Then It Was Dark

by Sarah Benkin (Editor), Sarah Winifred Searle, Andrew Lyttle

Have you ever seen something you can't explain? Heard a voice speak a warning to you as you drifted off to sleep? Ever see a strange woman on a long empty road? Ever talk to a serial killer?

From the strange, nighttime experiences of a man deployed in Iraq to the story of a house haunted by a mad Jewish matriarch. From a chaplain's experience performing an exorcism to the history of spiritualism and a ghost that seems to love LARPs, Then It Was Dark collects a variety of strange experiences from talented and diverse voices.

Genres: Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Anthologies, Graphic Novels Comics

205 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW, this was dark and spooky! I love it. Some of the stories were a bit too short for my feeling and would have been better if long, but in overall I was definitely happy with this spooky collection. We have headless ghosts, water coming out of the drains, dark twists and turns, a dark spot in the room, voices in the walls, and more. The art was hit/miss but that is what you get as each story is drawn by a different person.

Longer review to come.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well-done (if a little uneven) anthology of short, presumably true, paranormal-related indie comics. There's a great variety of art and each piece is appropriately creepy (although some stories are a little too vague and a few are kind of repetitive). As a fan of comics, horror, and the supernatural, I really enjoyed it.

FAVORITES:
"Pollock Twins" by Sarah Benkin & Danielle Rina - A pair of twin girls seem to have an eerie connection to their deceased twin sisters.
"Dog Tags" by CB Webb - A young woman is haunted by the sound of her dead dog's tags jingling.
"Hideaway" by Natalie Leif & Kelly Leigh Miller - A brother and sister discover a bizarre cell-like room in the back of the milking shed on their new family farm.
"Suffocating" by Morgan Beem - A young woman learns her roommate's terrifying nightmare may be more than just a dream.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any collection of stories from various authors and artists, some shone and others didn't... thus the three stars. Still, it was a fun and enjoyable read, and perfect for a spooky October evening...

[Gren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many stories are forgettable, too similar, and/or too short. There are a few gems, but most of the stories are just "there is a ghost" with nothing much else to say and with art that doesnt help create a frightening atmosphere.

[Cari Gamlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great anthology of spooky stories that truly is perfect to read at night! The art on each panel is unique and gorgeous which emulates each story abd the age of the person haunted or scared! Definitely read it if you can!

[Juliette · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

This was badly edited! Sometimes there's nothing than the change of drawing style to separate the different stories it's kind of confusing and some of them are too short. I didn't understand some of the stories because it was too short and not explicit.

[Brian O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read, if occasionally anticlimactic. There are one or two gems - Lo's "Boring" comes to mind - and the rest are just fine. Recommended.

[Emily Perkovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel underwhelmed. A few stories were great, and I would have loved to see them expanded. Some of the artwork was lovely. Mostly it was fluff.

[Len · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to include different art styles in this collection.

[Walaa El-Bana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was good. the stories had potential, but they didn't interest me.

[Jenx Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love these stories and the art styles!!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a solid and fun anthology with two relatively minor flaws:
1) I was unclear if these were true stories or not. The back jacket was very unclear. I think they were true but it was hard to know....
2) and the lack of ISBN number to put the book up on other sites or to catalog it for our library. Bummer :(

[Ру · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have some intresting ideas in some of the stories but most are just generic, unengaging short stories of the paranormal kind. Maybe I was just expecting more deep and intresting to read stories, but this anthology didn't manage to deliver so much that in fact I couldn't carry myself to read it until the end.
Still - may be an intresting read to those just going into the genre as a whole.

[Jesse Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very mixed, as most anthologies are. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of the ghost stories was a history of Drew University.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

what an excellent conceit for a graphic anthology! I'm super delicate and tried to read it in the dark but I could never make it through more than a few at a time.