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5 Skull Review: “In The Dark: A Horror Anthology”

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Rachel Deering amasses one of the largest tomes of horror in comics. A collection that will chill you to the core, educate you on the tenants of the genre, and change the way you look at horror comics forever. “In The Dark” is a supreme example of horror in comics. You can’t miss this book.

0109-in_the_darkWRITTEN BY: Various
ART BY: Various
EDITED BY: Rachel Deering
PUBLISHER: IDW
PRICE: $49.99
RELEASE: May 7, 2014

The tome begins with an incredible introduction by the indelible Scott Snyder. He walks the reader through the genesis of his relationship to horror. It’s a thought-provoking look at what makes horror great and defines the rest of the book by offering some insight into a genre most people are afraid to love.

In the interest of hitting everyone, and proclaiming my love for the genre. I’m going to touch every story in here with at least a sentence about how it made me feel.

Cullen Bunn and Drew Moss offer a chilling look at the forlorn and sinister dilapidated building we all remember from our childhood in “Murder Farm.” While Justin Jordon and Tyler Jenkins offer something more Lovecraftian by dealing with creatures or visions from another dimension in “The Unseen.” “Famine’s Shadow” explores the more sinister side of the things we take for granted, Rachel Derring and Christine Larsen craft an ending that will leave you feeling dreadful for weeks. Micheal Moreci, Tim Seeley and Christian Wildgoose craft a tale so engaging and fun with “Guilloteens” that it could easily be an ongoing in the tradition of Monster Squad. You hear that IDW!? Take my money!

“All Things Through Me” sees new horror master Mike Henderson draw out a deceptively simple and monstrous tale of morality by Mike Oliveri. Steve Niles and the incomparable Damien Worm present a haunting look at loss in “When the Rain Comes.” “The Body” offers up some empowered supernatural revenge like only Tim Seeley can, with Stephen Green’s wonderfully evocative and visceral art. The poetic nature of food consumption is explored as a fine art in Christopher Sebela and Zack Soto’s “Final Meal.”

Tom Taylor’s “In Plain Sight” plays with the conventions of the detective genre with gritty art by Mack Chater. High school and sadness go hand in hand, but James Tynion IV’s “Why So Sad?” will change the way you look at the emotion forever with Eryk Donovan’s art creeping under your skin to stay. “Not All There” remains a personal standout for me. Duane Swierczynski and Richard P Clark submit a disgusting body horror tale that really makes you aware of all your appendages. Gah, I really can’t stop thinking about this one. Matthew Dow Smith and Alison Sampson explore the more nefarious side of inheriting large, empty real estate in “Shadows.”

“Doc Johnson” from F. Paul Wilson and Matthew Dow Smith looks at medical malpractice with a lens of questionable morality. Scott Snyder beautifully flips everything about the child in peril story on its head with artist Nate Powell in “The One that Got Away.” Andy Belanger’s unique style in Sean E William’s “Proximity” is sure to be with you for some time, this science fiction horror will peer into your being and refuse to look away. “The Lost Valley of the Dead” might be the most unique story in the book, which says something. Brian Keene and Tadd Galusha set up a western zombie tale that ends up being anything but.

Jody Leheup’s “Set Me Free” takes being trapped in an elevator to a whole new level with Dalabor Talajic’s claustrophobic art. “The Road to Carson” is painted in blood, and Nate Southard and Christian Dibari create a horrible reminder that the west was filled with death. An artist’s body is usually in some sort of disrepair and “Body in Revolt” from Thomas Boatwright takes the concept literally. Ed Brission and Brain Level’s “The Cage” is a creative, unique and simple werewolf tale.

Paul Tobin and Robert Wilson IV present the standout ghost story in the book with “Girl on the Corner” we get a fantastic insight into the dead women of New York City.
Rachel Deering goes all out Gothic insanity with Marc Laming on “Swan Song” a vampire story as beautiful as it is deadly. “Inside You” is a powerful look at the horrific effects of bullying by the way of a body swap thanks to Valerie D’Orazio and David James Cole. The final story shows the birth of a brand new happy family in “Gestation” from Marguerite Bennett and Jonathan Brandon Sawyer.

After all the short stories you have one hell of a pinup gallery that showcases some of the most talented artists in comics doing their horror thing. It’s chilling, haunting, and arresting. If that wasn’t enough, there is a monstrous essay on the history of horror by Mike Howlett that might just be the most impressive thing in the book. Reading it will educate you like nothing else.

As you can very well tell “In The Dark” is crafted to cater to literally any taste in horror. It’s a robust work of art that doesn’t only scare you to the core, but educates you on the various sub-genres of scary. It teaches you about the genesis of horror in comics and is so chock full of content that you’d be insane not to pick it up. There isn’t a single story in here that doesn’t deliver tense writing, sharp art and polished lettering.

This book reads like a dream but it will inspire countless nightmares. If you go in weak and naïve you’ll come out with a fractured psyche. Although somewhere within that frail mind you’ll have a much better understanding and love for the genre than you did going in.

“In The Dark” is sold as a tribute to the genre, but it’s so much more. It elevates horror comics to a whole new level and dares anyone else to try to take the mantle away. I’m simply blown away by all the content and talent in this book, and you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who isn’t. I’ve read the entire tome 4 times now, and I find something new to love about it with each read. It’s simply a masterpiece that needs to be part of everyone’s collection.

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[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream

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Tender Beth Hetland Graphic Novel

Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.

“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”

Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.

Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.

Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re  reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.

Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.

Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.

Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.

Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion. 

Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.

‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.

4 out of 5 skulls

Tender graphic novel review

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