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.

Review: Queen of the Dead (The Ghost and the Goth, #2) by Stacey Kade

Rating (Out of 5): 4

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

Goodreads Synopsis:

After being sent back from the light, Alona Dare - former homecoming queen, current Queen of the Dead - finds herself doing something she never expected: working. Instead of spending days perfecting her tan by the pool (her typical summer routine when she was, you know, alive), Alona must now cater to the needs of other lost spirits. By her side for all of this - ugh - “helping of others” is Will Killian: social outcast, seer of the dead, and someone Alona cares about more than she’d like.


Before Alona can make a final ruling on Will’s “friend” or “more” status, though, she discovers trouble at home. Her mom is tossing out Alona’s most valuable possessions, and her dad is expecting a new daughter with his wicked wife. Is it possible her family is already moving on? Hello! She’s only been dead for two months! Thankfully, Alona knows just the guy who can put a stop to this mess.


Unfortunately for Alona, Will has other stuff on his mind, and Mina, a young (and beautiful) seer, is at the top of the list. She’s the first ghost-talker Will’s ever met—aside from his father—and she may hold answers to Will’s troubled past. But can she be trusted? Alona immediately puts a check mark in the “clearly not” column. But Will is - ahem - willing to find out, even if it means leaving a hurt and angry Alona to her own devices, which is never a good idea.


Packed with romance, lovable characters, and a killer cliffhanger, Queen of the Dead is the out-of-this-world sequel to The Ghost and the Goth.

Review:

I am really enjoying this series so far, and am pretty excited for the next one.

I like Alona, the ghost. She's thinks very highly of herself, is pretty narcissistic (is that the word I'm looking for?), but she has her moments. I really enjoy reading her chapter. Although she did something in this book, that she really shouldn't have done. And I'm a little unsure how to feel about it. Because it sucks on her part, even if she didn't really mean to go that far, and I feel bad for the girls mother (but I won't expand on who's, since I don't want to give too much away), and it can cause some mixed feelings that I don't want between her and Will. But it also can be very good for her... I'm unsure what to think about it, but am intrigued to see where it all goes next.

I also really like Will, the goth who's not really a goth. He's sweet, and I find his whole leg thing cute and very fun. And I like him and Alona, but also feel unsure because I don't know where things are going to go, with her being a ghost and all. And the big thing that happens with Alona in this one, which I mentioned above, doesn't really help things. It can very easily make them worse.

Not much of the book focused on Will. Or, something bigger happened to Alona, so that's what sticks out most in my mind. And some things happened with Will and the ghosts, some of which was kind of nice.
I like Kade's writing, it's easy, and her characters are all pretty well done. They're different from each other, (and it's a bit impressive, since this is only her second book and first series).

I'm excited to see what happens in the next one, which I believe is the last? It is a trilogy, right? I can't remember. Either way, I'm lookin' forward to it.