Scan barcode
A review by mediaevalmuse
Through the Woods by E.M. Carroll
4.0
Holy hell was this book creepy. I’ve been getting into horror comics lately, and I had seen a couple of gorgeous panels from this book, so I gave the whole thing a go. Good thing I did. I wouldn’t recommend this book if you’re looking for one coherent story. You won’t find it here. Instead, you’ll get a series of short snippets. Most of the tales have loose plots, but it seems more aimed at creating a creepy feeling than telling a story. So, if you’re interested in imaginative horror stories and creepy illustration, this is the book for you. But if you’re more of a plot person, I’d find another horror comic.
Things I Liked
1. Art: The art in this book is gorgeous. It’s simple with simple color schemes (no more than a few basic colors), and yet, its simplicity is very elegant. I love the way the stylized art compliments the creepiness of the plot - in fact, I’d say most of the creepiness stems from the art rather than the words alone. The calligraphy, too, I’d consider art and enhances the feelings of horror and dread in this book.
2. Women: All of these stories except one focus on female protagonists. It may seem like a low bar to clear, but honestly, creating a horror story that isn’t sexist seems to be hard to do these days. Even though there are female monsters in this book, I never felt like women were always getting the short end of the stick.
3. Lack of Gore: A lot of horror seems to incorporate a lot of gore nowadays. This book does a brilliant job of evoking creepy feelings without gore. It’s not so much meant to shock you as make you feel uncomfortable, and it does so without an excess of bodily fluids flying around.
4. References to Lore: It’s hard to explain, but my feeling when reading these stories was that they somehow or another connected back to dark fairy tales or folklore. The stories themselves felt very familiar, but without being boring or uncreative. Instead, they draw on some familiar imagery but twisted them into a new kind of graphic story.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Endings of Tales: There were a couple endings to the tales in this book that left me confused. Some of them didn’t have clear resolutions or explain what was going on, and while I get ambiguity can be a useful device in horror/suspense, I was frustrated by it more than once while reading this book.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in horror, the supernatural, fairy tales, folklore, and art/illustration.
Things I Liked
1. Art: The art in this book is gorgeous. It’s simple with simple color schemes (no more than a few basic colors), and yet, its simplicity is very elegant. I love the way the stylized art compliments the creepiness of the plot - in fact, I’d say most of the creepiness stems from the art rather than the words alone. The calligraphy, too, I’d consider art and enhances the feelings of horror and dread in this book.
2. Women: All of these stories except one focus on female protagonists. It may seem like a low bar to clear, but honestly, creating a horror story that isn’t sexist seems to be hard to do these days. Even though there are female monsters in this book, I never felt like women were always getting the short end of the stick.
3. Lack of Gore: A lot of horror seems to incorporate a lot of gore nowadays. This book does a brilliant job of evoking creepy feelings without gore. It’s not so much meant to shock you as make you feel uncomfortable, and it does so without an excess of bodily fluids flying around.
4. References to Lore: It’s hard to explain, but my feeling when reading these stories was that they somehow or another connected back to dark fairy tales or folklore. The stories themselves felt very familiar, but without being boring or uncreative. Instead, they draw on some familiar imagery but twisted them into a new kind of graphic story.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Endings of Tales: There were a couple endings to the tales in this book that left me confused. Some of them didn’t have clear resolutions or explain what was going on, and while I get ambiguity can be a useful device in horror/suspense, I was frustrated by it more than once while reading this book.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in horror, the supernatural, fairy tales, folklore, and art/illustration.