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Graphic Novel Review: Tales from Harrow County Volume 1: Death’s Choir by Cullen Bunn, art by Naomi Franquiz

Tales from Harrow County, Volume 1: Death’s Choir by Cullen Bunn, art by Naomi Franquiz

Dark Horse, 2020

ISBN-13: 97815067168

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, comiXology ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Award-winning, Eisner-nominated Southern Gothic horror returns in Tales from Harrow County, Volume 1: Death’s Choir. The story focuses on Bernice Anderson as she has taken on the mantle of steward of the small community ten years after her best friend Emmy Crawford left Harrow County. World War II has taken young men from the community, leaving tragedy in its wake. Harrow County is left in a state of mourning when the news of the deaths of their family members arrive. A mourning woman, Mrs. Dearborn, has called upon the spirits, but in summoning the supernatural choir that beckons the spirits of those the war has taken, has also summoned a deadly banshee as well. Bernice and her partner Georgia must find a way to save Harrow County from certain doom. The town does face more than supernatural foes. With not only Bernice’s protective witchcraft, but also the same-sex relationship between Bernice and Georgia, the Reverend unleashes some passive-aggressive nonsense.

 

 

For readers familiar with Harrow County, there will be familiar haints and creatures. As a fan of Priscilla the goblin, I was overjoyed that there was more of her, but I was ill-prepared for the cliffhanger ending.

 

 

Artist Naomi Franquiz takes over from Tyler Crooks. While her style is similar to Crooks’, she seems to have a more vibrant color palette, but this does not detract from the story. Her lush landscapes and well-developed character designs and art lend Cullen’s story a familiar atmosphere.

 

 

Volume 1 collects Tales from Harrow County: Death’s Choir #1-#4. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on October 22, 2022 by , Reply

Booklist: Wedding Horror Stories

A lot of wedding proposals happen on Valentine’s Day. A typical online search for “wedding horror stories” turns up stories of terrible things that happened at actual weddings, so it’s not that outlandish to discover that a number of recent horror novels have revolved around weddings.

 

cover art for When The Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

 

When The Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

Harper Perennial, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063035041

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

( Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com )

 

Mira’s high school friend Celine invites Mira to her wedding, which will be held at the recently restored plantation where Mira’s ancestor Marceline was enslaved. The ghosts of the enslaved who were murdered during an unsuccessful rebellion return to haunt the wedding, with brutal, bloody results. McQueen does an amazing job recreating Mira’s memories of her childhood friendship with Celine, who is white, and Jesse, a Black boy arrested for murder who is released after Celine intervenes, and of describing the horrific things that were visited on the enslaved people on the plantation. The racism, brutality, and hopelessness are reminders that horror isn’t limited to the supernatural.

 

cover art for Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw 

Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

Tor Nightfire, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250759412

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

 

When you are ridiculously wealthy and well-connected, and your fianceé wants her wedding at a Heian-era haunted mansion, with the bones of a bride buried beneath, you make it happen. Wedding guest Cassie, our unreliable narrator, is disconnected and depressed, attending at the request of the groom, who is also her ex. Cassie is one of five people at the wedding: they all have the kind of entangled relationships that emerge from a small group dynamic formed in college, and attempting to summon a spirit in a haunted house the night before the wedding is not going to make it easier to get along. It’s been criticized for purple prose and lack of character development, but it is a wild, and vivid, ride.

 

cover art for The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

 

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

St. Martin’s Press, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250272584

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook  ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Jane approaches Dr. Augustine Lawrence with a proposal of marriage. She wants security and is willing to work hard. They plan for it to be just a business deal: no questions, no love, and never a night spent in Lindridge Hall, his family manor. The best-laid plans can go awry, though: the two of them fall in love. Set in an alternate version of England that has elements of both the Victorian era and post-World War II, this starts out structured as a rather predictable gothic romance and ventured into the territory of occultism, as Jane, trapped in the house with the increasingly paranoid Augustine, is abruptly awakened into a world of magical ritual by occultist friends of Augustine’s. They then leave her to deal with Augustine and whatever is causing the disturbances in the house, untethered to reality. The narrative, which was relatively straightforward until then, became mazelike and hallucinatory.  There’s significant body horror as well as blood and gore, so be warned. Readers who enjoy the version of occultism in this book might also appreciate Polly Schattel’s The Occultists.

 

Posted on February 15, 2022 by , Reply

It’s Women in Horror Month! Book Review: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales edited by Alex Woodroe

cover art for A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales edited by Alex Woodroe

A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales edited by Alex Woodroe

Brigids Gate Press, 2022

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09QHKS4GJ

Available: Kindle edition ( Amazon.com )

 

Just in time for Women in Horror Month, along comes A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales. This anthology of stories by women writers uses the gothic horror tradition to and illuminate the present by giving women a voice. An introduction by Stephanie Ellis provides background on the origins and characteristics of gothic horror and short summaries of each story.

 

Standout stories include “Penance” by Lindsey King Miller, a heartbreaking tale of a daughter’s unresolved fear, anger, and grief after the death of her estranged mother;  “What The Dead Whisper to the Living”  by Mary Rajotte, in which a father reveals unspeakable secrets to his daughter; “Picture Perfect” by Patricia Miller, a short, vicious, piece about an artist who pours all her feelings into her work; “Arbor Hills” by Deana Lisenby, a beautiful piece with an unreliable narrator that takes place in an Alzheimer’s unit; “Down with the Holly, Ivy, All” by Jessica Lévai , a Christmas tale of greed and just desserts that feels like it is straight out of Dickens; and “Speak Ill of the Dead” by Briana McGuckin is an entertaining tale about a forensics technician facing the consequences of feeling sympathy for the ghost of a victim she examined. The laginappe, or final story in the book, “The Sweetlings” by S.H. Cooper ,  could be an episode of  The Twilight Zone. 

 

Other good stories include  “Mercy” by Catherine McCarthy, which features a man with the supernatural power to end lives peacefully, at a cost; “Slave of the Living Dead” by Kasimma, which moves the gothic sensibility to Nigeria, where a family curse caused by destroying the lineage of a beloved ancestor and selling him into slavery dooms them at age thirty-five;  “A Kindness of Ravens” by April Yates, a tale of unhappy marriage, betrayal, sapphic love, and the supernatural; “The Half-Moon Casita” by Anna Fitzgerald Healy, about a couple in an unsatisfactory relationship, each haunted by uncomfortable doubts of the other; and “Scabrous” by Victoria Nations, a disturbing story of a haunted shed.

 

I appreciated the inclusion of “Slave of the Living Dead” , set outside the typical European locations and culture associated with the gothic tradition,, and would love to see more diverse authors’ interpretations if there is a second volume planned. This is a fine choice for readers wanting to explore the gothic horror genre and celebrate women in horror.  The variety of settings, styles, and lengths in this anthology however, means that everyone should be able to find something they can enjoy. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on February 2, 2022 by , Reply
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