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Graphic Novel Review: Straitjacket by El Torres, art by Guillermo Sanna

Straitjacket TP

Straitjacket by El Torres, art by Guillermo Sanna

Amigo Comics, 2016

ISBN: 9788416486199

Available: Trade paperback (direct from Amigo Comics), comiXology ebook

As a child, Alexandra Wagner ritually murdered her twin brother, Alexander. She was subsequently institutionalized and believes she protects the real world against “The Outer Darkness”, with the help of her brother on the other side. The doctors and hospital orderlies don’t believe her, of course, chalking up her cryptic words and gestures as simply signs of her insanity. Who could believe the ravings of someone diagnosed with mental illness? Dr. T. certainly doesn’t until she attacks and kills another patient, and the orderly dispatched to restrain her swears she disappeared right in front of him. The good doctor returns home after a long day, only to find Alex waiting for him.

This is the second series I have read by El Torres. He is a great storyteller, weaving impossible stories where the supernatural intrudes in the real world in fascinating and disturbing ways. Sanna’s artwork adds the perfect horrific atmosphere for Alex’s story. The art is primarily black and white, with sprays of red to indicate certain things to the reader, like identifying which realm certain creatures or characters are in or setting the mood.

If you like horror that explores the concepts of death and madness, you need to pick up Straitjacket. Highly recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, madness, nudity

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on March 2, 2018 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: The Westwood Witches by El Torres, art by Abel Garcia

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The Westwood Witches by El Torres, art by Abel Garcia

Amigo Comics, 2015

ISBN: 9788416074761

Available: print, comiXology ebook

The Westwood Witches opens with a man running for his life. His pursuers, a coven of witches, punish him for his lack of neighborly respect. After they are finished with him, they use his near-dead body as a means to summon Baphomet.

The perspective then changes to a man sitting at his laptop displeased at what he as just written. Jack Kurtzberg, a successful author of a witch romance bestseller, hates his work. He’s on contract to write a sequel to his first book, but his writer’s block is preventing him from continuing, and the bills are piling up. After the untimely death of his brother, Jack and his wife, Susan, move to Jack’s childhood New England town. He soon discovers there is more to his friendly neighbors than meets the eye. The wives are particularly interested in what he is writing, especially when it comes to the history and mythology of the witches. When Jack discovers the truth about Westwood, after a Witches’ Sabbath gone wrong, he also solves a mystery from his childhood that affects the entire town.

El Torres expertly weaves a story of a struggling writer coming to terms with the death of his brother, the unraveling of the neighborhood, belief, and how the witches connect with the rest of Jack’s story. Garcia’s art lends the appropriate macabre, dark atmosphere. This is a must for readers who like some edge to their witches. Highly recommended.

This volume reprints issues 1-4.

Contains: blood, gore, nudity, sexual content

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

 

Posted on February 9, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: It, Watching by Elizabeth Massie


It, Watching by Elizabeth Massie

Createspace, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1548161590

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

In her first collection in several years, Elizabeth Massie returns with a thrilling collection of short stories. The Bram Stoker-winning author of Sin Eater has put together eighteen tales, several of which will be new to readers, and there is not a clunker in the bunch. For those not familiar with Massie’s work, her range of writing is vast, and effortless to read.

To detail the individual stories here would be to spoil any surprise within the pages. What you will encounter is a voice in Southern Gothic style that is like no other.  Her entries in the horror genre often begin in quiet tones, embracing the reader– right before the darkness strikes. It’s not easy to successfully write humor, but Massie nails the light-hearted with aplomb, usually in a south-of-the-Mason-Dixon manner, until the reader realizes something deeper and darker is afoot. This collection is on par with The Fear Report and Shadow Dreams, as one of Massie’s best collections, and it should be an integral part of any horror fan’s library, or those who simply love great story. One cannot go wrong with reading Massie.  Highly recommended

Reviewed by Dave Simms.

 

Posted on February 9, 2018 by , Reply
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