Grimm Tales Of Terror 2018 Halloween Special - Zenescope Entertainment

GRIMM TALES OF TERROR 2018 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL, September 2018

Delivering upon its promise to provide both “shocking twists on classic literature” as well as “brand new takes on modern urban legends” this thirty-six page anthology undoubtedly provided its readers in September 2018 with precisely the sort of spine-chilling shenanigans George A. Romeo so successfully encapsulated with his early Eighties American dark comedy horror movie “Creepshow”. In fact, it’s a sure thing that if the “Godfather of the Dead” was still directing the gruesome franchise, then this comic’s terrifying trilogy of blood-soaked tales and interlinking sub-plot involving Keres, the goddess of death, hosting a “Costume Party”, would surely have been just the sort of pulse-pounding parables the Bronx-born filmmaker would have wanted for his silver screen fright-fest.

Opening this comic compendium is Terry Kavanagh’s historically-based mix of Irish classroom jinks and gory murder most foul. Somewhat cleverly focusing upon the unruly behaviour of a naughty schoolgirl, Geraldine, this Nineteenth Century-based script has the potential to wrong-foot some within its audience as to the identity of Loughlea’s child-killer, and alongside its very clear message that Jack-o’-lanterns definitely do ward off evil spirits, it even manages to intriguingly plug a future edition of the publisher’s title “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not?”

However, the highlight of this book is undoubtedly Erica Heflin’s scary straw-fest entitled “Scarecrow” which follows three greedy modern-day adolescents in their unwise quest for Confederate gold and an alibi. Its artwork suitably scratched by Marcelo Basile, this ‘short’ proves a real shocker as the trio inadvertently kill a hapless “nutso whack job” whilst metal-detecting deep inside a sky-tall cornfield and then discover the dead old woman’s depilated home is inhabited by supposedly inanimate mannequins; “They’re going to come in here and see that this lady was totally off her rocker.”

Finally, before Keres unsympathetically feeds her gullible guests to a room full of sharp-toothed grotesques, knife-wielding zombies and stuffed scarecrows, Ben Meares pens a marvellously macabre yarn involving an elderly, house-bound cripple and the local children’s love of candy. Well-drawn by Eman Casallos, this final fable really should catch its readers off-guard as its plot follows all one’s expectations up until its hair-raising conclusion, which gratuitously reveals both the real cause of the young trick-or-treaters’ vividly-green vomit, as well as just why “Ol’ man Miller” has a semi-portable drip feeding some sort of luminescent fluid directly into his frail, emaciated body.

The variant cover art of "GRIMM TALES OF TERROR 2018 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL by Ceci de la Cruz