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geekwayne's review
3.0
'Gothic Tales of Haunted Love' edited by Hope Nicholson and S.M. Beiko is a collection of short stories by a variety of contributors that pay homage to the creepy gothic comics of the 1970s.
I'm not much of a romance reader, but I do like a good haunted love story. This collection of 19 stories and a fun quiz. There is a cover gallery at the end and the collection even includes a reprint of an original story called 'The Promise' by Korean artist Sanho Kim, about a soldier who is saved by two sisters with a promise to marry one of them, and the consequences of breaking that promise.
The stories vary in quality. I liked some more than others. There is a range of diversity here. The problem with including a classic story, is that it just seems to shine above most of the collection. My favorites were the reprint, 'Crush' by Janet Hetherington, Ron Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Sam, and 'Minefield' by Hien Pham, which is told almost entirely in Vietnamese.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Bedside Press, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not much of a romance reader, but I do like a good haunted love story. This collection of 19 stories and a fun quiz. There is a cover gallery at the end and the collection even includes a reprint of an original story called 'The Promise' by Korean artist Sanho Kim, about a soldier who is saved by two sisters with a promise to marry one of them, and the consequences of breaking that promise.
The stories vary in quality. I liked some more than others. There is a range of diversity here. The problem with including a classic story, is that it just seems to shine above most of the collection. My favorites were the reprint, 'Crush' by Janet Hetherington, Ron Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Sam, and 'Minefield' by Hien Pham, which is told almost entirely in Vietnamese.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Bedside Press, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
rikerandom's review
4.0
"Gothic Tales of Haunted Love" is a great modern adaption of 1960/70 American gothic romance comics. The comic anthology is spooky, bloody and super diverse.
An extensive introduction by Jacque Nodell, outlines the (short-lived) history of gothic romance comics and the motivation for this anthology and then the comics begin.
And what comics they are … Full of ghosts and ghouls, bloodshed and all other kinds of goriness but also full of diversity, characters of colour, LGBTQIA* characters, etc. I loved that combination and overall I also loved the comics, even though a few of them were too strange for my taste. But I loved all the different art styles, the variety of stories and especially how there weren't any damsels in distress but instead a lot of bad, bad ladies.
An extensive introduction by Jacque Nodell, outlines the (short-lived) history of gothic romance comics and the motivation for this anthology and then the comics begin.
And what comics they are … Full of ghosts and ghouls, bloodshed and all other kinds of goriness but also full of diversity, characters of colour, LGBTQIA* characters, etc. I loved that combination and overall I also loved the comics, even though a few of them were too strange for my taste. But I loved all the different art styles, the variety of stories and especially how there weren't any damsels in distress but instead a lot of bad, bad ladies.
kellyvandamme's review
4.0
I really loved this anthology! As with all collections, I enjoyed some stories more than others, that's inevitable, but there were only 2 stories that were not to my tastes at all. Overall the story-lines were entertaining, the graphics were beautiful and the lettering was great. Some of these stories are thought-provoking, some are chilling, some are just downright beautiful. If you're into graphics novels and gothic lit, this is one for you! Ghosts, werewolves, murder and mayhem, hell yes!
Recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy
Recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy
chelseas_reads's review
4.0
i've requested a few from netgalley, but i couldn't seem to get the files to actually work. and in all honesty, i didn't even think i was going to enjoy this graphic novel. little did i know, gothic tales of haunted love would become one of my favourite non superhero related graphic novels.
the first story is definitely my favourite. it was unexpected, to say the least. i think it's my favourite not because of the story but because my hopes were rather low to begin with. i like the fact that there's so many diverse works (i literally just found out that many are actually own voices).
the stories could've been creepier to fit the gothic narrative, but considering i thought it was all sappy romance stories, i'm happy with the murders and whatnot.
i really enjoyed the artwork, it was great to see so many different styles. i also really enjoyed how short the stories were. i read some reviews where they complain about the length but i actually found it refreshing and nice. i haven't read a graphic novel anthology before, but my experience with non graphic novel ones is that the stories tend to drag out and are rather boring. considering the length of some of the stories, i still connected with some of the characters and got into it. (i know some people struggle with this)
anyway, thanks so much to the publishers for providing me with a copy to review, i didn't regret a single minute i spent reading it! definitely a good book to recommend to friends and family.
the first story is definitely my favourite. it was unexpected, to say the least. i think it's my favourite not because of the story but because my hopes were rather low to begin with. i like the fact that there's so many diverse works (i literally just found out that many are actually own voices).
the stories could've been creepier to fit the gothic narrative, but considering i thought it was all sappy romance stories, i'm happy with the murders and whatnot.
i really enjoyed the artwork, it was great to see so many different styles. i also really enjoyed how short the stories were. i read some reviews where they complain about the length but i actually found it refreshing and nice. i haven't read a graphic novel anthology before, but my experience with non graphic novel ones is that the stories tend to drag out and are rather boring. considering the length of some of the stories, i still connected with some of the characters and got into it. (i know some people struggle with this)
anyway, thanks so much to the publishers for providing me with a copy to review, i didn't regret a single minute i spent reading it! definitely a good book to recommend to friends and family.
atlantabelle's review
3.0
I thought the stories in this anthology were very good for the most part. I always enjoy reading anthologies because I get to hear from new (or at least new to me) authors. This one kept me up a couple of nights not wanting to put it down.
ericawrites's review
4.0
Really well curated collection of stories. All of them fit the gothic romance promise and were tightly constructed shorts.
sarahlouiseaf's review
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
I liked this! Being an anthology of course, some pieces grabbed me more than others, but this is a great collection to enjoy some love stories that don’t necessarily all have happy endings, but are delightfully ghostly or otherworldly or fucked up!!
ellstar's review
4.0
Honestly my only complaint is that some of these short stories at so good I wish they were LONGER! Some were perfect oneshots but they are a few I wish were more fleshed out. Would love a second edition of this!
ghoulnextdoor's review
2.0
I was beyond excited for this book when I heard of its launch on Kickstarter, with talk of ” fragments of lovers torn apart, ghostly revenge, and horrific deeds”…but somehow, I’m truly regretful to share, most of these stories really didn’t quite meet my expectations and rather missed the mark for me. If this endeavor had been marketed more like The Other Side (a graphic novel anthology of queer paranormal romance) it would have been perfect–and don’t mistake me, I love that the characters in Gothic Tales Of Haunted Love were a diverse spread of all sorts of people and cultures and eras–but I feel like maybe they were really playing fast and loose with what makes a gothic tale a Gothic Tale. Which makes me sound like a rigid traditionalist who doesn’t appreciate deviations from genre “rules” or riffs on a theme. Maybe I don’t like “modern reimaginings” of things? Maybe I’m just super picky? A few tales actually were perfect. Absolutely spot on. A few were meandering, and one or two were just seemed too abstract to work for this concept, at all. I feel terrible that it wasn’t for me, because I’m know it was a passion project with a lot of heart and talent that went into it. Sorry to be a bummer on this one!