Escaping Purgatory: Fables in Words & Pictures

by Gary A. Braunbeck, Alan M. Clark (Author/Illustrator/Designer)

Book by Clark, Alan M.

312 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

Gary A. Braunbeck is a prolific author who writes mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mainstream literature. He is the author of 19 books; his fiction has been translated into Japanese, French, Italian, Russian and German. Nearly 200 of his short stories have appeared in various publications.

His fiction has received several awards, including the Bram Stoker Award in 2003 for "Duty" and in 2005 for "We Now Pause for Station Identification"; his book Destinations Unknown won a Stoker in 2006. His novella "Kiss of the Mudman" received the International Horror Guild Award in 2005."

Reviews

[Craig]

This is a book collector's dream volume. It's lavishly illustrated both with black-and-white drawings and a fold-out sheet of full-color paintings, it's complete with an erratum page, it has a lovely spooky cover, and it has great stories, particularly "Mr. Hands" and "The Big Hollow." It's one of my favorite books.

[Geoff]

This is an eclectic set of stories by Gary Braunbeck, along with "The Big Hollow:" a novel sized story written with Alan M. Clark. This novel takes up about eighty percent of the book. Unfortunately, The Big Hollow wasn’t that great of a story. It tells of a group of dead people tied in purgatory, to a local cemetery. It’s basic character building throughout the story, and honestly their stories are not that exciting. Nevertheless it starts to get stronger toward the end and ties up nicely. So I ended up finishing with a pleasant feeling.

The best story of the bunch is called "Mr. Hands." This novella sized story has been fleshed out into a novel sized story in 2007. But here is its inception. It's a chilling tale of a woman whose child was killed, and she brings out a horror, to take vengeance. It all goes wrong, though. It’s a very intelligently written story. Another story was a murder mystery, that I admit must not have hit me at all, as it’s not memorable in the slightest, and I can't remember much about it. But the last major novella, was called "The Circus of Central Motion." It's a sad, but hilarious, tale told in first-person and poetical segments. It’s a real fun story to read, and I was surprised to see Gary do some humor, because he can be so somber at times.

This collection is full of early writing for Braunbeck, as well as a collaboration. As a result, this collection is a hit or miss. Some very good stuff like "Mr., Hands," and some average stuff as in "The Big Hollow." Alan Clark fully illustrates this book, though, and it makes for a wonderful piece of book publishing. Overall, I was pleased with the read, even though uneven.