Stoker Awards 2020 | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Graphic Novel Review: Masque of the Red Death: Fine Art Edition by Steven Archer

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, art by Steven Archer

Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2020

ISBN-13: 9781946335319

Available: Paperback ( Bookshop.org )

Prince Prospero, trying to avoid a deadly plague, the Red Death, ravaging the land, walls himself up inside his abbey along with a number of other wealthy nobles. To combat the boredom, the prince hosts a masquerade ball within seven rooms of the abbey, each one representing a different color. Near the end of the evening, a mysterious guest dressed as the Red Death reveals herself to the revelers and Prince Prospero.

The story is not a rewrite of the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name, but the artwork provides a new context to the tale. Written in 1842, this story has a resonance with the current global situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. Steven Archer, a multi-media visual artist, has moved the story from the plague-ridden countryside to the decadent American modern-day city. Archer also transformed the nebulous Red Death from the male incarnation in Poe’s original tale to a woman in his artwork. The images are visceral, energetic, and haunting. There are several pages that I would love to frame and hang on my walls.

At first, the price tag raised my eyebrows, but seeing the quality of Archer’s artwork and how much went into the pieces, it is definitely worth it. There are 71 pages in the book, most of which include a full page of color art. Highly recommended.

Contains: nudity, viscera

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: The Masque of the Red Death: Fine Art Edition is a nominee on the final ballot for this year’s Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.

Women in Horror Month: Book Review: Velocities: Stories by Kathe Koja

( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

Velocities: Stories by Kathe Koja

Meerkat Press, 2020

ISBN-13: 139781946154231

Available : Paperback and Kindle

Kathe Koja’s work defies any label. Certainly it is in the area of dark fiction, often imbued with gloomy atmospheres, occasionally turning into horror, sometimes disguised as historical vignettes. The eclectic nature of her literary output is well represented in this collection, which provides an effective showcase of some her short fiction, previously scattered in different anthologies, as well as two new ones.

Thus, if you’re not familiar with this gifted author, the present volume is a great opportunity to get acquainted with her work. While most of the stories collected here have been previously published, there are two original to this collection.

The book is formally divided into five different sections: At Home, Downtown, On the Way, Over There, and Inside, but, truth be told, these labels mean very little in terms of the stories’ content.

This volume features thirteen stories, some more memorable than others, but mostly interesting and quite enjoyable. To me the more accomplished tales are: “Baby”, a dark story revolving around a peculiar puppet; “The Marble Lily”, featuring a morgue janitor morbidily fascinated with death; “Pas de Deux”, portraying a woman who decides to leave the boring comfort of her married life to totally devote herself to dancing; “Far and Wee”, where country life and city life are painfully compared; the disquieting “ La Reine d’Enfer”; and the gloomy “Coyote Pass”.

Very few writers share Koja’s ability to describe the grim side of life and the pain and secret melancholy of human condition. You’ve been warned.

Contains: occasional sex and mild violence

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Editor’s note: Velocities: Stories is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.