| Title | : | Gothic Tales of Haunted Love |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781988715124 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 225 |
| Publication | : | First published January 23, 2018 |
In 1950s Vietnam, a lost soul comes to the aid of his lover's field under attack by American troops.
In Victorian Boston, a new governess comes to care for the rogueish widower of a stately manor and his charming brood of children.
A fashion journalist lands the interview of her dreams – but it unearths the deadly secrets of Taiwan’s most popular fashion designer.
A Sioux elder revives a recently deceased woman who sets out to recover her lost love.
A Jamaican slave faces the horrors of her hateful mistress, on the eve of her liberation.
A Brazilian writer-in-exile discovers the dark history of an abandoned mansion inhabited by a charming and sensual ghost.
And a young bride spins a story of murder and deceit that paints her husband as a killer . . . but is there any truth to her tale?
Featuring 19 original stories from some of modern comics’ finest talent,
Gothic Tales of Haunted Love Reviews
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Gothic Tales of Haunted Love by Various authors is a 2018 Bedside Press publication.
“Smoke from the doused candle swirled around the room and clouded my mind in a misty haze, the night was pungent with a thousand musky smells-time and again I felt the fire of his presence.
Kiss of the Serpent-The Sinister House of Secret Love #4 -1972
A combination of factors makes this collection of short stories a real treat for me. Not to sound redundant, but for those who do not know, I have a small collection of Gothic Romance/ Horror novels, and still love taking one down and reading it, no matter how dated they are.
Recently, I developed a real interest in graphic novels, comics and Manga, so when I saw this book up on Netgalley, I was immediately intrigued. As it turns out, back in the seventies, not only were the Gothic romance novels wildly popular, there was a brief period in which a small, limited number of Gothic romance/horror comic books were published.
These are rare and some collectors are asking five hundred to one thousand dollars per issue for first editions. Some reissued copies are a bit more affordable, however, but are not worth as much and are still hard to find.
This comic collection is an homage to those old Gothic romance and horror comics, but the stories have been updated to include a wide range of diversity.
This book has nineteen stories, all of them super short featuring murder mysteries, ghosts and other tales of the supernatural. The artwork is phenomenal, and the stories are all new and original. While many of the stories do fall into the pure Gothic category, some do not. While some are poignant tales, others fall squarely into the horror genre.
Overall, the writers and illustrators did a terrific job with this anthology. I can’t say I loved every single story in the compilation, but most of them are really cool, and they do manage to capture that 1970’s pulp horror and Gothic tone, which was a lot of fun for me.
4 stars -
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A diverse anthology of haunting tales about love that are quite remarkable, thought-provoking, and that are really spine-chilling. It is recommended that it is better to read this graphic novel in a quiet evening to make it more enjoyable and to be it more effective.
There are numerous shocking and astonishing stories that I like in this book: Crush; Rose's Heart; Secrets in the Silk; Minefield; The Return; Green, Gold and Black; Mistress Fox; and, My Heart Still Beats For You. In the latter part, the publisher included two more special pieces that will still delight readers: The Promise by Sanho Kim; and a gothic quiz entitled, How Grave Is Your Misfortune?
The only thing that I consider this graphic novel's drawback is its cover because it's not spooky enough. I know that "Don't judge the book by its cover," but it will be more believable and will entice more readers if the front cover art was scarier than its current one. -
An anthology of haunted love stories that pays tribute to those Gothic romance comics of days gone by. I'm a fan of the macabre twist on love stories, these occur in times past but some are LGBTQ+. All in all, a lot of twisted fun.
Received a review copy from Bedside Press and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned. -
This graphic novel was a wild ride. It is full of wonderful stories and very beautiful artwork.
This is also one of those books that you should drop everything for and read as soon as possible. -
I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is series of 20+ short graphics story collection. Some of them heartwrenching, some heart-melting, some heart freezing... so much love, sorrow, horror, romance and revenge into 1 book. And all the stories are presented in different graphical style...it was so refreshing...some I didn't like and some I absolutely adored but nevertheless it is great collection. -
Gothic tales + haunted love + diverse characters = yes, please!
This strong anthology has 200+ pages of short illustrated stories that are horror-themed, as they are a tribute to 1970s Gothic pulp novels. Each story has a different author and illustrator, which lends to many different styles within this collection. The stories are extremely diverse, with characters of different nationalities, cultures and sexual orientations plus they take place in several different time periods. This variety will give every reader some stories that they will absolutely connect with as there are stories with revenge motifs, historical heartbreak or the supernatural.
As with any anthology there are some stories that are stronger than others. Pair that with a graphic novel format, and some illustration styles will not appeal to everyone, but the art as a whole is well done with evocative coloring. The book includes eighteen new stories and one reprint of an original Korean Gothic comic. A prologue, art gallery and author bios round out the collection.
My favorites included:
Crush– Janet Hetherington, Ronn Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam: An African American governess falls in love with a widowed Sea Captain, father of the seven children she cares for. When he disregards her as a love interest, she obtains revenge.
The Return– David A Robertson & Scott B. Henderson: A Native American woman comes back from the dead to be reunited with her fiancee, but she finds a better man who sees beyond her beauty to what was in her heart.
Green, Gold, and Black– Cherelle Higgins & Rina Rozsas: Set in Jamaica on the eve of a slave uprising, an enslaved woman is giving birth. She is chained by her white mistress, for her husband had raped the woman and the child is his, and she is consumed by jealousy. This is the most heartbreaking of all the stories, although I found a nugget of hope in the end, depending on how you interpret the mother’s visions.
Mistress Fox– Megan Kearney & Derek Spencer: A bride shares an unsettling dream with her guests the morning after her wedding – the night before, her new husband had killed a maid that he was having an affair with. You know she is framing her cad of a husband, but there is one more sly twist at the end.
I received an online copy from NetGalley for an unbiased review back in April, but I had downloaded it close to its expiration date and had to do a quick review based on only one day of looking at it online. That just wouldn’t do, so I ordered a print copy for my library, so I could re-read it and have library patrons enjoy it too. And isn’t that the point- to purchase a book you’d like to read over and over again- and then share it with others?!
This review can also be found on my blog:
https://graphicnovelty2.com/2018/11/0... -
Gothic Tales Of Haunted Love is a diverse graphic novel featuring 16 stories of love, loss, murder and mystery. Most of the stories were own voices and featured POC characters and queer characters.
For the most part I enjoyed the stories in this graphic novel. Most were diverse and the range of artwork was wonderful.
My favorite stories from the graphic novel were defiantly: H. Pueyo by Dante L It featured POC Mc’s, m/m romance and a good mystery. The artwork was brilliant and it was long enough to rate fairly.
Ladies Of The Lake by Sarah Winters Searle. Featured the cutest f/f romance and showing men just what women can do.
Secrets in the Silk by Niki This one was super creepy and I loved it. Ghost wife shows her husband the payback he deserves!
Mine field by Hien Pham This story was written in Korean. It featured a m/m romance that made me cry. The artwork was amazing and even though I couldn’t read what was happening the art was vivid and so the story was easy to follow.
I liked the rest of the stories though not as much as the ones mentioned above. Most were too short to rate even for a comic, some were five pages long. From the title I expected a lot of creepy stories and I was slightly disappointed to find we don’t get a lot of horror stories. We do get some but not nearly enough.
Overall I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The range of different artworks were fabulous and some of the stories took my breath away. However don’t expect the creepiest stories ever because you will be disappointed. Most of the stories featured love. I still recommend checking this out.
*Thank you to Netgalley and The Publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.* -
For some reason I thought this was a collection of short stories instead of short graphic novels all together. I enjoyed some of the stories in this graphic novel collection but not all. I think I would have enjoyed this more if the stories were longer and went into more detail. There were a few I wanted full length novels about, felt like I didn't get enough time with the characters and wanted more time. I do like the idea behind this though. I gave this a two out of five stars.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this eARC. -
Sweet Mother’s Day gift from my stepson. 🥰 In the vein of old horror comics, this was a lot of fun! There is even a quiz in the back to find out which Gothic lady you are. (I'm a Plucky Governess!)
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Amazing. Creepy, romantic, queer, full of people of color, and just. So outstanding. I’ve already said this once today about another comic, but this is the future of romance comics. The bonus part is the “gothic” part of the romance stories in here. Matches my soft but spooky soul. ❤️ Definitely buying myself a copy to keep forever
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20 stories about ghosts, murder, and love go wrong. The collection is full of marginalized writers and illustrators, with LGBTQ and POC characters. Gothic Tales of Haunted Love was a wonderful read; the characters are all very complex and the art is delightful.
*Crush (Janet Hetherington, Ronn Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam): Black woman MC. Constance is hired as a governess for a white family, falling a little over the head of the family, Captain Harcorte. But he soon loses interest in her and ignores her for his white lovers. She will not let him get away with the disrespect and ingratitude.
*Rose’s Heart (Colleen Coover): Rose appears as a very innocent white girl, but she is not. Kinda classic horror plot twist but very satisfying to see. I was a little bit concerned by the love interest who couldn't get the hint to take off, but the story is solid.
*Secrets in the silk (Nika): Taiwanese MC. It was one of my favorites because women helping women to narrate their lost stories, ghosts, vengeance, machitos getting what they deserve and happy endings.
*L’Heure Verte (Caroline Dougherty, Caroline Dougherty & Zakk Saam): Women of color MC and LI, wlw. A favorite, the art is gorgeous and the story great. A costume party, Ada decides to take some air and finds this strange and pretty girl in the stairs. She follows her around the house, her breath taken by the woman’s beauty.
*Goldblind (Hope Nicholson and Scott Chantler): Very very creepy story about a couple living in the mountains looking for gold. The art is gorgeous and the end so good.
*Minefield (Hien Pham): Vietnamese MC and LI, m/m couple. It’s the Vietnam war, and this couple is being happy in the forest when American soldiers start to shot. Written entirely in Vietnamese, the art is wonderful and very expressive. It’s a bittersweet story and I really enjoyed it.
*The Return (David A. Robertson & Scott B. Henderson): Indigenous/Native MCs and side characters. Father and son help heal and come back to life a woman that appears one day at night; as they start to build a relationship, she narrates her story. It is a great story and definitely one of my favorite from the collection.
*Green, Gold and Black (Cherelle Higgins & Rina Rozsas): Set in a southern plantation, the story is not easy to read; sexual assault, a terrible childbirth, murder, and white supremacy. The story is narrated by the ghost of the dead children and it’s a terrifying story.
*Ladies of the Lake (Sarah W. Searle): Black woman MC, f/f biracial couple. Gwen just married, but there is no happy ending in her new house. Her husband completely ignores her and he is never home. Her maid, at least, gives her hope and comfort. The romance is sweet and the horror just great.
*Fazenda do Sangue Azul (H. Pueyo & Dante L.): Queer Afrolatinx MC, set in Brazil, multiracial LI, m/m couple. Hernanes settles in an abandoned house escaping the dictatorship. He is a writer and soon finds out that he is not alone. As he starts to investigate the house’s history, he meets Luka and their relationship grows. A very bittersweet and amazing story.
*A heritage of woods (S.M Beiko & Maja Kobabe): Ukrainian MC. The story is heavily influenced by Ukrainian stories. Mirin remembers the stories that her grandmother told her about their family and the forest when in her new house the trees start to call her. I wasn’t a fan of this story but not because it is bad.
*Lovers Moon (Chris Stone & Dani Bee): Ava has to decide for one of her two suitors. She doesn’t want to marry and her father won’t listen to her pleads, so she prays for a miracle. A pretty terrifying story, sad ending but perfect for the mood.
*Mistress Fox (Megan Kearney): This story gave me a real chill. The family is dining together, celebrating the new marriage, when the bride starts to narrate a very horrific dream. It is great, it is dreadful, and it is one of the best horrors of the collection.
*My heart stills beats for you (Amber Noelle and Allison Paige): Nonbinary black man MC, black man LI, NB/M couple. Gabriel is waiting for a heart transplant and quickly falling for their nurse, Henri. This story was more than anything very heartbreaking, the art is delightful and so! sweet!
*One more cup (Barbara Guttman): A woman finds herself talking with a supernatural creature, trying to save people of its hunger, Quickly they establish a friendly relationship, a routine of talking at night while drinking tea. I wasn’t really very into it. I’m not a fan of supernatural romance and the relationship didn’t really work for me. The art is amazing tho.
*Ouroboros (Svetla Nikolova & LAB): Black woman MC, biracial couple. The lover gives his life to revive his partner. Although they enjoy some happy moments together, quickly he is the one sick this time. The story wasn’t bad but I didn’t really enjoy it; there wasn’t enough to know or care for the characters, and the story ended pretty quickly.
*I am the song (Cecil Castellucci, Willow Dawson, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam): A love story narrated by ‘the song’, like a song is the narrator. It was pretty confusing and I really don’t enjoy sad love stories.
*What’s Best (Katie West, Ray Fawkes & Zakk Saam): A mother is set to do anything necessary to give her daughter the best life. I really liked this one. The typography was kinda hard to read, but the mother’s love is clear from the beginning and the story fascinating.
I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange an honest review. -
'Gothic Tales of Haunted Love' edited by Hope Nicholson and S.M. Beiko is a collection of short stories by a variety of contributors that pay homage to the creepy gothic comics of the 1970s.
I'm not much of a romance reader, but I do like a good haunted love story. This collection of 19 stories and a fun quiz. There is a cover gallery at the end and the collection even includes a reprint of an original story called 'The Promise' by Korean artist Sanho Kim, about a soldier who is saved by two sisters with a promise to marry one of them, and the consequences of breaking that promise.
The stories vary in quality. I liked some more than others. There is a range of diversity here. The problem with including a classic story, is that it just seems to shine above most of the collection. My favorites were the reprint, 'Crush' by Janet Hetherington, Ron Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Sam, and 'Minefield' by Hien Pham, which is told almost entirely in Vietnamese.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Bedside Press, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. -
I liked all of the stories in this little collection. I have never read a Gothic romance story before and I found them really interesting to read.
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I really loved this anthology! As with all collections, I enjoyed some stories more than others, that's inevitable, but there were only 2 stories that were not to my tastes at all. Overall the story-lines were entertaining, the graphics were beautiful and the lettering was great. Some of these stories are thought-provoking, some are chilling, some are just downright beautiful. If you're into graphics novels and gothic lit, this is one for you! Ghosts, werewolves, murder and mayhem, hell yes!
Recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy -
"Gothic Tales of Haunted Love" is a great modern adaption of 1960/70 American gothic romance comics. The comic anthology is spooky, bloody and super diverse.
An extensive introduction by Jacque Nodell, outlines the (short-lived) history of gothic romance comics and the motivation for this anthology and then the comics begin.
And what comics they are … Full of ghosts and ghouls, bloodshed and all other kinds of goriness but also full of diversity, characters of colour, LGBTQIA* characters, etc. I loved that combination and overall I also loved the comics, even though a few of them were too strange for my taste. But I loved all the different art styles, the variety of stories and especially how there weren't any damsels in distress but instead a lot of bad, bad ladies. -
I thought the stories in this anthology were very good for the most part. I always enjoy reading anthologies because I get to hear from new (or at least new to me) authors. This one kept me up a couple of nights not wanting to put it down.
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I loved this book! An anthology of short gothic stories accompanied by gorgeous artwork, turning the traditional gothic tale on its head by making including a rich diversity of heroines and tragic figures. I hope to see more of this in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing free digital access to this title. -
*Spoiler/Trigger warning: There are lots of blood, gore, pictures of what looks like self harm, and murder...also baby killing.
I have conflicting feelings about this book, but I did enjoy it overall.
There were a few stories that I personally felt did not make sense. I did like it that the "bad guy" was usually the girl, and she wasn't a damsel in distress or something.
Highly disturbing stories, but I went in expecting that and enjoy the morbidness of this book. However, there was one story that was a little too much for me personally and it involved taking a baby from a mother's womb and killing it.... Now that is a little much in and of itself, but I've also delt with infant death in my family, so it made it harder in that sense as well.
I enjoyed the varied artwork and color schemes used in this.
*Provided by Netgally* -
There is a tendency when thinking about the history of comic books to privilege the superhero, to reduce comics as a medium to the mystery men and women who fight crime in all their caped glory.
There are both historic and cultural reasons that this happen—the birth of the superhero coincides with the moment that the comic book as we understand it asserts itself as an entertainment medium, and there can be little doubt that the superhero is among the twentieth century’s major contributions to the realm of myth—but this limited view ultimately does a disservice both to comics as an artistic medium and to the reader. From the very beginning, comic books have been filled with funny animals and bug-eyed monsters, teen romances and two-fisted pulp adventures. Comics has always contained multitudes.
This is one of the interesting things about the Gothic Tales of Haunted Love anthology edited by Hope Nicholson and S.M. Beiko. The book collects a number of contemporary takes on the gothic romance and, in doing so, revives one of the more obscure genres in comic book history. It is a genre that comics historian Jacque Nodell refers to as “merely a blip on the radar of the mainstream comic book industry” in her introduction, flourishing briefly after a relaxation of the Comics Code in the 1970s. While the more-or-less straight horror or superhero-adjacent horror books of the mid-70s managed to hold their place in comics history—Marvel’s The Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night are a product of the same loosening of the Comics Code—the gothic romance didn’t, but Gothic Tales of Haunted Love serves as compelling antidote to that. The gothic romance may be well established in both the literary and cinematic traditions, but Nicholson and Beiko’s collection reminds us of the potential it brings to comics.
The book, insofar as it does the work of recuperating a lost, forgotten or otherwise unavailable part of comic book history, is of a piece with Nicholson’s previous editorial work. In the best possible way it recalls the two volumes of Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection that Nicholson edited, and fans of those books or Nicholson’s The Secret Loves of Geeks collections will have plenty of cause to enjoy Gothic Tales of Haunted Love.
One of the book’s key strengths is the way that it diversifies the genre. The protagonists in these stories are not merely girls, waifish and white, in flowing white gowns fleeing monstrous masculine threats to their virtue across foggy moors. Rather, they represent an expansive range subjectivities which serve to shape their stories and are often granted a fair degree of agency. By including stories that represent Black, First Nations, Asian, and Queer perspectives, Gothic Tales of Haunted Love works to expand the gothic and allow it to represent a mode of being rather than a narrative structure. The repressed returns and must always be confronted, but what the repressed is and how it functions goes beyond the historical roots of the genre.
Gothic Tales of Haunted Love is a strong anthology. While a few of the stories seem to struggle a bit with the formal structure of the comic book short story and resolve slightly more abruptly than they feel they should thus undercutting the twist or resolution, the vast majority make elegant use of the space. While it should be understood that which stories readers favour in an anthology like this will very much be a subjective thing, there are a number of clear standouts. Janet Heatherington and Ronn Sutton’s” Crush” effectively captures the feel of the EC Comics horror books of the 1950s. David A. Robertson and Scott B. Henderson’s “The Return” re-contextualizes the return that lies at the heart of the Gothic and allows the haunting to be a moment of agency. “What’s best” by Katie West, Ray Fawkes and Zakk Saam reveals a beautiful synergy between the story and the art. The most interesting story, though, is likely the hardest to read. Hien Pham’s “Minefield” presents the dialogue as it would be heard untranslated. This means that the Vietnam War story is largely in Vietnamese with English intruding on the narrative when American soldiers arrive searching for Viet Cong. This has the potential to be disorienting, however, Pham’s art works to convey the narrative while the language of the text forces the reader to consider their positionality. It constitutes a remarkably effective use of the form.
Nicholson and Beiko’s anthology would be valuable simply for recouping a forgotten moment in comics history and modernizing it. However, the strength of the stories and the way that they modify and expand on received tradition are what make it a wonderfully enjoyable book to read, and a potential entry point into the vast possibilities of the comic book. -
This was a fantastic read. Hope Nicholson has to be my favorite editor by far. I never really caught the names of editors before I started getting these themed anthologies put together by her. They're all very enjoyable, but this one has been my favorite so far. Ever since discovering a few EC reprints in the bargain bin at my local comic book store when I was about 8 years old I've been a fan of all things that fall under the "horror" umbrella. What makes this collection so great is that many of the stories are so very different and unique while still being able to wear the "gothic romance" label. Some stories tend to more horrific than others. Also, I just LOVE the artwork for the interior and the table of contents. I've always been fond of those paintings of women running in flowing dresses and gowns in the ghastly moonlight. I enjoyed EVERY story in this collection, but I'd like to express some specific thoughts on my favorite 3 selections.
"Mistress Fox" by Megan Kearney
Here's a writer/cartoonist whose work I have not really seen/read outside of these Hope Nicholson anthologies. This entry is one of my favorite horror comics I've ever read. This story definitely would feel at home in any of those old EC titles. Also, I always wished someone would do a Disney style full length animated horror feature. I don't think that'll ever happen, but this entry is the closet I've come across. Her style of artwork resembles that 80's/early 90's style of Disney artwork. I think what made this story more disturbing than it actually is is that the artwork is so adorably cartoony. This one sent a chill down my spine, made me curl my toes, and forced me to revisit and re-read several times and just simply stare and endlessy gawk at the art.
"A Heritage of Woods" by S.M. Beiko & Maia Kobabe
The layout/design of this entry is absolutely wonderful. This is another story I frequently have revisited to re-read and just simply stare and gawk over the artwork. Maia Kobabe's "Genderqueer" entry in The Secret Loves of Geeks was my favorite selection in that anthology. Eir artwork for that was very "comic strip" like in the sense that Genderqueer would easily fit in on the "newspaper comic page", but eir artwork for this is something completely different which simply amazed me. Also, I love how e makes eir trees. They look like they came right of a Toiken book. It makes me wish e had more stuff available in print format. The story itself has a plot like none other I've ever read before. Another reason why I enjoyed this entry so much.
"Ladies of the Lake" by Sarah Winifred Searle
Here's another creator I really only know from these Nicholson anthologies. The artwork is also very Disney cute cartoony which makes the story a little bit more creepy. This is also another story that'd fit in nicely in an EC comic. There are 2 characters in this selection that I'd like to see have their own book.
Thank You Hope NIcholson for another awesome anthology! -
Actual rating: 3,5 stars
Content warnings
Let's be honest, I didn't take notes on potential content warnings for this one. Please be aware that some (actually most, I think) of these stories deal with topics like death and violence and some are pretty graphic and/or emotionally intense. If anyone is interested, you can ask me, though! I'll have a look at the chapters again if someone needs a specific warning or something.
Disclaimer
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
My opinion
I really enjoyed this collection of short comic stories, even though comics are usually not my preferred genre. I picked it up for the awesome combination of gothic romance and diversity -- and I was not disappointed. The stories are racially diverse and feature several queer characters and relationships. It was nice seeing a new take on the gothic romance genre with more diverse characters, and mostly it was very well done in my opinion.
I loved the artwork itself in most of these stories, some very unusual drawing styles caught my eye, some more traditional styles were also featured and nicely done.
I personally would have loved the stories to be just a bit longer and more "complete", since some of them felt kind of rushed and incomplete to me, though I understand that short stories in an anthology cannot exceed a certain lenght.
My favorites in this anthology were "Secrets in the Silk" (focussing on female emancipation in Taiwan and a ghoste wife's wonderful revenge to her awful husband), "Minefield" (which I absolutely loved -- I mean, dorky, sweet ghost boyfriend??? HELLO -- even though it's mostly in Vietnamese which I don't understand), "L'heute verte" (aka queer black woman having a nice, flirty, classic paranormal moment), and "Fazenda do Sangue Azul" (aka a Black queer communist guy falling in love with a ghost guy).
All in all, I'd definitely recommend taking a look at this lovely collection if you're a) into comics, b) looking for diverse stories and/or c) a fan or gothic and paranormal love stories, tragic and kind-of-fluffy ones alike! -
I get bored very easily. I have nothing against the stories of white cis males from the Western Cannon. I can and do relate to them, but it’s hard to find anything fresh in the ubiquity of these voices. The stories in this anthology provide the freshness I crave, even though they are NOT horrifying. It’s possible they might scare some children and they’d certainly terrify racists and other bigots, but overwhelmingly I was caught off guard by the palpable positivity and love that abounds in these stories.
While these stories do not evoke the feeling of horror they ARE horror stories! Lots of murder and mayhem, lots of evil dastards getting thier comeuppance, and lots of supernatural experiences. But, still, and despite knowing the title, I was continually caught off guard by the LOVE in these stories. So much love! It is refreshing to see things work out for lovers, even in death. What’s more the abundance and depth of human experiences, what we currently refer to as “representation”, combines with the LOVE to create a most revitalizing entourage effect. The diversity of skin colours, sexual orientations, cultures, languages (yes one story is presented in untranslated Vietnamese!), and art styles found within this book are, to me, unprecedented and appreciated. Screw your lazy food delivery: this is the REAL Hello Fresh! Twenty different stories each tied to the central theme of gothic/ haunted love, but no two can be conflated, nor can any be read without conferring a feeling of satisfaction on the reader.
So many elements of horror within these pages, but really it’s the satisfaction of watching a jerk get what’s coming to them and the conquering power of love that makes this book a worthy read. -
Gothic Tales of Haunted Love by Edited by S.M. Beiko and Hope Nicholson Gothic tales of haunted love is a new comics anthology curated by Hope Nicholson. It is not your normal book of paranormal stories. The comic book style actually gives to some of the stories as well as some it takes from. There were a few stories int he book I would of loved to read a whole book on instead of a few pages of comics.
The stories were good do not get me wrong I am just not a big comic book kind of girl. There are 19 stories packed into this book. There are pretty much every paranormal entity I can imagine in this book from Ghosts to just plain old murders. The stories are short. There are only 216 pages in the book.
The art work is done very well and tell the story pretty well without any words. The story Minefield is mostly not in English so I had to rely on the pictures. It is a story from 1950's Vietnam.
I did enjoy the story The Return. It is about an Indian who brings back his love who has died. She was actually engaged to another man. When they brought the man in to see her after hr return he was mortified but her. She had not been fully returned to the living yet. When she was fully returned to her formal self and her beauty restored the Fiance decided he did then want her back. /She tells him no since he did not love her enough to want her when she was ugly she would not take him now that she was fully restored.
I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review. -
Whoa! This anthology dives right in! That first story is a doozy! Crush really delivers.
And I realized that this is why I like to check out new stuff on NetGalley. This was amazing. Different from what I expected - and really different from most comics I’ve read. It’s really rare to discover an anthology where there wasn’t a single story I wasn’t fond of. I think there were one or two stories I might give Goodreads rating 3/5 stars - but those were by far the worst.
That first story was followed by Rose’s Heart. I was thinking I was all smart, figuring out the twist. But holy crap! Nope. This was pretty good, too.
Both delightfully - almost traditionally - gothic.
The third, Secrets in the Silk, breaks a bit from the tradition in look and feel and setting. But OMG! It sure does fit.
Then there was L’Heure Verte. Such a fantastic story! Wow. (This one was so good, I found the writer and artist on Twitter and told them so - Femi Sobowale and Caroline Dougherty!)
Green, Gold, and Black was harsh. But well done.
Mistress Fox. Chilling.
I kind of figured what might happen in My Heart Still Beats for You. But it was still great.
One More Cup was a bit different. I liked it.
As far as the rest of the stories go? They were all great - or at least really good. And very diverse.
What a great anthology. I can’t recommend this enough!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bedside Press for a copy in return for an honest review. -
This was a wonderful collection of some deliciously creepy stories, but the varying quality of the stories in general dragged it down a bit. But the better stories were magnificent. Here are my favorites, in the order they appear in the book:
Rose's Heart by Colleen Coover- I loved the art and the subversion of reader expectations.
Secrets in the Silk- a wonderful story of female solidarity and getting revenge. The art was absolutely wonderful too.
Minefield by Hien Phan- I loved how the artist is able to tell the story visually, even without being able to understand vietnamese. And the art was so sweet too.
Ladies of the Lake by Sarah Winifred Searle- This one was definitely one of my favourites. I loved the protagonists and the story, and the art was absolutely wonderful. I'd kill for a whole book with these characters having adventures.
Fazenda do Sangue Azul by H. Pueyo and Dante L.- This story was my favourite. From the gorgeous art and colours, to a touching story and a really great world setting, I kept thinking about this one long after finishing. Again, would love to read a whole book about them.
Mistress Fox by Megan Kearney and Derek Spencer- This was a deliciously creepy twist on the already creepy tale. The art fit the mood of the story very well too.
One More Cup by Barbara Guttman- I loved it! The art was beautiful and the story very compelling and I loved the whole premise and the relationship of the characters. -
Well this anthology certainly packs a punch! It starts off with a rather gory governess story and then gets even better. I enjoyed it but it is not for the squeamish. These are gothic and ghastly tales at their best.
The best aspect of the stories here are the unexpected and brilliantly depicted twists and turns. They give these short stories a startling and enjoyable edge but only if you like a slice of darkness and frisson of horror with your stories.
I think this volume really manages to capture and express the meaning of gothic. The dark scariness of hauntings, monsters, magic and no escape routes, are illustrated by a range of different artists and story tellers.
I loved the different styles of drawing and the diversity in the coloring as well. The artwork ranges from gloomy and dark illustrations for dark stories, to the brightly colored contemporary style artwork which gives the reader a false sense of security and then suddenly reveals a dark and gothic story.
Each story has its own way of expressing gothic tales and together all these stories from a group of highly talented authors and artists make up a thoroughly enjoyable anthology. The love stories embrace diversity in terms of race and sexuality and this enriches the book and enhances the stories. It is an exceptional collection of comics.
Copy provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review. -
In many readers’ minds, the term “gothic” likely evokes literary references to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula – elements of romance, the supernatural, and dark, foreboding tones permeate such timeless stories. During the 1960s and 1970s, such elements reappeared in the sequential art medium, being stimulated by the diminishing control of the Comics Code Authority in 1971. Jacque Nodell (Sequential Crush), in the book’s foreword, explains that gothic romance comics “were short lived, merely a blip on the radar of the mainstream comic book industry.”
DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and Marvel Comics were a few of the publishers that were releasing haunting romantic tales. Series being released featured stories and art by some of the leading writers (Wes Craven) and artists (Tony DeZuniga). At the time, Marvel was helmed by Stan Lee, so he would have made decisions on what titles were published. Although influential creators were creating stories, the genre was short-lived, and the tales eventually morphed into mystery and horror genres.
I discuss each story in my full review at Fanbase Press:
http://www.fanbasepress.com/index.php... -
Like all anthologies, there were stories I loved and stories I didn't. In all honesty, there were only two stories that had me shrugging at which I thought really spoke to the quality of entertainment found in this book.
Every story is from a different artist and author so I can't speak to it as a whole. Most of the art was enjoyable. I can't think of any that I disliked.
While this is an anthology of haunted love, I would definitely warn you that this is not a collection of romance stories. The horror starts early and happens often. There are love stories and every story has an element of romance. Many don't have a happily ever after ending (though I would say many have a happy ending for one of the characters).
I loved this. This is right up my alley and I hope you enjoy it.
This book has the best extras I have ever seen. There is an older gothic tale that is a bit hard to read but still interesting. My favorite, though, is the what kind of gothic heroine are you? quiz. That's going to keep me tickled for quite some time.
