THE DRESDEN FILES

GHOUL GOBLIN

A GRAPHIC NOVEL

“If I was put on this Earth for a reason, it was to protect folks like them - and I’d be damned if I was going to fail that role.” - Harry Dresden

This graphic novel story is a side story set several months after Fool Moon and takes place before B is for Bigfoot. It opens with a Prologue set in Cairo, 1917. A British Major Talbot wanting a table at a restaurant but there isn’t an open table, so he is extremely rude to a group of men at a table who end up being able to put a curse on him that follows him for the rest of his life and his children too. The curse is that they will die early.

Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2)

By Butcher, Jim

Buy on Amazon

The story then cuts to modern day with Harry Dresden battling a water breathing monster in Lake Michigan. He shoots the monster, but it still gets away. Two days later after searching for the monster with no success, Harry heads to his office and is met by a police officer, Tres, who wants to hire him for a job. The police officer is from Boone Mill, Missouri. There have been some suspicious murders involving members of the same family, the Talbots. Harry takes the job because it reminds him of when he was a child and his family members were dying. Harry doesn’t want other young children to suffer as he did. Harry accepts the job and they head to Boone Mill.

Harry brings Bob the skull along and uses him to gather some intel. Bob tells him that the Talbots are cursed, starting with their ancestor. Since then his progeny have been cursed as well and have suffered tragedies. Harry decides to do some investigating and he goes to the funeral of the latest Talbot murder along with Tres. At the funeral the Goblin reveals himself and Harry tries to kill with his magic and then with his gun. But the Goblin is able to escape. However the Sheriff is angry with Harry for attacking someone at a public funeral and causing chaos. The Sheriff wants him off the case and tells Tres to get rid of him.

Back at his hotel, Harry and Bob are talking about what happened and Harry realizes that the Goblin probably didn’t kill the others based on the evidence. This leads him to believe that there are two killers in the town.

The next day Harry meets up with Tres and his girlfriend, Ambre, is there. Harry meets her and Ambre leaves so Tres and Harry can talk. Tres tells Harry that the Sheriff wants him off the case but Tres is still willing to help him unofficially.

Harry goes out to meet one of the living Talbots, Joseph, to talk with him about wha the thinks is going on. Joseph’s house has been protected against magical intruders. As Harry is talking with Joseph, the Ghoul shows up and Harry and Joseph fight with the Ghoul and Joseph goes inside his house while Harry takes on the Ghoul by himself. Harry is able to wound the Ghoul, but then they hear a gunshot from inside. The Ghoul is angry about this and then leaves. Harry goes inside and realizes that the Goblin had been inside waiting for him and Joseph tried to shoot him, but due to the family curse, the gun exploded and killed Joseph instead.

Harry starts to put it together that there are two creatures vying to kill off the Talbots, the Ghoul and the Goblin. Harry meets with some of the remaining Talbots and convinces them to go to Joseph’s home to hideout there. There is one brother who is not worried and decides to not listen to Harry and the family.

Harry seeks the help of a Naga, who is a creature bound by the Unseelie Accords to remain neutral in magical affairs and is overseeing the Ghoul/Goblin dispute. The Ghoul and the Goblin have a dispute and in keeping with the rules of the Unseelie Accords, they’ve agreed to prey on the Talbot family due to the curse on the family which makes it easier to kill them. Whoever ends up with the most kills will be the winner. Harry convinces the Naga to tell him which one of the Talbots will die next and the order of their deaths.

Harry and Tres go to the diner to find the brother, Alex Talbot and talk to him. They arrive and find Tres’ girlfriend, Ambre, flirting with Alex Talbot. Harry puts it all together and realizes that Ambre is the Ghoul in disguise. Before Tres can overreact Harry shoots his magic at Ambre and she reveals herself to be the Ghoul. Ambre pushes Alex in front of semi truck, killing him and then Ambre escapes before she can be caught. Tres is devastated that all this time he was in a relationship and sleeping with this Ghoul. The Sheriff shows up and arrests Harry for causing trouble. While in jail the Mayor visits him to get Harry out of jail. The Mayor tells him a story of how while in Egypt as a younger woman, she was saved by a Qarin, a type of powerful Jinn, and the Qarin has been with her ever since.

Back at the Talbot house, Tres tells the Talbots that Alex is dead by the hand of the Ghoul and that the Ghoul is really Ambre in disguise. Tres feels terrible about it. Harry shows up with the mayor and Harry spends time setting wards on the home to protect it from the Ghoul and Goblin. Harry and Tres come up with a plan to distract and kill the Ghoul and Goblin.

The Ghoul and Goblin show up to finish the Talbots and Harry Dresden. Harry and Tres pretend to try and escape with a mannequin dressed up like one of the Talbots. The Ghouls chases down the car Tres is in, but he jumps out and then Harry shoots his Fuego spell at the car which also had canisters of gas in the trunk and the car explodes. Harry then sees the Goblin and they fight. Maddie Talbot comes out of the home with a dagger and is going to attack the Goblin. The Qarin possesses Harry and he attacks the Goblin first but the Goblin is able to dodge the attack. The Ghoul then shows up all burned and holding Tres telling Harry to back off or she will kill Tres.

The Goblin is desperate and attacks Maddie before the Ghoul can, and Maddie stabs him with the dagger but ends up stabbing herself too. The Qarin again enters Harry but this time lets Harry take control of his powers, and Harry uses the burst of magical energy to kill both the Ghoul and the Goblin.

Afterwards, Maddie is dying and asks Harry to remove the blood curse on her family using her blood and self sacrifice to do so in order to protect her younger brother and sister who are still alive. Harry is able to do so using the Qarin’s power and his own.

Days later at the graveyard, Tres and Harry are standing in front of Maddie’s headstone and they say their goodbyes. Harry tells Tres to reach out if he needs anything.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin (Dresden Files (Dynamite Hardcover))

By Butcher, Jim, Powers, Mark

Buy on Amazon

While an interesting story, Ghoul Goblin is often confusing and I had to reread certain parts over and over and then reread again. The contest and conflict between the Ghoul and Goblin was never fully explained in the comic, but is outlined in the Bonus Content at the end of the story. There are some character bios, a story summary, and some artwork that give background to the story. This is where I started to understand the motivations between the Ghoul and Goblin.

Also the insertion of the Naga in the story seems to be overkill and is a tangent. I liked the idea and the character, but it didn’t lend much to the overall story, as well as the backstory of the mayor and the Qarin seemed to drag it out. It could be that the Naga and Qarin storylines were more detailed and fleshed out in the beginning but were slowly cut down for time and panel space. I’d be interested if there was a longer story and set up for the Naga and Qarin.

The beginning sequence with Harry fighting the lake monster was weird and didn’t really go anywhere. I know in these early stories, Jim Butcher likes to start the story in the middle of a already ongoing storyline (kind of like with the Indiana Jones movies) and then start up the main story afterwards. I like the idea, but hate to say it, but they aren’t working very well and need to get better and more interesting.

Overall I give the story a 2.5/3 out of 5.

Next up: B is for Bigfoot!

Make sure to also check out our Harry Dresden podcast series - The Starborn Report for in depth reviews of The Dresden Files novels!