Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke

Ben Hatke’s graphic novel Things in the Basement takes an intrepid protagonist through centuries of art and symbolism.

Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke. First Second, 2023, 230 pages.

Reading Level: Graphic Novel, ages 8-10

Recommended for: ages 8-15

Milo’s family has just moved into an old house, and packing boxes are stacked everywhere. In such a transition, it’s easy to lose stuff, and Milo’s baby sister has lost one of her special pink socks. Distracted with the care of twins, his mother sends him down to the basement to look for it. The basement is a scary place, with its dark, cobwebby corners, but Milo doesn’t realize how scary until he spies a rat and a flash of pink. The rat disappears behind a chest, where an unsuspected trap door opens to a lower level of the basement. Then there’s a door, and a stairway, and a tunnel, and strange creatures like musical mushrooms and an eyeball with octopus arms. There’s a sympathetic ghost, and a friendly skull . . . and a huge green monster.

Milo’s journey is fraught with symbolism, some of which is obscure (I’m not sure about the sock symbolism). What makes this more than an ordinary scary tale is that his descent takes him back through the history of art, from painted masterworks to classical sculpture to cave paintings–and the only safe way back is through the chapel. Like the House Beautiful in Pilgrim’s Progress, the chapel is where Milo finds his bearings and the courage (and faith?) needed for personal sacrifice. The pages are full of detail begging for a second perusal, and maybe even a third. (I would have appreciated a key to the art works, though some of them I recognized.) A bit creepy, but also fun, with a strong thread of redemption and lost things recovered.

Consideration:

• Some of the statues from antiquity are nudes, but the drawing is hazy and nonspecific.

Overall Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: Hatke’s Zita the Space Girl is a Redeemed Reader favorite! Also see our review of the first book in the Mighty Jack (who later joins up with Zita) series.
• Reflection: Since it’s almost Halloween, here are my thoughts on terror stories vs. horror stories: “Scary Stuff” and “The Uses of Terror.” Also, Betsy’s reflections on reading (that is, listening to) Dracula.

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