THE BEST OF LIBRARY OF DEATH
If you were/are a reader of ‘80s horror comics then you may well remember Ghastly McNasty introducing chilling bedtime tales from the pages of SCREAM! Now it’s being reprinted along with the one-off morality tales in Library of Death. Both old and new readers alike can enjoy it as a complete collection of horrifying short stories.
Only running for 15 weekly issues, as well as some holiday specials in 1984, it showcased some popular writers and artists from Britain – Cam Kennedy, Steve Dillon and Brendan McCarthy to name a few – plus some brilliant talent from around the world can be seen in stories such as The Drowning Pond. It will be nostalgic for many but new readers, like myself, will find these stories fun and compelling. There really is a lovely concoction of gritty horror and dark humour along with all round quirkiness and absurdity. There is almost everything imaginable from spiders to killer trees, werewolves to scary freak shows.
What make these stories so fantastic is that they all come from varying talents, bringing diversity to both the written and visual style, and they rarely feel familiar yet provide all those classic tropes we love so much. The one thing which does connect these stories other than the obvious genre is that they are all created from the same and familiar brief – a thrilling tale of the horror genre with a shocking little twist at the end, similar to the concept of the future shock from 2000 AD. This could easily have been too boring and tiresome, but the editors found some great talent with imagination and grit who manage to surprise with either subtlety or a big double-whammy.
This collection has fantastic cover art showing the ‘80s horror style with black and white pulp artwork inside, which is wonderful to look at with some brilliant layouts and lettering. A must read for classic horror fans, with urban legends, myths and ghost stories often combined with a warped frenzy or eerie spirit. You are constantly entertained reading this.
INFO: THE BEST OF LIBRARY OF DEATH / AUTHOR: VARIOUS / ARTIST: VARIOUS / PUBLISHER: HIBERNIA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
