THE SPRAWL

In 2005, users congregate on a forum for extreme music subgenres called ‘The Sprawl,’ dedicated to anything from harsh noise wall to grindcore. Everything sonically transgressive will do. Hiding away in the back alleys of said forum is user kittyempire, who poses a question to his brethren in the noise rock subforum: ‘Is Drew Richman from Thrillseeker gay?’ Many chime in to voice their opinions, but the person the Sprawlers least expect is Drew himself, and by bumping over the first domino in a wild chain of events, kittyempire and co. learn much more information than they ever needed to know.

The Sprawl is a 19-page “mild” horror comic written and illustrated in the Summer of 2025 as part of Cauldron Books and Comics’ Discovery III, which is currently available physically online and at Lucky’s Comics in Vancouver. You can find some of the art floating about the internet but if you’d like a copy, there’ll soon be physical copies independent of Discovery III as well. It was an experiment in text-heavy comic work. You decide how well that went.

Originally designed as a spinoff of an extremely graphic horror short story penned in 2023 called thri11s33k3r featuring Drew and another protagonist by the name of Faris (available on Substack), The Sprawl takes a look at the opposite side of the tale told through those not in the know, the public who are only witnessing what the villain wants you to see.

CW for comic: use of homophobic slurs, mild sexual content, web 1.5 gore websites, discussions of murder, violence, self-harm, and heroin use.

CW for short story: graphic rape,/sexual assault, bodily fluids, gore (primarily head trauma), violence, use of slurs, stalking, large age-gap relationship, discussions of heroin use, extreme body modification.

Previews below.

PRAISE FOR THE SPRAWL

“I don’t get it.” - Annie’s mother