The Confessional by Paige Hender

I’m becoming a curmudgeon as I age, but I really do wish this book had explicitly stated at the outset that it’s set in New Orleans. I no longer have time to read blurbs or back matter, so when I realized partway through that this was set in historical America and not fantasy Europe, all I could think was how unnecessarily jarring that recalibration of thought had been. I mean, if you’re going to open the book with mention of actual historical events, why not mention where and when they took place, instead of assuming that the reader automatically knows where you’re setting your story? I don’t consider myself a particularly unknowledgeable person, but I don’t see the harm in telling readers right from the get-go exactly where you’re placing the events of your historical horror graphic novel.

My grumpiness aside, The Confessional is an absorbing read, telling the tale of young Cora Velasquez and the coven of vampires to which she belongs. They all live together in a house of ill-repute down in 1920s New Orleans, with the other vampires feeding on patrons without killing them — death being bad for repeat business, after all.

Cora, however, is terrible at being a vampire. She doesn’t know how to feed without killing, and is suffering an existential crisis at the idea that being turned means that she’s lost her immortal soul. She turns to the Catholic church in her vulnerability, developing a crush on handsome Father Orville in the process. He is not immune to her charms either.

One day, she finally confesses to him what she really is while in the sanctity of the confessional. Ashamed, she flees immediately after, so is shocked when he comes looking for her. He has a request, one she’s only too willing to oblige. As their shared secrets tie them more firmly together, will their newfound partnership be their mutual salvation, or will naught but destruction come in their wake?

I really enjoyed the crux of this story, of shame and vulnerability leading our protagonist down some very dark paths. I rather wish more time had been spent on Dolores and the others urging Cora to embrace pragmatism, tho I did super appreciate what a nurturing sister Dolores was. I just tend to get impatient when people do things that are clearly the trifecta of stupid, selfish and suspicious. While the whole thing with poor Virgil was a heartbreaker through and through, the incident with the book made me want to shake Cora for being a total dumbass. Like there’s really only so much idiocy you can tolerate from a heroine before you choose to read something else, y’know? Maybe it would have made more sense if she’d been younger when she was turned, but at twenty-two plus the years since, she really ought to be less naive.

Fortunately, The Confessional is a short enough, quick enough read that it’s possible to power through to the decent ending, and to the very excellent back matter. Readers with a much higher tolerance for protagonists making incredibly bad choices than I have — and honestly, in the grand scheme of things, I’ve read worse! — will probably be far more forgiving.

Art-wise, my only complaint is that I never knew when it was supposed to be daylight, which actually matters in a book about vampires. That aside, I loved Paige Hender’s color palette and patternwork. For a debut, this was supremely promising, as Ms Hender will no doubt continue to mature into her storytelling capabilities. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

The Confessional by Paige Hender was published March 19 2025 by Silver Sprocket and is available from all good booksellers, including