‘Abattoir 6’ Review: A World Built for Slaughter

The premise of Abattoir 6 already sounded like exactly my kind of nightmare: vampires rule what is left of the world, humans are livestock, and a group raised inside one of these massive facilities starts wondering if escape is actually possible.

Then I read the first two issues, and “humans are livestock” somehow became even worse once I saw how normal everyone inside this world thinks it is. These people were born into this system. They have never known anything else, and the idea that another life might exist is almost more dangerous than the creatures keeping them there.

Eighty-eight years after a plague nearly wiped out humanity, vampires have solved the obvious problem of their food supply disappearing by breeding the remaining humans themselves.

The survivors now live inside enormous facilities called abattoirs, where they are raised, reproduce, and eventually get eaten. In Abattoir 6, eight people are taken every night. Everyone knows this. Nobody is discovering some horrible secret about what happens behind closed doors. This is simply life.

Which is so much worse.

Being Human Is Basically a Waiting List

That constant waiting is what made the world work for me. Survival here does not mean escaping death. It means hoping tonight belongs to somebody else.

The first two issues show people reacting to that reality differently. Some have accepted it because they have never known anything else, while others are starting to question whether this really has to be their entire existence. The Abattoir does not only keep them trapped physically. It has created generations of people who cannot even imagine what freedom is supposed to look like.

Then someone who has apparently survived outside is discovered, and suddenly that whole system becomes questionable. If somebody can live beyond the walls, what else have they been lied to about?

Hope Is the Dangerous Part

That was the moment the series really hooked me.

Complete hopelessness is almost easier because there is nothing to risk yourself for. The second these characters realize another life might exist, they actually have something to lose.

The possibility of escape changes the story from people simply trying to survive another night into people wondering whether they should risk everything for a world they have never seen.

And I like that nobody instantly becomes some fearless revolutionary. They have spent their entire lives inside this place. Even considering escape means questioning basically everything they understand about the world.

The Vampires Are Actually Monsters

I also really liked the vampire designs because there is nothing sexy or romantic about what they represent here. They can look elegant and composed, but humans are livestock to them. That contrast makes them much more disturbing than if they were just giant obvious monsters running around ripping people apart.

Anna Wieszczyk’s art works especially well with that idea. There is something polished about the vampires while everything surrounding the humans feels harsher and more oppressive. The violence can get brutal quickly, but the book does not need constant gore to remind you what happens inside this place.

I also appreciate that the series does not rush to explain every detail about the vampires or what exists outside. We know enough to understand the nightmare without getting a giant history lesson in the first issue.

I Need to Know What’s Outside

That is ultimately what these first two issues left me wanting. I want to know more about the vampires, but I am even more interested in everything the people inside Abattoir 6 do not know. What survived the plague? Are there other humans outside? How much of what they have been told is actually true? And if they somehow escape, is freedom waiting out there or just another version of hell?

Abattoir 6 has a great vampire concept, but the thing that made me want to continue was the world around it. It is brutal, uncomfortable, and built around people who have been taught to accept something completely horrifying as normal. Then somebody gives them a reason not to.

The series has continued beyond the first two issues covered here, which is good because I definitely need to know what is on the other side of those walls.

Related Reading

If the vampire side of Abattoir 6 grabbed you, our MORT #1 review goes in a completely different direction with supernatural noir, monster politics, and a mortician caught in the middle of it all. And if it is the survival-horror side you liked more, A Quiet Place: Storm Warning also follows ordinary people trying to survive in a world where monsters have completely rewritten the rules.

FAQ

What is Abattoir 6 about?
After a plague nearly destroys humanity, vampires begin raising the remaining humans as livestock inside enormous facilities called abattoirs.

Who created Abattoir 6?
Mina Elwell and A.C. Medina write the series, with art by Anna Wieszczyk, colors by Tristan Elwell, lettering by Micah Myers, and editing by Jon Santana.

Is Abattoir 6 a vampire comic?
Yes. Vampires control the surviving human population and maintain the abattoirs as a food source.