Besides some stories which I wrote about in my previous post, I read only one book and one comic book collection this month, as Dracula took up most of my reading time.
Dracula Deluxe Edition by Bram Stoker with illustrations by Edward Gorey (Sterling Publishing, now Union Square & Co., 2021)
Dracula is a gothic horror masterpiece but it’s not perfect. After a fascinating first four chapters, it really slows down and doesn’t pick up again until the mid-point. Even then long-winded passages still pop up throughout. I’m glad I read it though as it was a fascinating read and the bad outweighed the good. A more detailed review to come next month.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)
I was going to read a collection of the original Swamp Thing stories but then two things happened. First, I watched the new Hellboy movie, Hellboy: The Crooked Man. I read a few of the comics a long time ago and while I liked the series, I never kept up with it. I thought the first Hellboy movie was okay but didn’t grab me like the comic and I never watched the next two movies.
I really enjoyed the new film. It's low budget, but the story drew me in. Atmospheric horror and witchcraft in the haunted hills of 1950s Appalachia. Nice use of songs and I really liked Jack Kesy’s portrayal of Hellboy. The movie reminded me a lot of Manly Wade Wellman’s John the Balladeer stories which are some of my all-time favorite weird fiction stories. Soon after watching the movie, I ran across a used copy of the first omnibus, so I grabbed it.
Hellboy Omnibus Volume 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola and John Byrne (Dark Horse Comics, 2018)
This omnibus collects Seed of Destruction, Wake the Devil, and “The Wolves of St. August,” “The Chained Coffin,” and “Almost Colossus.” Each story is a winner, and I had forgotten how much I like Mignola’s atmospheric artwork. Now I need to get the rest of the collections.
I'm going to try and stick with a vampire theme for next month, but we'll see what happens.
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