Creepy Presents Richard Corben

I wish I had discovered Creepy Magazine when I was a kid.  However, I am enjoying the editions they are publishing now that feature a particular artist.  This time Creepy is all about Richard Corben.

Richard’s style reminds me of Tales from the Crypt.  His image is a little like the Crypt Keeper so maybe that’s why.

Creepy Presents Richard Corben is a collection of short comics from one page inserts to several page stories.  Prepare to be amazed by his trivia and shocked into quiet contemplation as he points out the stupidity that seems to be the primary motivation for humans. 

The art is mostly black and white but that doesn’t leave the images dark like some B&W comics.  It has an older feel to it like images from Vincent Price movies. 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Tim Conrad

While I don’t think this was the best adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it might encourage a younger reader to explore the classics.  The art is colorful and engaging but I found some of the drawings were not clear enough for my taste.

I just couldn’t connect to this story.  The characters never became real for me, I didn’t care if they lived or died.  I felt like I was reading a textbook.  Where was the development?  Where was the emotional connection?  Boy, I can so understand the need to attach to the characters. 

If you follow my blog, you know I read a lot of graphic novels.  So many of them have characters I connect with.  I can’t put my finger on why this particular tome just didn’t do it for me.  The Hunchback is a very sympathetic character but I couldn’t dig in.  I didn’t hate the villain and I didn’t like Esmeralda. 

A reluctant child might like this book but I won’t guarantee it.

The Occultist by Mike Richardson

An interesting story.  Rob works in a book store and his day is not going all that well.  It gets worse when a secret book decides it likes him and offers him the sword which is a magical power.  Soon Rob’s life changes in ways he never imagined.  He can have whatever he wants with consequences he never imagined.

Soon he’s a hunted man.  He connects to Detective Melendez and the adventures go from there.  I enjoyed the story.  Rob’s a likeable guy. 

The animation is decent, a bit fuzzy in my e-copy but enjoyable.  I loved the monsters and the story lines have lots of potential.  Can’t wait to see more.

Bloody Chester by JT Petty

The end of this graphic novel left me feeling unfulfilled so it’s hard to write this review.

The story is of “Bloody” Chester who starts off as a scrawny loser locked in the jail of a wild west town.  He’s offered a job – burn down plague afflicted Whale so the railroad can pass through the area.  Not thinking much of it, Chester goes to Whale.  There are 2 survivors and 1 man dying of the plague left.  All he has to do is convince them to leave and burn the whole place down – not a problem especially since the survivors are basically kids.

However, nothing is as it seems and soon Chester begins to unravel the origin of the plague and finds his job a lot more difficult than he thought.  At first, this story has a supernatural feel but everything is explained in “normal” terms.  That’s not the problem, I actually liked that it turned out not to be supernatural.  To tell you why the ending bothers me would ruin the story.  That may not be necessarily true – I just felt that the story ended in a weird place.  I needed a tiny bit more.  There may be an upcoming sequel which would explain why the strange ending but I don’t know.

The art is pleasing, muted but still colorful.  It reminds me of manga in the style.  I felt the art painted a full picture and gave me a real feeling of the life they were living.  There’s slight humor that made this book really enjoyable.  There is a small amount of violence that might disturb a sensitive reader.  The language is slightly more adult with some swearing making it not appropriate for a young reader.  I do see this appealing to teens and anything that gets them reading is a good choice.

Claws and Saucers by David E Goldweber

If you are a Science Fiction, Horror and/or Fantasy movie buff, like me, then this is a must have for you.  I can’t tell you if it has everything but I will say that I was impressed by how many movies are in this book.  I love horror – the worst ones are my favorite.  I want cheesy and I want lots and lots of blood.  I don’t care if the plot makes sense – makes the movie more entertaining in a MST3K sort of way.

I love talking to the characters and questioning their motives. 

This book spells it all out – which are the good ones and which ones you’re gonna love because they are so bad.

This is not a sit and read sort of book.  You peruse like you’re picking up a date in a bar.  You chat up the pages and ask them out.  You explore the movies and, perhaps, come back and make notes.  This is the sort of book that needs to be shared and passed along. 

The only problem I have is that the new stuff won’t appear magically.  I’d love it if the book stayed current but, alas, they don’t.

However, that’s not going to stop me from working my way through this book and some of the worst movie fests my family has ever seen.

The World’s Creepiest Places by Bob Curran

Bob Curran has put together a book of actual locations around the world that have frightening histories.  Many of the locations are lesser known hauntings (at least to me).  The segments are fairly short and in depth.  There’s a lot of history in these pages.

However, I wished there had been pictures.  I am a very visual person and I like to look at the places that are being written about.  I would have loved to even just have a website I could go to that would link to pictures of these places.  In this day and age, there’s no real reason not to have access to that visual accompaniment. 

If you are big on hauntings or ghosts or even just eerie feeling sorts of places – this is a great book for you.  Many of Bob Curran’s selections are out of the norm giving the enthusiast a new set of places to explore.

Severed by Scott Snyder

A good creepy tale about a young man who wants to find his real father.  Jack discovered he was adopted and decides to run away.  His dream is to be a fiddle player and travel with his father.  However, what he finds is a predator that feeds on children’s dreams.

Set in the early part of the 20^th century, Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft have put together a tale that will leave you breathless.  It’s frightening in ways that you don’t expect.  The monster is not overly original but the tale will still cause your heart to pound.

Not only does Jack have to deal with this man who wants to eat him for dinner, he’s battling those who would stop at nothing to take everything from him.  It’s a dirty and tough time.  Monsters lurk in the shadows and look a lot like humans.  Jack is far too innocent to be on this adventure and it’s hard to watch that be stripped away from him.

The art is fairly basic – nothing overly dynamic but it also doesn’t distract from the story line.  It moves smoothly from page to page carrying the reader away.

Vampire Knight (1-3) by Matsuri Hino

I love Manga – it’s special and different when compared to American comics/stories.  Manga borders on the silly while having serious moments.  This one is no exception.  I loved it.

Yuki is the adopted daughter of the headmaster of a special boarding school.  The day classes are fairly normal but at night a different set of students come to learn and they are vampires.

Yuki works as the special guardian with Zero.  Their job is to keep the vampires a secret and prevent them from harming the human students.   Both Yuki and Zero have been victims of vampires in the past which led them to the academy.  Yuki has no memory of her life before vampire Kaname saved her from another vampire. 

As is common in Manga there is a love triangle between Yuki, Zero and Kaname.  I get the feeling that she loves Zero more but we’ll see.

If you love silly romance or anything vampire – I recommend this series. I’ve read through volume 3 and I hate having to wait to get my hands on future volumes.

Matsuri Hino also wrote Captive Hearts – a super silly comedy about a man who is cursed to fall in love with a particular girl.

She has a great style and I love her inserts about her life as she writes these stories.

Vampire Taxonomy by Meredith Woerner

Written like a science book, Vampire Taxonomy defines the various vampires from pop culture.  Meredith Woerner takes examples from the more popular vampire stories/movies and some lesser known to create a how-to sort of book.

She breaks down the vampires into five categories – Romantic Vampire, Villainous Vampire, Tragic Vampire, Halfsies, and Child Vampire.  Each category offers information on how the vampire looks, their preferred habitat and a variety of other factors.

Written tongue in cheek, this book is just fun.  It really gets one thinking about the differences and similarities of vampires in pop culture and in history.  This may not get a scientific award but Meredith did her research.

Gary Gianni’s Monstermen and Other Scary Stories by Gary Gianni

This was an interesting collection. The first half consisted of five graphic /comic stories by Gary Gianni. His Monstermen series was introduced as a companion to the Hellboy series. Lawrence St George is a film maker and hunter of the supernatural. Partnered with Benedict, an ancient knight who can’t die, they search out and stop a variety of demons from taking over the world. They are quick stories reminiscent of those from the early days of movies. St George looks a bit like Vincent Price. I would believe these are set in a time such as the 1930’s if it wasn’t for the occasional glimpse of a computer or other technology now and again. I rather enjoyed these. I do prefer color to black and white but the drawings gave it a spookier, old movie feel. There’s enough action to pull you through and enough character development that you feel like you know the characters towards the end. I look forward to more Monstermen stories. The second half of the book didn’t delight me as much as the first. It was stories but not told in graphic/comic form. Personally, I think it disrupted the flow of the book. Not that the stories were bad but they felt like they should be a separate book. The stories were illustrated by Gary Gianni but not written by him which made it feel more like a separate book. Had they been additional stories about Monstermen maybe I would have felt differently.

Hellboy Volume 12 by Mike Mignola

This volume co-incides with the BPRD Hell On Earth Volume 2. It’s a fairly complete story of Hellboy fighting a dragon that signals the end of the world. It’s entertaining enough and easy to read separate from the other volumes. I will say the ending makes me wonder if there will be Volume 13. I love Hellboy and this graphic novel did not disappoint. It’s mostly action but I did feel there was not enough Hellboy wit that is common in most Hellboy stories. I like that this story incorporated the King Arthur myth. It’s definitely a good volume to pick up.

The Cape by Joe Hill

The story of the cape was published in 20th Century Ghosts. It was such a popular and bizarre story of a grown man who rediscovers the power to fly using a cape. I was excited to hear that the story had been turning into a comic book mini-series (4 issues) but I wasn’t overly excited to read it since I had read it already. That didn’t mean I wasn’t curious so I accepted when the offer came to review the first issues. I was blown away. The illustrations are just creepy enough to give you the full impression of this character’s mental health. The story is just strange but more importantly this issue starts where the short story ends. Eric’s girlfriend has fallen to her death and the cops believe there’s something more going on here. However, it’s hard to understand how a woman fell to her death when there was nothing to fall from. We know what happened but will everyone else discover how Eric got his revenge and will they believe it. This issue is just as bizarre as the original story and you really don’t like Eric but you can understand him. His life is not all that great and he sees his problems as the fault of those around him. I can’t wait to pick up more issues to find out how Joe Hill resolves this story.

Locke and Key Volume 5 by Joe Hill

The first issue of volume 5 of the Locke and Key series proves that Joe Hill is still the master. I’ve read one full volume and have some understanding of the world of Lockcraft so this was not a difficult story to follow. I don’t think it’s be really difficult for anyone, except for the last panel which stumped me. This volume is set during the time just before the Revolutionary War. Two siblings have lost their family and are losing their home. Their family has been supporters of those who choose to fight against England. The hidden army uncovers something much more dangerous than the soldiers and it’s up to the boy to come up with a way to save their home and the army they have hidden. I need to get my hands on the full series – it’s wonderful. A mix of horror and fantasy, Joe Hill weaves a story that sucks you in and spits you out at the end shaking and in awe.

Cemetery Club by JG Faherty

This was supposed to be yesterday's post but I fell behind and didn't get it written. Cemetery Club started off rather slow. I did not like the beginning. The first few segments were snapshots of the history of Rocky Pointe but I wasn't connecting to the town. The modern day story started with Todd. Todd had just been released from Wood Hill Sanitarium after serving 20 years for killing several people in his teens. Todd is looking forward to spending his time reconnecting with his mother and continuing his research on what really happened to those people. He suspects he raised a demon. Meanwhile, whatever it was has risen again. John Boyd witnesses the aliens take over a cemetery maintenance man who kills another man before dragging his body into a neighboring crypt. Todd is beaten by police before they even explain why they are arresting him. It's at this point that I am convinced I can no longer read this book. I was so angry. So far the book had failed to grasp my attention and here, in this modern day, this man was completely violated by the men who are sworn to protect. I nearly quit. I nearly wrote a terrible review because I had had it. But I wanted to give the book a chance and I'm glad I did. Once Cody Miles, Todd's lawyer, entered the scene the story took on a completely different feel for me. I was sucked in and I couldn't stop. The fun thing about this book was the debate about what exactly had invaded the community - was it demons or was it aliens? There were good arguments for both and I wasn't disappointed when I learned what the truth was. The beings turn their victims into zombies and that was fun. I hadn't read a zombie book yet so it was great. I loved the characters. I loved how they were real and how they were really struggling with what was the right thing to do. There was even a human villain who I thought could have been used a little better but I could totally picture him in the movie. I didn't like the ending but then I liked the characters a lot and the ending hurt. I won't spoil it for you but I was disappointed. I wanted them to be my heroes and I wanted a happily ever after. The fact that the ending made me feel made it a great ending. I could completely see this movie. It's a small book so it may never happen but I would love to see that movie. There were some editing issues with the book - I won't lie. One character's name changed from Hank to Frank for a few pages and then back to Hank. It was a little off putting but I didn't care. I chalked it up to the quaintness of the publishing. It wasn't well formatted for a nook so there was some fun font issues but I ignored them and stuck with the story. If you like horror, especially Stephen King, I recommend this book. It reminded me a bit of IT but with zombies instead of clowns.

Abe Sapien Volume 2 by Mike Mignola

One of the things I love about BPRD character books, includes Hellboy and Abe Sapien, is that they are collections of short stories not a continuing story. That means I can pick them up as I find them and enjoy them. There are some characters that come and go but overall I can easily figure out who everyone is what they are doing. Much of that knowledge comes from the Hellboy movies – I’m not ashamed, I love Hellboy. I would beg them to make more and would even love Hellboy spin offs. I’m not picky. I loved this collection. Just three short tales starring Abe Sapien. I was slightly disappointed that he wasn’t more dynamic in these. He could kick butt but I wanted the more intellectual Abe. I think he’s a good counterweight to the brute of Hellboy. Maybe I miss their balance but that didn’t take away my enjoyment of these stories. Not too bad for a younger audience but a bit on the violent side. The violence was always directed towards monsters but for a young’in that might be too much. These are great for middle grade boys to read and should suck them right in and have them begging for more. This volume has ghosts, zombies, ships and an appearance by Hellboy.

BPRD Hell On Earth Volume 2 by Mike Mignola

Ack – what a ride. Hell on Earth is an accurate description of this apocalyptic story from BPRD. I was slightly off kilter not having read volume 1 but this volume let me catch up and enjoy the story. I can’t wait for volume 3. Looks like I’m going to have to do some serious graphic novel shopping. So many good tales lately. This one focused on Abe and Liz. Abe is hunting a teenager who seems to be one step ahead of the disasters while Liz is in hiding and discovers no matter how much you try to stay away, it will always find you. I like Liz but I wish she was a more sure character. If you are a Hellboy or BPRD fan – this is a great story line. It’s filled with possessed humans, huge monsters and a secret race that may prove powerful enough to destroy the world.

Ghostbusters Volume 1 by Tristan Jones

I love the Ghostbusters. I grew up with them and I’m even excited for a third movie that may or may not come out. I can’t help it – I love the movies so much that when the opportunity came to preview the first issue of the comic book I was so there.
I really hate issues over novels because I never get enough of the story. I really dislike that when it comes to graphic novels as well – I want more time with the characters. This was no exception. The story is so good and the characters are just as I remember them (and then they just go away).
I cannot wait for more. I’ll be on the lookout for future issues.
The illustrations are more cartoony for the first part (the part with the Ghostbusters). The second part which is the government reinstating Walter is more realistic and so creepy in result. So far, I haven’t seen anything that would make this unsuitable for children but you never know so proceed with caution.
I can’t really share plot because there’s so little of it but I promise that it’s fun and full of surprises. Now I’m off to watch the movie – need more Ghostbusters!

Enter, Night by Michael Rowe

This is a hard review to write. I loved the story. I do have an ARC which means there were some technical errors that I hope are resolved before publishing. With that in mind, I want to focus on the story.
The story was amazing. The language a little tough for me because the author is Canadian and I am not. Michael Rowe is a native English speaker but there was some language that left me puzzled but may not be difficult for a Canadian. However, I loved the story.
This is an ensemble cast making it difficult to give a clear synopsis. In 1952, an archeological dig in Parr’s Landing goes wrong when student, Richard Weal, goes mad and attacks another student. Years later, he returns to Parr’s Landing to finish what he started and that is to wake the being hidden deep in the caves. At the same time, widow Christina is forced to return to Parr’s Landing with her daughter and brother-in-law. Her departure from the small town was not a pleasant one. The town knows the gossip but they don’t understand the truth. Her late husband Jack Parr was the prince to Adeline Parr’s kingdom. Christina will always be known as the slut who drove him from home.
Jeremy Parr escape happened later after his mother tried to have him cured of his homosexuality. His first love remains in Parr’s Landing but has been convinced that it is better to be a heterosexual asshole than a happy homosexual.
Richard Weal is successful in his mission and unleashes an ancient vampire on the small town, destroying everything in its path and yet freeing those held captive by Parr’s Landing.
Take away the vampires and Enter, Night is still a wonderful and touching story. There are so many elements in this book from various prejudices (sexuality, race, class) to family relations to a touching tale of a love and the sacrifices that brings (human and animal).
The story sucked me in but I was left unfulfilled when it was over. The last chapter goes back to 1650 to explain how the creature came to Parr’s Landing and was confined in the caves. It was still interesting but I wanted to stay in the more present day (of the story) to find out what happened. There was some wrap up but not enough for my taste. I only hope this means Michael Rowe is writing a sequel because I would like that.
Visit the author at www.michaelrowefiction.com

Crawl To Me by Alan Robert

This is another single issue. I’m not sure how I feel about this particular work. The story was well set up but I don’t have the patience to wait for another issue.
Crawl to Me is the story of a man who witnesses his neighbor shoot a group of police officers before he falls himself. Ryan goes to see if there are any survivors to find that the man on the porch had done something to him as a child. One can guess it was sexual since the police had said he was a registered sex offender and the connecting image is the man’s belt buckle.
Ryan is mentally disturbed and one can guess that this is due to the abuse he suffered as a child but this didn’t really connect for me. I didn’t like the style of the art in this series. I’m just not a fan of monochromatic drawings especially those that throw in jarring colors. It’s too hard on my eyes and makes me not want to pay attention to the work. I like art that allows me to see the story quickly as I read. Monochromatic styles hid too many of the details.
I can see potential in this series but I’m not sure that’s enough to encourage me to pick up more issues. As I have said, I prefer the novel approach but I understand the single issue format. I hope that I am able to pick this up in novel form soon enough before I forget that I was interested.
*Note - I wrote this review weeks ago. Yesterday, I read an article that Crawl to Me has already been optioned for a movie. According to NetGalley this comic book/graphic novel was set to be published on January 17th. According to the article, it's already sold out it's first printing and a second one is quick in the works. I'm a little frustrated by the incorrect dates on NetGalley because I'm trying to match the reviews to the publishing dates but no matter. I look forward to reading more than the first issue because maybe there is more to this than I originally thought.

Aliens: Fast Track to Heaven by Liam Sharp

What a privilege to read a graphic novel before it’s published. In this case, the work is a novella – shorter than the average graphic novel. I didn’t think they could get shorter, to be honest. It was far too brief for my taste but a nice treat anyway.
Aliens was drawn wonderfully. The monster remained true to the movies. I wasn’t so keen on the multicolor panes for the characters. I prefer clean drawings but this one was filled with green, red and blue squares making it difficult for me to connect with the characters. I had difficulty determining the characters in the beginning. I know that in the horror genre, getting to know the characters can often play second to the monster.
The world was different than the worlds of Ripley in the movies and I didn’t quite connect to it. I can only hope that this was just a sample of what they are going to do with the Aliens franchise. I want to know more about this future and its intricate parts. I didn’t see a character that stood out like Ripley and it would be nice to have someone to connect with while the Aliens are wreaking havoc.
I’d read more, if offered. I may even look out for more Liam Sharp. Because this was an e-copy instead of a print copy, I did have difficulty reading some of the print but I hope that isn’t true in the print copy.