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The Sleep of Reason: An Anthology of Horror
This anthology comic of horror tales eschews conventional terrors, and instead offers twenty-six unsettling stories of weird and original dread: stories of infection, isolation, and alienation that give us new reasons to be afraid.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
12 people are currently reading
880 people want to read
About the author
C. Spike Trotman
34 books131 followersTrotman is also the creator of the webcomics Lucas and Odessa, Sparkneedle, and Blikada, as well as the somewhat less serious Playing With Dolls. She lives in Chicago with her husband.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
August 10, 2017
C. Spike Trotman is a Chicago-based artist and publisher who edited this volume of 26 horror shorts, 360 pages of disturbing in a variety of ways. Variety is Spike’s principle. No typical scary monsters but real dread, and in a short space. And though all of them are in black and white (except Michael DeForge’s creepy cover), there is a diversity of styles, with a diversity of characters, sexual orientations, races, and so on. Not familiar horror. Trying to take horror in new directions. It’s not for kids, it’s not R. L. Stine, as some of the stories get into pretty dark territory. Spike’s blurb for the book says it was “inspired by likes of Taboo, Uzumaki and Black Hole,” so not kid stuff.
The work in the volume is done by people I had not heard from before (save DeForge and Spike). I like that principle of introducing new cartoonists, but then as you can expect the art styles and stories, varied as I said, are also uneven, sketchy, rough sometimes. It took me a couple weeks to get through it, taking my time with it, and I liked it. I would say 3 stars for the execution of the work overall, which means I think it is good, 4 stars for the admirable conception and principles. Five stars for the great title, but it led me to expect something even more amazing. I expect to see the work of these folks for many years to come, yay.
The work in the volume is done by people I had not heard from before (save DeForge and Spike). I like that principle of introducing new cartoonists, but then as you can expect the art styles and stories, varied as I said, are also uneven, sketchy, rough sometimes. It took me a couple weeks to get through it, taking my time with it, and I liked it. I would say 3 stars for the execution of the work overall, which means I think it is good, 4 stars for the admirable conception and principles. Five stars for the great title, but it led me to expect something even more amazing. I expect to see the work of these folks for many years to come, yay.
September 12, 2019
Very-short works better for horror than for most genres, and some of these were pretty creepy, but I can't say many of them made me want to seek out more by the artist.
November 16, 2023
Titulo: The Sleep of Reason
Autor: Autores varios
Motivo de lectura: Letras Macabras (Isla Macabra 2023)
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Electronico
Puntuacion: 3.5/5
Esta antologia incluye veintiseis relatos, todas las historias pertenecen a distintos autores, esto lleva a una gran variedad dentro del estilo de la ilustracion, asi como tambien la tematica de las tramas.
En general es una antologia que mantiene un nivel bueno, ahondando desde el terror cotidiano hasta el terror fantastico.
The Child Eater (Meg Gandy): un retrato de lo que es la violencia intrafamiliar. Muchas veces tenemos acceso al testimonio de las mujeres que sufren violencia, pero practicamente nunca tenemos acceso al testimonio de miles y miles de niños que son testigos de esta violencia o que sufren esta violencia ellos mismos. Meg Gandy nos ofrece un retrato desde la perspectiva de una niña (la manera en que percibe a su padre es escalofriante), y como ella intenta lidiar con su dia a dia con casi nulos recursos debido a su corta edad.
A menudo las personas imaginan el infierno como un lugar en llamas, con una figura con cuernos, una cola larga y un tridente, pero la realidad es que a puertas cerradas estan los verdaderos infiernos. Ya saben lo que dicen "El infierno esta aqui, entre nosotros. Detras de cada pared, de cada ventana. Es el mundo detras del mundo." 5/5
The Waiting Game (Carla Speed McNeil): sinceramente no entendi bien el tema de la trama. Un grupo de personas donde su diversion es torturar, pero me falto mas contexto. 2/5
Found object (Britt C.H.): brutal! Realmente espeluznante, con una trama bastante original. Aun cuando la historia es predecible, me gusto mucho. 5/5
The grackle bride (Randal Milholland): un relato de folclore que trata sobre la leyenda de unos pajaros. Un relato entretenido. 3.5/5
Proliferation (Lin Visel & J.R. Cullen): una premisa interesante pero inconclusa. 2/5
I Want to Wake Up (Greg Stolze & Langdon Foss): una repesentacion descarnada de lo que es la salud mental y el efecto secundario de la medicacion. Un viaje a la profundo de la desesperacion del ser humano. 4/5
The Untimely Death of Smokey II (Der-Shing Helmer): brillante, aun cuando detesto con el alma la crueldad aninal este relato tiene un giro excelente, ya saben..karma is a bitch. 5/5
Temple (Hillary Blair): Siento que el nombre de la protagonista no es al azar, "Anna". Este relato aborda un tema muy delicado, millones de personas alrededor del mundo luchan cada dia para intentar estar mejor, y lamentablemente muchas personas pierden esa batalla.
Hay una frase que siempre me resulto extraña "tu cuerpo es tu templo", cuando alguien piensa en un templo, lo asocia con lo sagrado, con la belleza de su estructura, con la pureza, con la perfeccion. Poner el peso de esa frase sobre un ser humano podria ser en extremo contraproducente, que ocurre si no podemos mantener nuestro cuerpo sagrado? Que ocurre si no podemos mantener nuestro cuerpo bello? Que pasa si no podemos mantener nuestro cuerpo en la pureza? Que pasa si no podemos ser perfectos? Dejamos de existir? Nuestro cuerpo no es mas un cuerpo sino los despojos de lo que deberia ser? Nadie deberia vivir bajo la carga de intentar conservar un cuerpo como si fuera un templo, siempre hay que ser realistas, y al final del dia, la mayoria hacemos lo que podemos con nuestros cuerpos, no somos templos, somos seres humanos que hay dias que ganamos batallas, y hay dias que perdemos batallas, y eso es la vida, un eterno balance entre lo bueno y lo malo, entre la victoria y la derrota. A veces caminamos, a veces nos arrastramos, a veces simplemente nos quedamos quietos, petrificados. Las 5 estrellas de este relato no es porque es perfecto, sino por todo en lo que me hizo pensar. 5/5
Artifacts (Evan Dahm): demasiado pretencioso. 2/5
Do Better (Kristin Cheney): perturbador, en este relato nada es lo que parece. Me hubiera encantado que fuera mas extenso. 3.5/5
Old Echoes (Lety R-Z & Stevan Zivadinovic): una caminata, una exploracion con sabor a aventura con un giro siniestro. 3.5/5
Weft (Kit Goode & Liz Edward): una metafora profunda sobre los lazos, las responsabilidades y el terror que esto puede generar. 3.5/5
Four PM Is Tea Time (Ty & Lee Blauerssouth): el horror de sentir el abandono en compañia. 4/5
Alone (Blue Delliquanti): aburridisimo al principio, pero con un giro entretenido. 3/5
Growth (Melanie Gillman): brutal! Horror nauseabumdo, viceral. Espanto de principio a fin. 4.5/5
Fungus City (Geral Swanson): body horror presente en la sala, un viaje alucinado (o no?). 3.5/5
Sunken Ship (Isaiah Smalley & Kev Anderson): Bestial! Un fenomeno natural y una carrera demencial por sobrevivir. La ley del mas fuerte. 4.5/5
Out of Chaos (Rachel Edidin & Kel McDonald): no. 1/5
I am sick (KC Green): critica a la sociedad? Critica a la iglesia? Wow! 4/5
Miracle (Spike): la maternidad desde un punto de vista muy escalofriante. 3.5/5
Faerie Ring (Savannah Horrocks): primero decir que las ilustraciones de Savannah son una belleza. Es una historia donde no hay dialogo presente, pero trasmite muchisimo. Me encanto el concepto de la historia, y el relato sinceramente es brillante. Necesito conocer mas creaciones de Savannah Horrocks. 5/5
The Collection (Ainsley Seago & Tristan Harrington): una vida de trabajo..tiene una buena premisa, pero no termino de agradarme la manera en que fue ejecutada la idea. 2.5/5
Hostess (Gabby Schulz): demasiado raro/bizarro para mi gusto. 1/5
The Emperor Awakes (Jason Bradley Thompson): demasiado raro/bizarro para mi gusto volumen 2. 1/5
Anniversary (Sophie Goldstein): confieso que lo tuve que leer dos veces porque la primera vez no lo entendi. La segunda vez descubri una historia realmente increible, donde los celos y la posesion son los elementos principales de la trama, me encantaron las ilustraciones, tienen una gran vibra gotica. 4/5
It Comes Back (Brittney Sabo): una premisa muy atrayente, la historia mantiene el interes, me hubiera gustado saber un poco mas. 4/5
Autor: Autores varios
Motivo de lectura: Letras Macabras (Isla Macabra 2023)
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Electronico
Puntuacion: 3.5/5
Esta antologia incluye veintiseis relatos, todas las historias pertenecen a distintos autores, esto lleva a una gran variedad dentro del estilo de la ilustracion, asi como tambien la tematica de las tramas.
En general es una antologia que mantiene un nivel bueno, ahondando desde el terror cotidiano hasta el terror fantastico.
The Child Eater (Meg Gandy): un retrato de lo que es la violencia intrafamiliar. Muchas veces tenemos acceso al testimonio de las mujeres que sufren violencia, pero practicamente nunca tenemos acceso al testimonio de miles y miles de niños que son testigos de esta violencia o que sufren esta violencia ellos mismos. Meg Gandy nos ofrece un retrato desde la perspectiva de una niña (la manera en que percibe a su padre es escalofriante), y como ella intenta lidiar con su dia a dia con casi nulos recursos debido a su corta edad.
A menudo las personas imaginan el infierno como un lugar en llamas, con una figura con cuernos, una cola larga y un tridente, pero la realidad es que a puertas cerradas estan los verdaderos infiernos. Ya saben lo que dicen "El infierno esta aqui, entre nosotros. Detras de cada pared, de cada ventana. Es el mundo detras del mundo." 5/5
The Waiting Game (Carla Speed McNeil): sinceramente no entendi bien el tema de la trama. Un grupo de personas donde su diversion es torturar, pero me falto mas contexto. 2/5
Found object (Britt C.H.): brutal! Realmente espeluznante, con una trama bastante original. Aun cuando la historia es predecible, me gusto mucho. 5/5
The grackle bride (Randal Milholland): un relato de folclore que trata sobre la leyenda de unos pajaros. Un relato entretenido. 3.5/5
Proliferation (Lin Visel & J.R. Cullen): una premisa interesante pero inconclusa. 2/5
I Want to Wake Up (Greg Stolze & Langdon Foss): una repesentacion descarnada de lo que es la salud mental y el efecto secundario de la medicacion. Un viaje a la profundo de la desesperacion del ser humano. 4/5
The Untimely Death of Smokey II (Der-Shing Helmer): brillante, aun cuando detesto con el alma la crueldad aninal este relato tiene un giro excelente, ya saben..karma is a bitch. 5/5
Temple (Hillary Blair): Siento que el nombre de la protagonista no es al azar, "Anna". Este relato aborda un tema muy delicado, millones de personas alrededor del mundo luchan cada dia para intentar estar mejor, y lamentablemente muchas personas pierden esa batalla.
Hay una frase que siempre me resulto extraña "tu cuerpo es tu templo", cuando alguien piensa en un templo, lo asocia con lo sagrado, con la belleza de su estructura, con la pureza, con la perfeccion. Poner el peso de esa frase sobre un ser humano podria ser en extremo contraproducente, que ocurre si no podemos mantener nuestro cuerpo sagrado? Que ocurre si no podemos mantener nuestro cuerpo bello? Que pasa si no podemos mantener nuestro cuerpo en la pureza? Que pasa si no podemos ser perfectos? Dejamos de existir? Nuestro cuerpo no es mas un cuerpo sino los despojos de lo que deberia ser? Nadie deberia vivir bajo la carga de intentar conservar un cuerpo como si fuera un templo, siempre hay que ser realistas, y al final del dia, la mayoria hacemos lo que podemos con nuestros cuerpos, no somos templos, somos seres humanos que hay dias que ganamos batallas, y hay dias que perdemos batallas, y eso es la vida, un eterno balance entre lo bueno y lo malo, entre la victoria y la derrota. A veces caminamos, a veces nos arrastramos, a veces simplemente nos quedamos quietos, petrificados. Las 5 estrellas de este relato no es porque es perfecto, sino por todo en lo que me hizo pensar. 5/5
Artifacts (Evan Dahm): demasiado pretencioso. 2/5
Do Better (Kristin Cheney): perturbador, en este relato nada es lo que parece. Me hubiera encantado que fuera mas extenso. 3.5/5
Old Echoes (Lety R-Z & Stevan Zivadinovic): una caminata, una exploracion con sabor a aventura con un giro siniestro. 3.5/5
Weft (Kit Goode & Liz Edward): una metafora profunda sobre los lazos, las responsabilidades y el terror que esto puede generar. 3.5/5
Four PM Is Tea Time (Ty & Lee Blauerssouth): el horror de sentir el abandono en compañia. 4/5
Alone (Blue Delliquanti): aburridisimo al principio, pero con un giro entretenido. 3/5
Growth (Melanie Gillman): brutal! Horror nauseabumdo, viceral. Espanto de principio a fin. 4.5/5
Fungus City (Geral Swanson): body horror presente en la sala, un viaje alucinado (o no?). 3.5/5
Sunken Ship (Isaiah Smalley & Kev Anderson): Bestial! Un fenomeno natural y una carrera demencial por sobrevivir. La ley del mas fuerte. 4.5/5
Out of Chaos (Rachel Edidin & Kel McDonald): no. 1/5
I am sick (KC Green): critica a la sociedad? Critica a la iglesia? Wow! 4/5
Miracle (Spike): la maternidad desde un punto de vista muy escalofriante. 3.5/5
Faerie Ring (Savannah Horrocks): primero decir que las ilustraciones de Savannah son una belleza. Es una historia donde no hay dialogo presente, pero trasmite muchisimo. Me encanto el concepto de la historia, y el relato sinceramente es brillante. Necesito conocer mas creaciones de Savannah Horrocks. 5/5
The Collection (Ainsley Seago & Tristan Harrington): una vida de trabajo..tiene una buena premisa, pero no termino de agradarme la manera en que fue ejecutada la idea. 2.5/5
Hostess (Gabby Schulz): demasiado raro/bizarro para mi gusto. 1/5
The Emperor Awakes (Jason Bradley Thompson): demasiado raro/bizarro para mi gusto volumen 2. 1/5
Anniversary (Sophie Goldstein): confieso que lo tuve que leer dos veces porque la primera vez no lo entendi. La segunda vez descubri una historia realmente increible, donde los celos y la posesion son los elementos principales de la trama, me encantaron las ilustraciones, tienen una gran vibra gotica. 4/5
It Comes Back (Brittney Sabo): una premisa muy atrayente, la historia mantiene el interes, me hubiera gustado saber un poco mas. 4/5
October 22, 2024
Very much a mixed bag of independent writers and artists each doing short horror stories. I would say my favorite is the bug infested “The Collection” by Ainsley Seago & Tristan Harrington. A lot of body horror and varying degrees of quality throughout.
June 9, 2022
The Child Eater: 3/5
The Waiting Game: 1/5
Found Object: 4/5
The Grackle Bride: 3/5
Proliferation: 2/5
I Want to Wake Up: 4/5
The Untimely Death of Smokey II: 5/5
Temple: 4/5
Artifacts: 3/5
Do Better: 4/5
Old Echoes: 4/5
Weft: 4/5
Four PM Is Tea Time: 4/5
Alone: 4/5
Growth: 5/5
Fungus City: 1/5
Sunken Ship: 2/5
Out of Chaos: 4/5
I AM SICK: 1/5
Miracle: 3/5
Faerie Ring: 2/5
The Collection: 5/5
Hostess: 1/5
The Emperor Awakes: 2/5
Anniversary: 1/5
It Comes Back: 3/5
The Waiting Game: 1/5
Found Object: 4/5
The Grackle Bride: 3/5
Proliferation: 2/5
I Want to Wake Up: 4/5
The Untimely Death of Smokey II: 5/5
Temple: 4/5
Artifacts: 3/5
Do Better: 4/5
Old Echoes: 4/5
Weft: 4/5
Four PM Is Tea Time: 4/5
Alone: 4/5
Growth: 5/5
Fungus City: 1/5
Sunken Ship: 2/5
Out of Chaos: 4/5
I AM SICK: 1/5
Miracle: 3/5
Faerie Ring: 2/5
The Collection: 5/5
Hostess: 1/5
The Emperor Awakes: 2/5
Anniversary: 1/5
It Comes Back: 3/5
June 11, 2015
This is the horror anthology I meant to buy when I bought the other horror anthology. This one is much better. I thought the stories were more fleshed out and the point of the thing was to not rely on the same old characters/tropes. The paperback, black and whiteness of it made it feel satisfyingly pulpy.
November 19, 2023
Con esta portada es imposible resistirse, sin embargo, los relatos me han parecido irregulares de súper buenos a meh. Y las ilustraciones me paso lo mismo. Lo normal cuando es una antología de distintos creadores.
En general me gustaron, pero creo qué hay varios muy abruptos o la historia ni termina de cuajar.
El primero es fenomenal, una niña que sufre violencia, el mensaje, lo que sucede, brutal.
Hay muchos, también con un toque lovecraftiano, como el de taxidermia.
Hay una versión de Sour candy en femenino.
Mención honorífica al de Fairy ring porque casi esta todo contado con imágenes , no necesita casi texto. Y son bellos y la historia si esta de miedo.
Varios cuentos son sobre tipos de contagio y la verdad, esos, no me resultaron particularmente interesantes.
Creo que esta padre para descubrir nuevos autores e ilustradores y la antología en sí es un descubrimiento que me gustó.
Creo que justo me gustaron los protagonizados por niños como los mencionados anteriormente y el de Old echoes o el del gato Smokey ll.
3.5 ★
En general me gustaron, pero creo qué hay varios muy abruptos o la historia ni termina de cuajar.
El primero es fenomenal, una niña que sufre violencia, el mensaje, lo que sucede, brutal.
Hay muchos, también con un toque lovecraftiano, como el de taxidermia.
Hay una versión de Sour candy en femenino.
Mención honorífica al de Fairy ring porque casi esta todo contado con imágenes , no necesita casi texto. Y son bellos y la historia si esta de miedo.
Varios cuentos son sobre tipos de contagio y la verdad, esos, no me resultaron particularmente interesantes.
Creo que esta padre para descubrir nuevos autores e ilustradores y la antología en sí es un descubrimiento que me gustó.
Creo que justo me gustaron los protagonizados por niños como los mencionados anteriormente y el de Old echoes o el del gato Smokey ll.
3.5 ★
November 4, 2025
Some of these stories are great, and there were some I thought were just okay. They're all very creative though and I enjoyed looking at the illustrations when they didn't involve animal death or pregnancy.
March 17, 2018
The Child Eater by Meg Candy was a rather poor opening. From there, it continued to fall downhill. The consistently poor drawing made it hard to figure out what was going on in a panel. Abrupt ending with no resolution was a common theme. In a collection featuring 26 comics by 34 different creators, only two stood out. Grackles had a decent story. Faerie Ring had decent art.
July 1, 2017
This was an excellent comic-book anthology of horror stories. A couple were fair and didn't quite work perfectly, which is to be expected in an anthology, but by-and-large these were some very dark and highly effective stories. These are mostly tales of body-horror and personal tragedy, with a few that strive for a deeper socio-political message that are quite haunting. Highly recommended to fans of dark and troubling works of visual storytelling
February 10, 2021
This was an okay read but overall there weren't really any stories that stood out to me that much. Usually short horror stories rely on a very obvious twist at the end but most of these just have a very abrupt ending where it's heavily implied that the characters are about to die. Less outright annoying but still gets really old after you've read several of them in a row. Some of the art is good and some of it could definitely be a lot better. It's just a pretty standard mixed bag anthology for the most part.
February 15, 2018
1.5 stars
There were, like, two or so comics in this anthology that I liked. A lot of body horror / gross-out stuff, which I don't care for. Got this in a bundle of Kickstarted works and have been slowly reading it, a story or two at a time. I can't even remember most of the comics now, so they didn't stick with me.
There were, like, two or so comics in this anthology that I liked. A lot of body horror / gross-out stuff, which I don't care for. Got this in a bundle of Kickstarted works and have been slowly reading it, a story or two at a time. I can't even remember most of the comics now, so they didn't stick with me.
July 19, 2019
Some decent body-horror in here, but overall uneven in tone and quality.
Read
June 18, 2019Pretty spooky. Some of them I didn't ~~gEt~~ but whatevs.
March 23, 2014
Spike and the assembled artists behind The Sleep of Reason did a fantastic job. Each horror story has its own unconventional threat - monsters seen and unseen that pursue, invade, and forever change their victims.
Refreshingly, these tales do not rely on gore, torture, or other cheap tricks to spook you. Violence and blood happen but they are incidental tools; the authors never ask you to be frightened by a swinging hatchet or a severed head. Instead they grope deeper to court your fears of abandonment, authority, disillusionment, pregnancy, infection, and ... Well, the list goes on. Gore and violence happen only after your vulnerable fears are led into the open, pushed to the wall, and surrounded.
The storytelling quality in this anthology covers a wide terrain, unfiltered and raw. Some pieces fell flat for me but I wouldn't change them; the total effect of the mixture is an unignorable authenticity of voice. A creepy tale ending with a gallows-humor joke is followed by a mercilessly professional and hard piece that unflinchingly saws you open. Others draw you into a diffuse, eerie confusion that defies logic, and yet others lay out a nightmare so brazen and vivid and clear it makes you cry. You won't enjoy every story but standing among them will be at least one, pitch black, that stares right into you.
It is an adventurous collection. the stories that held nothing back in their devotion to drive headlong over the edge of sanity will be with me for years.
Refreshingly, these tales do not rely on gore, torture, or other cheap tricks to spook you. Violence and blood happen but they are incidental tools; the authors never ask you to be frightened by a swinging hatchet or a severed head. Instead they grope deeper to court your fears of abandonment, authority, disillusionment, pregnancy, infection, and ... Well, the list goes on. Gore and violence happen only after your vulnerable fears are led into the open, pushed to the wall, and surrounded.
The storytelling quality in this anthology covers a wide terrain, unfiltered and raw. Some pieces fell flat for me but I wouldn't change them; the total effect of the mixture is an unignorable authenticity of voice. A creepy tale ending with a gallows-humor joke is followed by a mercilessly professional and hard piece that unflinchingly saws you open. Others draw you into a diffuse, eerie confusion that defies logic, and yet others lay out a nightmare so brazen and vivid and clear it makes you cry. You won't enjoy every story but standing among them will be at least one, pitch black, that stares right into you.
It is an adventurous collection. the stories that held nothing back in their devotion to drive headlong over the edge of sanity will be with me for years.
August 19, 2022
An incredibly disturbing journey into the darkest regions of weird/horror comics. For a while I was genuinely afraid to even touch this book (no joke).
March 11, 2021
I'll talk about the stories that I particularly liked (or loved). no spoilers. at the end, one story I flat-out hated, in part because of its conventional approach, but I won't go into that.
"The Child Eater" by Meg Goudy – great art, lots of atmosphere. experimental. at the same time, it felt undeveloped and had an "and then" plot, where actions take place for no real reason. the background felt off. I speculate that the author did not want to offend her readers and so did not make it real enough. still, the weaknesses did not cancel out the strengths.
"The Waiting Game: A Nightmare" by Carla Speed McNeil – the legendary Carla Speed McNeil couldn't produce a bad comic if she tried to. without giving away spoilers, though, this veered off in a direction rather than going forward to where, in my opinion, the story wanted to go. premise, missing conclusion. I wonder if she based this on an actual nightmare. it does have that feel.
"The Untimely Death of Smokey II" by Der-shing Helmer. this, kids... this... a small masterpiece of a story. I confess to not understanding this one, then rereading it. I found it more horrific after I had reread it and understood it completely. such a good story.
"Do Better" by Kristen Cherry – this one read like the first chapter of a high quality graphic novel. only... it ends at that first chapter. regardless, a high quality graphic novel. perfect character designs.
"Sunken Ship" by Issaiah Smalley (script) and Kev Anderson (art) – this one shows you can present a basic scenario and elevate it because of the manner of presentation. it didn't feel like anything else in the anthology. the absence of backstory, somehow, improved the story.
"Out of Chaos" by Rachel Eddin (script) and Kel McDonald (art) –a good one. it benefited from having an actual plot and not just a premise, and (at least to me) making sense metaphorically. reminsicent of the film mother! (which I also liked).
"I Am Sick" by KC Green – total disconnect between the story and the cute art style. (Green also created the infamous "this is fine" meme.) loved it!
"MIracle" by C. Spike Trotman – an effective story, but I think it rested on an incorrect premise regarding human nature. possibly two incorrect premises. (I also thought of a twist which could have made the story more
"The Emperor Awakes" by Jason Bradley Thompson – this paralleled the earlier McNeil story in that, while the creator shows find craft, the story went into a direction that felt incongruent with what had come before. loved the otherworldly setting.
"Anniversary" by Sophie Goldstein – accomplished art, with obvious influences but really like nothing I had seen before. she has, to put it another way, her own voice. as with "I Am Sick", the art style contrasted with the story and I laughed at the end.
"It Comes Back" by Brittney Sabo – did the editor (Spike) put the scariest story last? yes, indeed, she did! more than that I will not say.
overall observations:
— the majority of the stories suffered from lack of development and lack of story, or had "and then" plots.
— ideally a story, will have good dialogue and good plot. if you have to do without one, though, the plot matters more. (I say this as a writer good at dialogue.)
"The Child Eater" by Meg Goudy – great art, lots of atmosphere. experimental. at the same time, it felt undeveloped and had an "and then" plot, where actions take place for no real reason. the background felt off. I speculate that the author did not want to offend her readers and so did not make it real enough. still, the weaknesses did not cancel out the strengths.
"The Waiting Game: A Nightmare" by Carla Speed McNeil – the legendary Carla Speed McNeil couldn't produce a bad comic if she tried to. without giving away spoilers, though, this veered off in a direction rather than going forward to where, in my opinion, the story wanted to go. premise, missing conclusion. I wonder if she based this on an actual nightmare. it does have that feel.
"The Untimely Death of Smokey II" by Der-shing Helmer. this, kids... this... a small masterpiece of a story. I confess to not understanding this one, then rereading it. I found it more horrific after I had reread it and understood it completely. such a good story.
"Do Better" by Kristen Cherry – this one read like the first chapter of a high quality graphic novel. only... it ends at that first chapter. regardless, a high quality graphic novel. perfect character designs.
"Sunken Ship" by Issaiah Smalley (script) and Kev Anderson (art) – this one shows you can present a basic scenario and elevate it because of the manner of presentation. it didn't feel like anything else in the anthology. the absence of backstory, somehow, improved the story.
"Out of Chaos" by Rachel Eddin (script) and Kel McDonald (art) –a good one. it benefited from having an actual plot and not just a premise, and (at least to me) making sense metaphorically. reminsicent of the film mother! (which I also liked).
"I Am Sick" by KC Green – total disconnect between the story and the cute art style. (Green also created the infamous "this is fine" meme.) loved it!
"MIracle" by C. Spike Trotman – an effective story, but I think it rested on an incorrect premise regarding human nature. possibly two incorrect premises. (I also thought of a twist which could have made the story more
"The Emperor Awakes" by Jason Bradley Thompson – this paralleled the earlier McNeil story in that, while the creator shows find craft, the story went into a direction that felt incongruent with what had come before. loved the otherworldly setting.
"Anniversary" by Sophie Goldstein – accomplished art, with obvious influences but really like nothing I had seen before. she has, to put it another way, her own voice. as with "I Am Sick", the art style contrasted with the story and I laughed at the end.
"It Comes Back" by Brittney Sabo – did the editor (Spike) put the scariest story last? yes, indeed, she did! more than that I will not say.
overall observations:
— the majority of the stories suffered from lack of development and lack of story, or had "and then" plots.
— ideally a story, will have good dialogue and good plot. if you have to do without one, though, the plot matters more. (I say this as a writer good at dialogue.)
April 4, 2018
Some great stories, some incredible art, sometimes both at the same time. I loved the challenge of creating horror stories without any familiar monsters. The collection made me thing of how much we carry with us from stories we've heard, and how we relate to stories that don't give us anything familiar to hold onto. How much do we take for granted?
August 28, 2019
A few of these stories were top notch and extremely disturbing. Then there were a handful that were weird in a very good way. The vast majority were snippets of starvation or dismemberment without any effort to create story or use the medium in any meaningful way. If you can get this without paying for it, it is worth a read. There is just too much fluff in here to justify the price.
August 20, 2020
The art was pretty good, some stories more than others. The writing was okay. Not much new and many stories were somewhat predictable, I would say if the artists had more developed writing to draw this book would be excellent. Worth a read though I won't leave this one around for my kids to read as much of the content is adult themed.
May 3, 2022
Like any anthology, it has ups and downs. Some of the downs are embarrassingly bad. But hey, turn five pages and you're on to the next one! Some fun stuff in here. I enjoyed it overall. Read it with the intention of falling alseep a few pages in and accidentally finished the whole thing in one sitting.
June 12, 2022
the child eater: tw abuse, child abuse
temple: tw self harm, eating disorders
growth: tw needles
the emperor awakes: tw needles/ivs
tw gore, animal death, vomiting, body horror throughout
some very unique and original stuff in here - not always the most complete or scary feeling, but definitely compelling.
temple: tw self harm, eating disorders
growth: tw needles
the emperor awakes: tw needles/ivs
tw gore, animal death, vomiting, body horror throughout
some very unique and original stuff in here - not always the most complete or scary feeling, but definitely compelling.
February 18, 2021
This anthology still haunts me, I first missed the kickstarter, was gifted the pdf and eventually actually found a physical copy at a book swap. If you like horror then give this a read. It is unique and wonderfully crafted in each story.
October 2, 2021
A good Halloweeny read if you like graphic novel shorts. A few were exceptional (Fungus City and Out of Chaos particularly) and all were entertaining. Some probably would have worked better in a longer context, but overall I enjoyed it.
March 7, 2022
Nothing remarkable in the writing or the art. A few stories had some potential but most of the stories ended abruptly and leaned on a few shocking images instead of good storytelling. Overall, it felt unfinished and poorly edited.
August 8, 2024
I liked it, the art was great, but a lot of the stories were lacking real horror, at least for my taste. I was hoping to be more frightened, creeped put or disgusted than what I was. Most stories weren't that scary at all.
May 25, 2017
Amazing art and many chilling stories!
May 24, 2018
it's an anthology, so it's bound to be hit or miss. slightly more hits. you can see that steven universe style creeping in and i do wish that would stop.
December 15, 2018
I found these to be hit or miss. Some were totally worth it and some were... less so. Anthologies!
March 8, 2021
These comics are fucked and creepy and gross and right up my alley!
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