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Heartless Review
Meyer steps away from the sci-fi landscape of Luna society and Earth to step into a world of magical realism where Victorian-era human characters chat with talking candles and animal beings in this tale of hearts stolen and broken.
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Archie’s Weirder Mysteries Review
As I have mentioned before I absolutely love Archie’s Weird Mysteries, the comic strip and the tv show so I had to get my hands on this one.
As promised, it amps up the creep factor with alien crash landings, time travel dreamscapes and a descent into obsession in these three stories with a twist.
The first story or case file as they dub them, Betty Cooper Alien Hunter by Frank Tieri features the blond-haired girl next door with a big dose of badassery most familiar to those Jughead: The Hunger fans. Instead of accusing people of vampirism and warlock magic, she is on the hunt for a fourth shapeshifting alien that has blended into Pop’s. Sabbatini’s art brings to mind Cameron’s Alien franchise wiith its shifting tentacles and blood splatters when Betty and Pop get their suitably action hero moment in the spotlight. Plus it still retains the Archie humor with some deadpan insults of Pop’s meatloaf.
I’ll admit the second case file by Ron Robbins-Bingo Wilkin Day– confused me a bit but then again time travel always confuses me. This features the surprising pairing of Trev, Ethel and Bingo as they use Ethel’s AI invention S.N.A.X. to vividly dream their way back to the 90s. Why? Because it was one fateful day where music star Bingo was signing autographs at Pop’s Record Store when a mysterious wizard offered him a potion to immortality. He accepted but now Bingo’s desperate to be his real age.
Bobillo’s art changes from muted pastel of the cynical present to the solid color schemes of the 90s provide an excellent distinction between the two eras. That combined with the excellent twist that puts the whole ending into doubt turns it from a blast to the past to making you question everything. Also Dr. Sam Masters is apparently a wizard?!? I can’t say much more than that but if you like trippy tales, this is for you.
The final case story, A Wrinkle in Time pays homage to the Twilight Zone and Josie and the Pussycats in Space. In the year 2050, Josie and the Pussycats are still world-superstars and Alexandra is still looking to scheme her way into the spotlight when horror of horrors, she gets a wrinkle. From there, Joanne Starer hilariously details Alexandra’s descent to madness and epic jealousy as she takes more drastic measures to get rid of the aging process while hearing all about Josie. As any fan of the Twilight Zone knows, this wish ends up backfiring at the worst moment. While it doesn’t feature much of the Pussycats, if you enjoyed the Space cartoons’ aesthetics, you’ll enjoy Jampole’s art here. It was also enjoyable in how it combined the humor and the horror all at once.
This was a great return to the Weird Mysteries that I so enjoy with a bit more gore and cursing that is sure to please any Archie Horror fan too. I loved this as the start to spooky season.
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Book Highlight: Paperbacks from Hell
It’s spooky season so my big suggestion for getting your horror fics is to delve into the horror history of the 70s-80s with Grady Hendrix’ Paperbacks from Hell. Clearly written by a fan who knows his horrors and pulps, Hendrix’ tone is full of vivid narrative energy. Whenever I read I feel like I’m on a rollar coaster as his steady rhetoric of gore, demonic babies and killer moths ebbs and rises as he explains the origins and trends of the horror market.
Beginning in the 60s, there was the three punch of Rosemary’s Baby, The Other and The Exorcist, all which spawned popular movies and brought new life to a genre that was previously populated by musty Hammer Films monsters. Now, writers were going into the occult, going into LSD and sex and gore were splattered all over the table because Hendrix intones the writers of paperback followed no rules except one: Don’t be boring.
He pulls in the disparate threads of history that you would realize make sense if you thought about it. Gothic romance influenced the cover art of early horror paperback with its fleeing heroines and dark castles. The Satanic Panic and Helter-Skelter murders brought a deluge of cult freaks to the massess. Each trend and the wild subgenres and imitators are explored and analyzed in eight chapters-Hail, Satan, Creepy Kids, When Animals Attack, Real Estate Nightmares, Weird Science, Gothic and Romantic, Inhumoids and Splatterpunks, Serial Killers and Super Creeps.
Not only that, each page is filled to the brim with lucious and creepy cover art of which he takes the time to put full page asides for such notable artists like Jill Bauman and Jim Thiesen and discuss the distinct characteristics of the choke-crazy William W. Johnstone novels compared to the steady Southern drawl of Michael McDowell’s Blackwater series.
Though he does humorously poke fun at some of the more ridiculous tropes and scenes that defy science, physics and other established natural rules as these authors attempt to out-gross others, he also points to the underlying truth these horrors are founded on. Marasco’s Burnt Offerings speaks to the economic fears of the middle-class, Satanic possession points to the loss of self and who you think you are, and other interesting tidbits of what terror reveals about human nature.
So while I know I’ll never be able to sleep if I read these paperback nightmares, it does offer a steady pile of interesting stories to look into next time you spot a dusty antique pile. You might not be able to rid yourself of images of Gestapochauns and golem creatures, but at least you’ll be entertained.
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The Lunar Chronicles: Wire and Nerve Review
This graphic novel continuation of the Lunar Chronicles puts Iko in the spotlight which is a relief as the android realizes she is the forgotten Earthen hero of the war.
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The Lunar Chronicles: Winter Review
Now it might be typical for me to say that a YA book about a ordinary girl becoming the face of a revolution reminds me of The Hunger Games. But it does. It’s a testament to Meyer’s skill because like Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy she doesn’t sugarcoat the ugly aspects of war and revolution. Poor citizens make up the majority of the population and together, they can overwhelm the powerful minority. It still means that many will die, people will get hurt and loved ones will be sacrificed. You can’t save everyone.
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The Lunar Chronicles: Cress Review
I really enjoyed Meyer’s take on the classic Rapunzel tale in Cress, giving further insight to the turncoat shell and hacker, Crescent Moon as well as giving Thorne some spotlight as well.
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Rapture of the Deep Review
Jacky’s last adventure was mainly a land-locked battle so now we return to her deep diving roots when British Intelligence forces her to search for sunken treasure.
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The Lunar Chronicles: Scarlet Review
Meyer creates a spooky horror atmosphere in her sophmore adventure of The Lunar Chronicles that continues the adventures of fugitive Cinder and takes on the Red Riding Hood tale.
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The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder Review
Theere have been lots of good buzz and review of the Lunar Chronicles and finally I have started the epic saga of Earth versus the Lunar society and the fairytale-inspired characters who unite to stop it.
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Ranking The Loyal League
Alyssa Cole’s Loyal League trilogy takes a romance to a little explored era, the Civil War. Okay maybe it’s explored a bit but this is a lot more than star crossed southern belle and Yankee soldier. This series follows three detectives of the Loyal League, freed and enslaved people who follow Loyalty, Liberty, Love and Lincoln using espionage to defeat the South. As you can imagine these protagonists have a lot more at stake than the average citizen so they’re wholly dedicated to the cause but what happens when love presents more than a few wrinkles to their mission?
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Rachel Reads & Reviews 