Comic Review: Nightmares and Fairy Tales: Once Upon a Time..., Volume 1, by Serena Valentino and FSc

Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5

Publisher: SLG Publishing

Release Date: 2004

Volumes: 4

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

This haunting first collection of Annabelle's memories are filled with frightening stories and dark fairy tales about her various owners . Featuring the first 6 issues, as well as some other spookirific surprises, including an introduction by Tommy Kovac (Skelebunnies, Stitch and Autumn) as well as a guest page by Jhonen Vasquez and other SLG creators.

Review:

This was a very dark, but very good, comic.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect, especially since I don’t read a lot of these, but it looked good. The art is gothic and dark, in a good way, with long necks and horrifying faces.

The storyline is really creepy. There’s a different one for each chapter, although ultimately they all revolve around a cursed doll. Annabelle wants to be loved and happy, and yet every owner that she has ends up dying horribly.

There are the normal stories, one about a girl and her friends, one about a girl and nuns, most of whom die somehow. There’s also a normal little girl who ends up being taken from her horrible parents and living with a nice lady, thankfully. There are two fairytales retold: Snow White and Cinderella. Both of them have horrible journeys but end somewhat nicely.

These are all horrible, nightmare-inducing stories, and they’re all very well done. The Snow White story particularly stands out to me. It was surprisingly good, and I’m glad I picked it up. I would like to find more stories like it.