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Graphic Novel Review: Manga Classics: Dracula by Bram Stoker, adapted by Stacy King, art by Virginia Nitouhei

Manga Classics: Dracula by Bram Stoker, adapted by Stacy King, art by Virginia Nitouhei

Manga Classics, 2021

ISBN-13: 9781947808058

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Amazon.com

 

Manga Classics brings us a manga version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. By now most readers are familiar with the vampire classic’s general story. Jonathan Harker, a young English solicitor, travels to Transylvania to assist the mysterious Count Dracula with a real estate transaction in England. However, he soon realizes that he is a prisoner on the count’s vast estate. Through observation, he notices the count is not all he seems. While the young Harker is trapped in the castle, Dracula travels to England, where he begins preying upon Lucy Westenra, a young woman engaged to Jonathan’s friend, Arthur Holmwood. A patient of Dr. John Seward’s, Renfield, under the employ of the count, becomes increasingly obsessed with consuming the living a leaves cryptic clues as to the nature of his boss.

 

As Lucy falls ill with an unknown malady, her friends Arthur, Dr. Seward, American Quincey Morris, and vampire hunter Professor Abraham Van Helsing are determined to save her from the vampire menace. Unfortunately, Lucy succumbs to Dracula’s influence and becomes one of the undead. The friends turn their efforts on hunting down and destroying Dracula where he poses a threat to Mina Murray, Jonathan’s fiancée, and others. With teamwork and the aid of modern technology, they pursue Dracula for a final bloody confrontation.

 

This is the first Manga Classics edition I have picked up. I read the hardcover version from my library, and I have to say it is worth it. King, editor for Manga Classics, does a great job of adapting the original text. As the story is told through letters, diary entries, recordings, newspaper articles, and ship’s logs, I was not sure what to expect from a manga version. Everything lined up and flowed nicely from page to page. The mangaka for Dracula is Virginia Nitouhei, who is a featured artist for “The Tell Tale Heart” in Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe, which I will also be reviewing. She has a classic style to her art that lends itself well to a story like Dracula. The detail Nitouhei puts into the characters’ costuming alone is exceptionally beautiful.

 

At the end of the book, the editor and creators include information on themselves, an article on what it took to adapt Dracula to manga, and other helpful tips on reading this book. It would make an excellent entry point for readers who want to read classic horror, as well as manga. Highly recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on June 29, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: F.U.B.B by Daniel Volpe, Candace Nola, and Jasper Bark (Dark Tide Horror Novellas Book 14)

F.U.B.B. by Daniel Volpe, Candace Nola, and Jasper Bark (Dark Tide Horror Novellas Book 14)

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2024

ISBN: 9781957133928

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Amazon.com

 

 

If you’re going to title a book F*cked Up Beyond Belief, you had better back it up.  And man, do they ever in this one.  These three hardcore novellas are exactly that: blood-drenched gorefests, with excellent stories and writing to boot.  These are like Eli Roth films, the main difference being these actually have good plots and are addicting to read.  Let’s look at the basics, shall we?

 

“Church of the Splatter Spray Saints” is a crazed take on modern tent-pole revivals, although the basic theme fits with some real-life ones, like ‘screwing the people for fun and profit (mainly profit).’  In this case, the revival is run by organized crime, and they have a sentient virus to contend with that may bring the whole house down.  For a horror novella, it has a fairly intricate plot, and all the pieces fit perfectly.  Body parts fly and pain abounds as people pay to witness voluntary suicides, all in the name of worshipping the Blood.  Totally screwed up, and totally fun.

 

“Double Feature” is my personal favorite.  Combine a typical Friday night at a hick town drive-in with a group of redneck nuts somewhat resembling the lunatics from the movie Wrong Turn, and you have a story, and a  very well written one it is.  A good setup and absolutely breakneck pace keep this one firing till the end.  It’s frightening to think of any people actually being like the antagonists in this one: they have absolutely no remorse for the warped things they do.  And, their motive?  Money.  The best part is that author Candace Nola excels in misdirection.  Every time you expect the story to zig, it zags instead, right to the hilariously ironic ending.

 

“The Chatter of the Night Bugs”: is an agonizing story of “white trash”, snuff films, and black magic.  Fair warning: this one is the most difficult to read of the three. The torture sequences are brutal, made all the worse by the fact that you care about the victim in this one.  However, payback is a wonderful thing, and old mountain magic provides the means for punishing the evildoers a hundred times over, in the form of bugs, and… something else.  This was a creative take on old Appalachian legends.  Revenge has never been sweeter than in this story.

 

The ol’ bottom line? This book should win some sort of award for best horror story collection this year.  For horror fans in general, and gorehounds in particular, this is a can’t miss.  Highly recommended (to those with a strong stomach, that is).

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on June 18, 2024 by , Reply

Strange Tales of Terror edited by Eugene Johnson

Cover art for Strange Tales of Terror edited by Eugene Johnson

Strange Tales of Terror edited by Eugene Johnson

Cemetery Dance Publications, 2023

ISBN-13: 9781587679360

Available: Kindle, paperback

Buy:  Amazon.com

 

Edited by Bram Stoker Award Winner Eugene Johnson, Strange Tales of Terror gathers 14 horror stories, 2 works of poetry, and a novella by some great authors. Stories include hauntings, science fiction, supernatural creatures, and more. There really is something for everyone here.

 

There are a few stories that stood out in this collection. “Rainbow” by Lucy A. Snyder is set on Earth after a cataclysmic event that has changed the flora and fauna dramatically. The narrator cares for Rainbow, a cat who was injured in some sort of attack. When the cat starts his evolution, Rainbow’s caretaker has some decisions to make.

 

Ramsey Campbell makes an appearance in the anthology with his story, “The Forgotten.” Bobby, picked on by a trio of bullies, just wants to sit in peace by the river on his favorite memorial bench. After the bullies destroy a few of the benches in the area, Bobby wants to introduce them to the others who wander the path.

 

In “Trip Trap” by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Kevin J. Anderson, Skari the troll is cursed to guard nightmare gates that appear under bridges to prevent humankind from marauding demons. He meets Johanna and her son, Billy, and daughter, Kenna, who are homeless after the “mean man” evicted them, and forced to live in a car. Skari, doing his best to disguise himself as a homeless man, is trying to hard to avoid eating the children, but they smell delicious. He does not know who they truly are in the grand scheme of things, but he finds out when his hard exterior is melted by the plight of the homeless family who needs help.

 

“Bluebells” by Chris Mason introduces the reader to photojournalist Aaron, who gets directions and specific instructions from the locals about where to find the field of bluebells he heard about. He just wants to take some photographs, and see what the big deal is about. The locals start taking bets, but Aaron does not ask why. When he returns to the pub, in pain and disoriented, he finds the answer to that question, and more.

 

“Gone With the Wendigo” by Ben Monroe starts out like a Hallmark Christmas movie, which is in itself hilarious. Jessy returns to her hometown of Marleyville from the big city, and runs into her old friend, Kenny, who is all grown up. A howl in the distance interrupts their meet-cute, but not before they solidify plans to meet for dinner the next evening. As Kenny heads home, a deadly secret emerges from the dark forest. Is this really the best time for Jessy to go back to small town living?

 

In “A Stone from My Home” by John Palisano, Rabbi Merz instructs members of the community to meet at Isaac and Sarah Rose’s house, each bringing with them a stone. Seth wonders why on his way to the meeting, imagining it is merely the rabbi’s way of teaching a specific section of the Torah. When he arrives, he discovers Sarah has been imprisoned in the basement, as well as a golem, Emmet, that Sarah has created. She reveals his abuse, and Isaac levels accusation after accusation, exposing secrets of the men, at the feet of those who do not want to participate in walling the creature up. He finds out quickly that Emmet won’t go down so easily.

 

“Dead Hearts and Rag Dolls” by Gary A. Braunbeck was a particularly difficult read, as it deals with the subject of elder abuse. Rachel Wagner, employee of Cedar Hill Adult Protective Services Agency, is called to investigate George Nash, suspected of elder of abuse of his mother. In attendance are Eric, Andrew, and Dave, her “goon squad” called on in particularly bad abuse cases. After the investigation, Rachel returns home to her daughter, Jennifer, and has a conversation with her friend and neighbor, Eunice. Rachel checks on Jennifer, only to find an unknown rag doll in her sleeping daughter’s arms. What follows is a tragic story of a professional who can’t take the pressure of her work anymore, as she is haunted by the faces of the dead who she feels she couldn’t help.

 

Other contributors to the anthology are Lisa Morton, Christopher Sartin, Elizabeth Massie, Maxwell I. Gold, Rena Mason, Dave Jeffery, F. Paul Wilson, Sara Tantlinger, Peter Straub, and Lee Murray.

 

Overall, this is a good collection of horror stories. The book could have gone through one more careful edit for typos, but I overall recommend it for the content.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on June 16, 2024 by , Reply
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