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jamsreadsbooks's review
2.0
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When I first laid eyes on this collection I knew I had to read it instantly. The cover is stunning and the idea of Gothic romance comics instantly caught my attention, being a fan of Gothic literature in it’s various forms. It was a fast read and while I found a few spectacular comics in the collection I ended up feeling only lukewarm overall.
Gothic Tales of Haunted Love seeks to revitalize an aging genre of literature while paying homage to the short-lived Gothic romance comics of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Despite a variety of tropes that have become standard in the genre I feel that there is a lot more nuance compared to regular paranormal romance and this is what I think left me feeling a little underwhelmed. There were certainly a few finely crafted horror stories, such as Secrets in Silk and The Return, but did they feel all that Gothic to me? Not really, no.
One of the key elements in Gothic fiction is the setting, something missing in many of the stories. Many of the authors picked up on common themes of love but most ended up falling under one of two categories: romance that turns into murder and romance with a ghost or other paranormal creature. The book further tried to update the genre by painting the stories with the diversity brush which, don’t get me wrong, I love diverse stories, but I feel like some key elements of the genre were sacrificed in an attempt to reinvent it.
Now there were some wonderful pieces that I felt did a lot of justice to the genre while seamlessly including a diverse cast of characters. The first story in the collection, Crush is easily one of the strongest entries that really captured the vintage Gothic romance feel in both story and art style. The art was reminiscent of older comics, the setting and time period fits, the characters have motivations that are both understandable and questionable, and the story kept me enraptured from start to finish.
Fazenda do Sangue Azul was another notable story that stayed true to the Gothic style but in a completely foreign setting with a touching queer romance, I was in awe of the beauty of the story and art. L’Heure Verte was short and sweet and brings the whimsical feelings from a classic paranormal romance but updates it for the modern era. One More Cup and Ouroboros were some of the more unique stories that I greatly enjoyed and are easily favorites.
Sadly with such a huge cast of contributors it was inevitable that the quality of the stories and art varied greatly and it really diminished my enjoyment of the collection as a whole. It could be really be disjointing to me hopping from a stellar comic to several that were either mediocre or I didn’t enjoy at all. Despite that, there are definitely quite a few comics to admire here and are worth the read for lovers of Gothic romance or paranormal romance in general.
Disclaimer: Received a copy for review from the publisher via NetGalley
When I first laid eyes on this collection I knew I had to read it instantly. The cover is stunning and the idea of Gothic romance comics instantly caught my attention, being a fan of Gothic literature in it’s various forms. It was a fast read and while I found a few spectacular comics in the collection I ended up feeling only lukewarm overall.
Gothic Tales of Haunted Love seeks to revitalize an aging genre of literature while paying homage to the short-lived Gothic romance comics of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Despite a variety of tropes that have become standard in the genre I feel that there is a lot more nuance compared to regular paranormal romance and this is what I think left me feeling a little underwhelmed. There were certainly a few finely crafted horror stories, such as Secrets in Silk and The Return, but did they feel all that Gothic to me? Not really, no.
One of the key elements in Gothic fiction is the setting, something missing in many of the stories. Many of the authors picked up on common themes of love but most ended up falling under one of two categories: romance that turns into murder and romance with a ghost or other paranormal creature. The book further tried to update the genre by painting the stories with the diversity brush which, don’t get me wrong, I love diverse stories, but I feel like some key elements of the genre were sacrificed in an attempt to reinvent it.
Now there were some wonderful pieces that I felt did a lot of justice to the genre while seamlessly including a diverse cast of characters. The first story in the collection, Crush is easily one of the strongest entries that really captured the vintage Gothic romance feel in both story and art style. The art was reminiscent of older comics, the setting and time period fits, the characters have motivations that are both understandable and questionable, and the story kept me enraptured from start to finish.
Fazenda do Sangue Azul was another notable story that stayed true to the Gothic style but in a completely foreign setting with a touching queer romance, I was in awe of the beauty of the story and art. L’Heure Verte was short and sweet and brings the whimsical feelings from a classic paranormal romance but updates it for the modern era. One More Cup and Ouroboros were some of the more unique stories that I greatly enjoyed and are easily favorites.
Sadly with such a huge cast of contributors it was inevitable that the quality of the stories and art varied greatly and it really diminished my enjoyment of the collection as a whole. It could be really be disjointing to me hopping from a stellar comic to several that were either mediocre or I didn’t enjoy at all. Despite that, there are definitely quite a few comics to admire here and are worth the read for lovers of Gothic romance or paranormal romance in general.
Disclaimer: Received a copy for review from the publisher via NetGalley
etienne02's review
4.0
Not necessarily my type of book, but I have to admit this one was way better then expected! Some strange and weird love story with a dark touch to it and most of all wonderful artwork, really outstanding! Even if it's an anthology and it vary in style and all, it has always a very high level of illustrations! Beautiful and above average story! Big surprise!
yoda32's review
3.0
Gothic Tales Of Haunted Love is a diverse graphic novel featuring 16 stories of love, loss, murder and mystery. Most of the stories were own voices and featured POC characters and queer characters.
For the most part I enjoyed the stories in this graphic novel. Most were diverse and the range of artwork was wonderful.
My favorite stories from the graphic novel were defiantly: H. Pueyo by Dante L It featured POC Mc’s, m/m romance and a good mystery. The artwork was brilliant and it was long enough to rate fairly.
Ladies Of The Lake by Sarah Winters Searle. Featured the cutest f/f romance and showing men just what women can do.
Secrets in the Silk by Niki This one was super creepy and I loved it. Ghost wife shows her husband the payback he deserves!
Mine field by Hien Pham This story was written in Korean. It featured a m/m romance that made me cry. The artwork was amazing and even though I couldn’t read what was happening the art was vivid and so the story was easy to follow.
I liked the rest of the stories though not as much as the ones mentioned above. Most were too short to rate even for a comic, some were five pages long. From the title I expected a lot of creepy stories and I was slightly disappointed to find we don’t get a lot of horror stories. We do get some but not nearly enough.
Overall I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The range of different artworks were fabulous and some of the stories took my breath away. However don’t expect the creepiest stories ever because you will be disappointed. Most of the stories featured love. I still recommend checking this out.
*Thank you to Netgalley and The Publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.*
For the most part I enjoyed the stories in this graphic novel. Most were diverse and the range of artwork was wonderful.
My favorite stories from the graphic novel were defiantly: H. Pueyo by Dante L It featured POC Mc’s, m/m romance and a good mystery. The artwork was brilliant and it was long enough to rate fairly.
Ladies Of The Lake by Sarah Winters Searle. Featured the cutest f/f romance and showing men just what women can do.
Secrets in the Silk by Niki This one was super creepy and I loved it. Ghost wife shows her husband the payback he deserves!
Mine field by Hien Pham This story was written in Korean. It featured a m/m romance that made me cry. The artwork was amazing and even though I couldn’t read what was happening the art was vivid and so the story was easy to follow.
I liked the rest of the stories though not as much as the ones mentioned above. Most were too short to rate even for a comic, some were five pages long. From the title I expected a lot of creepy stories and I was slightly disappointed to find we don’t get a lot of horror stories. We do get some but not nearly enough.
Overall I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The range of different artworks were fabulous and some of the stories took my breath away. However don’t expect the creepiest stories ever because you will be disappointed. Most of the stories featured love. I still recommend checking this out.
*Thank you to Netgalley and The Publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.*
iamrainbou's review
3.0
20 stories about ghosts, murder, and love go wrong. The collection is full of marginalized writers and illustrators, with LGBTQ and POC characters. Gothic Tales of Haunted Love was a wonderful read; the characters are all very complex and the art is delightful.
*Crush (Janet Hetherington, Ronn Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam): Black woman MC. Constance is hired as a governess for a white family, falling a little over the head of the family, Captain Harcorte. But he soon loses interest in her and ignores her for his white lovers. She will not let him get away with the disrespect and ingratitude.
*Rose’s Heart (Colleen Coover): Rose appears as a very innocent white girl, but she is not. Kinda classic horror plot twist but very satisfying to see. I was a little bit concerned by the love interest who couldn't get the hint to take off, but the story is solid.
*Secrets in the silk (Nika): Taiwanese MC. It was one of my favorites because women helping women to narrate their lost stories, ghosts, vengeance, machitos getting what they deserve and happy endings.
*L’Heure Verte (Caroline Dougherty, Caroline Dougherty & Zakk Saam): Women of color MC and LI, wlw. A favorite, the art is gorgeous and the story great. A costume party, Ada decides to take some air and finds this strange and pretty girl in the stairs. She follows her around the house, her breath taken by the woman’s beauty.
*Goldblind (Hope Nicholson and Scott Chantler): Very very creepy story about a couple living in the mountains looking for gold. The art is gorgeous and the end so good.
*Minefield (Hien Pham): Vietnamese MC and LI, m/m couple. It’s the Vietnam war, and this couple is being happy in the forest when American soldiers start to shot. Written entirely in Vietnamese, the art is wonderful and very expressive. It’s a bittersweet story and I really enjoyed it.
*The Return (David A. Robertson & Scott B. Henderson): Indigenous/Native MCs and side characters. Father and son help heal and come back to life a woman that appears one day at night; as they start to build a relationship, she narrates her story. It is a great story and definitely one of my favorite from the collection.
*Green, Gold and Black (Cherelle Higgins & Rina Rozsas): Set in a southern plantation, the story is not easy to read; sexual assault, a terrible childbirth, murder, and white supremacy. The story is narrated by the ghost of the dead children and it’s a terrifying story.
*Ladies of the Lake (Sarah W. Searle): Black woman MC, f/f biracial couple. Gwen just married, but there is no happy ending in her new house. Her husband completely ignores her and he is never home. Her maid, at least, gives her hope and comfort. The romance is sweet and the horror just great.
*Fazenda do Sangue Azul (H. Pueyo & Dante L.): Queer Afrolatinx MC, set in Brazil, multiracial LI, m/m couple. Hernanes settles in an abandoned house escaping the dictatorship. He is a writer and soon finds out that he is not alone. As he starts to investigate the house’s history, he meets Luka and their relationship grows. A very bittersweet and amazing story.
*A heritage of woods (S.M Beiko & Maja Kobabe): Ukrainian MC. The story is heavily influenced by Ukrainian stories. Mirin remembers the stories that her grandmother told her about their family and the forest when in her new house the trees start to call her. I wasn’t a fan of this story but not because it is bad.
*Lovers Moon (Chris Stone & Dani Bee): Ava has to decide for one of her two suitors. She doesn’t want to marry and her father won’t listen to her pleads, so she prays for a miracle. A pretty terrifying story, sad ending but perfect for the mood.
*Mistress Fox (Megan Kearney): This story gave me a real chill. The family is dining together, celebrating the new marriage, when the bride starts to narrate a very horrific dream. It is great, it is dreadful, and it is one of the best horrors of the collection.
*My heart stills beats for you (Amber Noelle and Allison Paige): Nonbinary black man MC, black man LI, NB/M couple. Gabriel is waiting for a heart transplant and quickly falling for their nurse, Henri. This story was more than anything very heartbreaking, the art is delightful and so! sweet!
*One more cup (Barbara Guttman): A woman finds herself talking with a supernatural creature, trying to save people of its hunger, Quickly they establish a friendly relationship, a routine of talking at night while drinking tea. I wasn’t really very into it. I’m not a fan of supernatural romance and the relationship didn’t really work for me. The art is amazing tho.
*Ouroboros (Svetla Nikolova & LAB): Black woman MC, biracial couple. The lover gives his life to revive his partner. Although they enjoy some happy moments together, quickly he is the one sick this time. The story wasn’t bad but I didn’t really enjoy it; there wasn’t enough to know or care for the characters, and the story ended pretty quickly.
*I am the song (Cecil Castellucci, Willow Dawson, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam): A love story narrated by ‘the song’, like a song is the narrator. It was pretty confusing and I really don’t enjoy sad love stories.
*What’s Best (Katie West, Ray Fawkes & Zakk Saam): A mother is set to do anything necessary to give her daughter the best life. I really liked this one. The typography was kinda hard to read, but the mother’s love is clear from the beginning and the story fascinating.
I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange an honest review.
*Crush (Janet Hetherington, Ronn Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam): Black woman MC. Constance is hired as a governess for a white family, falling a little over the head of the family, Captain Harcorte. But he soon loses interest in her and ignores her for his white lovers. She will not let him get away with the disrespect and ingratitude.
*Rose’s Heart (Colleen Coover): Rose appears as a very innocent white girl, but she is not. Kinda classic horror plot twist but very satisfying to see. I was a little bit concerned by the love interest who couldn't get the hint to take off, but the story is solid.
*Secrets in the silk (Nika): Taiwanese MC. It was one of my favorites because women helping women to narrate their lost stories, ghosts, vengeance, machitos getting what they deserve and happy endings.
*L’Heure Verte (Caroline Dougherty, Caroline Dougherty & Zakk Saam): Women of color MC and LI, wlw. A favorite, the art is gorgeous and the story great. A costume party, Ada decides to take some air and finds this strange and pretty girl in the stairs. She follows her around the house, her breath taken by the woman’s beauty.
*Goldblind (Hope Nicholson and Scott Chantler): Very very creepy story about a couple living in the mountains looking for gold. The art is gorgeous and the end so good.
*Minefield (Hien Pham): Vietnamese MC and LI, m/m couple. It’s the Vietnam war, and this couple is being happy in the forest when American soldiers start to shot. Written entirely in Vietnamese, the art is wonderful and very expressive. It’s a bittersweet story and I really enjoyed it.
*The Return (David A. Robertson & Scott B. Henderson): Indigenous/Native MCs and side characters. Father and son help heal and come back to life a woman that appears one day at night; as they start to build a relationship, she narrates her story. It is a great story and definitely one of my favorite from the collection.
*Green, Gold and Black (Cherelle Higgins & Rina Rozsas): Set in a southern plantation, the story is not easy to read; sexual assault, a terrible childbirth, murder, and white supremacy. The story is narrated by the ghost of the dead children and it’s a terrifying story.
*Ladies of the Lake (Sarah W. Searle): Black woman MC, f/f biracial couple. Gwen just married, but there is no happy ending in her new house. Her husband completely ignores her and he is never home. Her maid, at least, gives her hope and comfort. The romance is sweet and the horror just great.
*Fazenda do Sangue Azul (H. Pueyo & Dante L.): Queer Afrolatinx MC, set in Brazil, multiracial LI, m/m couple. Hernanes settles in an abandoned house escaping the dictatorship. He is a writer and soon finds out that he is not alone. As he starts to investigate the house’s history, he meets Luka and their relationship grows. A very bittersweet and amazing story.
*A heritage of woods (S.M Beiko & Maja Kobabe): Ukrainian MC. The story is heavily influenced by Ukrainian stories. Mirin remembers the stories that her grandmother told her about their family and the forest when in her new house the trees start to call her. I wasn’t a fan of this story but not because it is bad.
*Lovers Moon (Chris Stone & Dani Bee): Ava has to decide for one of her two suitors. She doesn’t want to marry and her father won’t listen to her pleads, so she prays for a miracle. A pretty terrifying story, sad ending but perfect for the mood.
*Mistress Fox (Megan Kearney): This story gave me a real chill. The family is dining together, celebrating the new marriage, when the bride starts to narrate a very horrific dream. It is great, it is dreadful, and it is one of the best horrors of the collection.
*My heart stills beats for you (Amber Noelle and Allison Paige): Nonbinary black man MC, black man LI, NB/M couple. Gabriel is waiting for a heart transplant and quickly falling for their nurse, Henri. This story was more than anything very heartbreaking, the art is delightful and so! sweet!
*One more cup (Barbara Guttman): A woman finds herself talking with a supernatural creature, trying to save people of its hunger, Quickly they establish a friendly relationship, a routine of talking at night while drinking tea. I wasn’t really very into it. I’m not a fan of supernatural romance and the relationship didn’t really work for me. The art is amazing tho.
*Ouroboros (Svetla Nikolova & LAB): Black woman MC, biracial couple. The lover gives his life to revive his partner. Although they enjoy some happy moments together, quickly he is the one sick this time. The story wasn’t bad but I didn’t really enjoy it; there wasn’t enough to know or care for the characters, and the story ended pretty quickly.
*I am the song (Cecil Castellucci, Willow Dawson, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam): A love story narrated by ‘the song’, like a song is the narrator. It was pretty confusing and I really don’t enjoy sad love stories.
*What’s Best (Katie West, Ray Fawkes & Zakk Saam): A mother is set to do anything necessary to give her daughter the best life. I really liked this one. The typography was kinda hard to read, but the mother’s love is clear from the beginning and the story fascinating.
I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange an honest review.
elizabethlk's review
4.0
After having greatly admired the work done in Sugar Falls, also by David Alexander Robertson and Scott B. Henderson, I decided to check out Stone, the first book in their 7 Generations series. I was definitely not let down.
The present day story entwines with the 19th century historical story quite smoothly, and clearly had a lot of thought put into both. It definitely sets up a lot of opportunity for the remainder of the series to be just as good. While I thought the art was lovely, and evocative, I feel like it would have better suited it to be in full colour.
I definitely enjoyed this, and intend to finish out the series. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a quick comic read that blends the past and present realities of North American indigenous people.
The present day story entwines with the 19th century historical story quite smoothly, and clearly had a lot of thought put into both. It definitely sets up a lot of opportunity for the remainder of the series to be just as good. While I thought the art was lovely, and evocative, I feel like it would have better suited it to be in full colour.
I definitely enjoyed this, and intend to finish out the series. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a quick comic read that blends the past and present realities of North American indigenous people.
sarathebibliophagist's review
3.0
I had wildly varying thoughts about the stories in this anthology. Full review on my blog.
tears_into_wine's review
4.0
Actual rating: 3,5 stars
Content warnings
Let's be honest, I didn't take notes on potential content warnings for this one. Please be aware that some (actually most, I think) of these stories deal with topics like death and violence and some are pretty graphic and/or emotionally intense. If anyone is interested, you can ask me, though! I'll have a look at the chapters again if someone needs a specific warning or something.
Disclaimer
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
My opinion
I really enjoyed this collection of short comic stories, even though comics are usually not my preferred genre. I picked it up for the awesome combination of gothic romance and diversity -- and I was not disappointed. The stories are racially diverse and feature several queer characters and relationships. It was nice seeing a new take on the gothic romance genre with more diverse characters, and mostly it was very well done in my opinion.
I loved the artwork itself in most of these stories, some very unusual drawing styles caught my eye, some more traditional styles were also featured and nicely done.
I personally would have loved the stories to be just a bit longer and more "complete", since some of them felt kind of rushed and incomplete to me, though I understand that short stories in an anthology cannot exceed a certain lenght.
My favorites in this anthology were "Secrets in the Silk" (focussing on female emancipation in Taiwan and a ghoste wife's wonderful revenge to her awful husband), "Minefield" (which I absolutely loved -- I mean, dorky, sweet ghost boyfriend??? HELLO -- even though it's mostly in Vietnamese which I don't understand), "L'heute verte" (aka queer black woman having a nice, flirty, classic paranormal moment), and "Fazenda do Sangue Azul" (aka a Black queer communist guy falling in love with a ghost guy).
All in all, I'd definitely recommend taking a look at this lovely collection if you're a) into comics, b) looking for diverse stories and/or c) a fan or gothic and paranormal love stories, tragic and kind-of-fluffy ones alike!
Content warnings
Let's be honest, I didn't take notes on potential content warnings for this one. Please be aware that some (actually most, I think) of these stories deal with topics like death and violence and some are pretty graphic and/or emotionally intense. If anyone is interested, you can ask me, though! I'll have a look at the chapters again if someone needs a specific warning or something.
Disclaimer
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
My opinion
I really enjoyed this collection of short comic stories, even though comics are usually not my preferred genre. I picked it up for the awesome combination of gothic romance and diversity -- and I was not disappointed. The stories are racially diverse and feature several queer characters and relationships. It was nice seeing a new take on the gothic romance genre with more diverse characters, and mostly it was very well done in my opinion.
I loved the artwork itself in most of these stories, some very unusual drawing styles caught my eye, some more traditional styles were also featured and nicely done.
I personally would have loved the stories to be just a bit longer and more "complete", since some of them felt kind of rushed and incomplete to me, though I understand that short stories in an anthology cannot exceed a certain lenght.
My favorites in this anthology were "Secrets in the Silk" (focussing on female emancipation in Taiwan and a ghoste wife's wonderful revenge to her awful husband), "Minefield" (which I absolutely loved -- I mean, dorky, sweet ghost boyfriend??? HELLO -- even though it's mostly in Vietnamese which I don't understand), "L'heute verte" (aka queer black woman having a nice, flirty, classic paranormal moment), and "Fazenda do Sangue Azul" (aka a Black queer communist guy falling in love with a ghost guy).
All in all, I'd definitely recommend taking a look at this lovely collection if you're a) into comics, b) looking for diverse stories and/or c) a fan or gothic and paranormal love stories, tragic and kind-of-fluffy ones alike!
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