were also released. Trade editions for the first two volumes are sold out.
Comic Book/Graphic Novel
Netflix Adaptation
Awards and Nominations received by the Netflix series
A film trilogy was officially announced at the 2014 Comic Con. Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Bobby Cohen and Ted Adams would produce the film with Universal Pictures and Kurtzman and Orci's production company K/O Paper Products.
In October 2015, Joe Hill confirmed that the films are no longer happening, though a TV series was still possible. In May 2016, Joe Hill announced he would write a TV pilot, serve as executive producer and pitch the show to various networks and streaming companies.
Dimension Films acquired the film and television rights for Welcome to Lovecraft from IDW Publishing with the intent of developing the property as a feature with John Davis producing. In February 2010, it was announced that Dimension had lost the adaptation rights to Dreamworks with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci signed on to develop and produce the project. In August 2010 Steven Spielberg also joined as a producer, and the production became a TV series rather than a movie adaptation, with Josh Friedman writing episodes for the show and acting as show-runner.
The TV series adaptation then landed at 20th Century Fox Television. The network greenlit a pilot, produced by Dreamworks TV and K/O Paper Products through the latter's deal with 20th Century Fox TV.
Miranda Otto played Nina Locke, Sarah Bolger was Kinsey Locke and Nick Stahl co-starred as Duncan Locke. Skylar Gaertner played 6-year old Bode, and Harrison Thomas played a teenager possessed by an evil spirit. Actor and singer Jesse McCartney appeared as Ty Locke, the series' male lead and Ksenia Solo was cast as Dodge.
Mark Romanek directed the pilot episode, which was filmed at the mansion in Hartwood Acres and in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, in February 2011. The pilot was also shot throughout Pittsburgh that same month. In May 2011, Fox announced that the project would not be picked up to the series. The studio attempted to sell the project to other networks but eventually ceased efforts due to rising costs. The pilot was screened at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, where it was well received.
On April 20, 2017, Hulu ordered a pilot based on the comic with Carlton Cuse, Scott Derrickson, and Lindsey Springer as producers. In July 2017, Derrickson was replaced by Andy Muschietti as the pilot's director. In August 2017, Frances O'Connor was cast as Nina in the show. In a March 2018 interview, Samantha Mathis revealed that Hulu had passed on the show, and it was now being shopped around to other networks.
On May 30, 2018, after Hulu had passed on Locke & Key, it was announced that Netflix was nearing a series order for a re-developed version of the show with Cuse and Hill involved once again, and Muschietti as executive producer. The show found a new director for the pilot and an entirely new cast with the exception of Jackson Robert Scott as Bode Locke, who was cast in the Hulu pilot as well.
Season one of the show, with 10 episodes, debuted on Netflix on February 7, 2020. Season two of the show, with 10 episodes, debuted on Netflix on October 22, 2021. The third and final season of the show, with 8 episodes, debuted on Netflix on August 10, 2022.
All six books of Locke & Key were adapted as a 13-hour audio drama released on 5 October 2015. Produced by the AudioComics Company for Audible Studios and directed by William Dufris, the work features voice actors including Tatiana Maslany, Haley Joel Osment, Kate Mulgrew, and Brennan Lee Mulligan, with appearances by series creators Rodríguez and Hill, as well as Hill's father Stephen King, in addition to almost 50 voice-over actors and an original score by Peter Van Riet. The work received critical praise, and in 2016 was nominated for four Audie Awards from the Audiobook Publisher's Association of America, including "Best Original Work" and "Excellence in Production."
In 2012, Cryptozoic Entertainment released a card game based on the series.