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HORROR CLASSICS (
Graphic Classics Vol. 10)
edited by Tom Pomplun
(144pp trade paperback, $9.95 from Eureka Productions / 8778 Oak Grove Rd. / Mount Horeb, WI / 53572 USA. Web:
www.graphicclassics.com)
Reviewed by Alan RankinAnother terrific entry in Tom Pomplun’s
Graphic Classics series,
Horror Classics alters the winning formula of great-stories-plus-great-artists slightly. Instead of focusing on a single author as in previous volumes (Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, etc.), it collects horror stories from diverse writers such as W.W. Jacobs, who created the creepy classic “The Monkey’s Paw.”
The book starts off with H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Thing on the Doorstep.” I happen to think Lovecraft is one of the great horror writers of all time, and “Doorstep” is proof of it. Other writers have explored the central idea – an evil wizard projecting his mind into an innocent victim – but none have given it such a genuinely disturbing outcome. The story is illustrated by Michael Manning, most noted for elegant erotica such as the beautiful
Spider Garden. Manning’s work here is not as symmetrical or detailed as
Garden, but suits the grisly story just fine, retaining most of Lovecraft’s distinctive prose.
Other stories combine horror with humor, including those by Saki, Bret Harte, and Edgar Allan Poe, of all people. (Not someone you usually associate with whimsy!) These alternate with tales of full-on horror, including John Pierard’s version of “The Monkey’s Paw” and Jack London’s “Keesh, Son of Keesh.” That latter story, adapted in scratchboard by Ryan Inzana, is one of the book’s artistic highlights, comparing favorably with the work of Eric Drooker. Another is Marc Dancey’s one-page adaptation of “The Thing at Ghent.” In a mere fifteen panels, without captions or dialogue, Dancey presents Balzac’s story of avarice and murder with an economy that can only be admired.
There’s not much bad to say about the
Graphic Classics line. If I did have a complaint, it would be with the almost-total lack of female authors in the series. How about some Virginia Woolf, Tom?
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