5. Cassie Hack & Vlad
(Hack/Slash)
I will concede I have a pretty serious soft spot for Tim Seeley’s Hack/Slash. I like horror comedy and I like charming series that end with emotional gut-punches (spoiler for a later entry on this list). But the Cassie/Vlad relationship is something incredibly special.
Cassie was the lone survivor of “The Lunch Ladyâ€, a brutal slasher who also happened to be Cassie’s mom. Afterwards, she decided to go across America re-killing killers who’ve risen from the dead. Along the way, she meets Vlad, a deformed but kind man who is quite good with knives. Together they form a duo to be reckoned with.
The relationship between the two is complex and variable, shifting from protective to familial to one verging on romantic without ever crossing that line. Vlad and Cassie fight internal demons as well as quite a few external ones but the most important thing throughout the entire series is that relationship between the duo, ESPECIALLY towards the end of the book.
No I’m NOT crying right now, you’re crying.
