FOX ATOMIC COMICS
WWW.FOXATOMIC.COM
AN IMPRINT OF HARPER/COLLINS PUBLISHING
WWW.HARPERCOLLINS.COM
ISBN: 978-0-06-124353-0
ISBN-10: 0-06-12435-1
Original stories by THOMAS LIGOTTI
Creative Talent: Stuart Moore, Joe Harris, Colleen Doran, Ben Templesmith, Ted McKeever, Michael Gaydos
The anthology is my favorite format for horror stories as it gives the reader a buffet of talent and approaches, as well as a wide variety of art and interpretation. As with most all of the anthologies I've read over the years very few hit on all cylinders. Usually there's one or two that either stall or simply don't appeal to me for one reason or the other but there's almost always enough for me to be excited about. Sadly this is the exception. Of the four tales offered up only the first one, THE LAST FEAST OF HARLEQUIN had any meaty enjoyment for me. The remaining three were so intent upon trying to impress the reader with how clever and deeply intelligent they were they only succeeded in losing me completely. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a horror snob, and consider myself pretty open minded when it comes to story telling and content but by having a tale end with the reader's only response being "Huh, what the...?" kind of takes away from the impact one should be getting.
The stories are adaptations of the some of the works of well known genre writer Thomas Ligotti who the press release quotes as "...the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction." Mr. Ligotti's approach to the horrors of the world are labeled as "philosophical horror" which I take to mean deep and meaningfully written. I must have missed something because all I felt at the end of the total read was confused and inadequate. Maybe I just wasn't up to the task of slogging through the metaphors and all the symbolism. The tales were just dull. No fear. No shock. No horror.
The product itself is lavishly produced using full colour printing on the high quality gloss paper which reproduces the artwork with satisfying results and the cover by Ashley Wood is stirring and evocative. In fact, the cover had me stoked and primed for what was inside. What I found was rather anti-climatic. There are no slackers or hacks in any of the list of contributors and all put in above par industry standard efforts, it's the source material that kept this from being a bookshelf keeper.
The press release puts Mr. Ligotti in the same stratosphere as Lovecraft and Poe. Heady stuff I'm sure, but far from the truth. Intellectual horror is fine but the reader has to take something away from a read and I was left empty handed. Damn I hate writing negative reviews, especially when publishers and artists are kind enough to send finished work to review but I just can't find any fun where there just isn't any.
Would I pay the $17.99 US/$22.95 Canadian for this book? No. Would I take it home read it if it was in the library? Yup. In a final word, this would make a great gift for Fraser Crane.
2 Stars out of 5
Originally review by Trollking on Horror-Web.com
WWW.FOXATOMIC.COM
AN IMPRINT OF HARPER/COLLINS PUBLISHING
WWW.HARPERCOLLINS.COM
ISBN: 978-0-06-124353-0
ISBN-10: 0-06-12435-1
Original stories by THOMAS LIGOTTI
Creative Talent: Stuart Moore, Joe Harris, Colleen Doran, Ben Templesmith, Ted McKeever, Michael Gaydos
The anthology is my favorite format for horror stories as it gives the reader a buffet of talent and approaches, as well as a wide variety of art and interpretation. As with most all of the anthologies I've read over the years very few hit on all cylinders. Usually there's one or two that either stall or simply don't appeal to me for one reason or the other but there's almost always enough for me to be excited about. Sadly this is the exception. Of the four tales offered up only the first one, THE LAST FEAST OF HARLEQUIN had any meaty enjoyment for me. The remaining three were so intent upon trying to impress the reader with how clever and deeply intelligent they were they only succeeded in losing me completely. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a horror snob, and consider myself pretty open minded when it comes to story telling and content but by having a tale end with the reader's only response being "Huh, what the...?" kind of takes away from the impact one should be getting.
The stories are adaptations of the some of the works of well known genre writer Thomas Ligotti who the press release quotes as "...the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction." Mr. Ligotti's approach to the horrors of the world are labeled as "philosophical horror" which I take to mean deep and meaningfully written. I must have missed something because all I felt at the end of the total read was confused and inadequate. Maybe I just wasn't up to the task of slogging through the metaphors and all the symbolism. The tales were just dull. No fear. No shock. No horror.
The product itself is lavishly produced using full colour printing on the high quality gloss paper which reproduces the artwork with satisfying results and the cover by Ashley Wood is stirring and evocative. In fact, the cover had me stoked and primed for what was inside. What I found was rather anti-climatic. There are no slackers or hacks in any of the list of contributors and all put in above par industry standard efforts, it's the source material that kept this from being a bookshelf keeper.
The press release puts Mr. Ligotti in the same stratosphere as Lovecraft and Poe. Heady stuff I'm sure, but far from the truth. Intellectual horror is fine but the reader has to take something away from a read and I was left empty handed. Damn I hate writing negative reviews, especially when publishers and artists are kind enough to send finished work to review but I just can't find any fun where there just isn't any.
Would I pay the $17.99 US/$22.95 Canadian for this book? No. Would I take it home read it if it was in the library? Yup. In a final word, this would make a great gift for Fraser Crane.
2 Stars out of 5
Originally review by Trollking on Horror-Web.com
