“I don’t know, but I’ve got a feeling this town’s about to have the best Halloween ever!” (Monster Mash, 2015)
The best Halloween ever; now what does that entail? For me, Halloween is not complete without a haunting tale or two to get me in the monstrous mood. But who says we have to wait until October to get into the spirit of the Halloween season? I decided to feel the festivities a little early this year with a new read, and boy was it delicious.
Michael Dougherty’s recently published graphic novel, “Trick r Treat: Days of the Dead,” provides a collection of illustrated comics that take readers on a journey through Halloween history. Featuring four different stories, each telling a different mythical tale of Halloween’s past, the reader is able to experience the spirit of Halloween through different points of not only American, but also world history. From old-world European witchcraft, to modern-day Halloween tricksters, Days of the Dead provides the perfect timeline of terror.
While this collection of stories is meant “pave the way” for the sequel to the 2011 Trick r Treat film, the reader does not need to have seen the film before reading Days of the Dead in order to have a positive reading experience. Our favorite little minion of mischief, Sam, does make quite a few appearances throughout each of the stories, but he is the only recurring element from the film.
Like the film, however, Sam finds his way into each of the stories told, making him a “Halloween Timelord” so to speak. As much as I would love to elaborate more on his role in each of the tales, I found it fun to play “hide and seek,” with Sam throughout the book, so I won’t post any spoilers. ;) I will say, though, that his cute little button-eyes smile still perfectly captures the heart of Halloween spirit.
SEED
The novel opens up with a grandfather convincing his granddaughter not be afraid of the slightly spooky aspects of Halloween. Darkness, monsters….I’m sure you can still imagine how daunting your first Halloween as a small child was. As an attempt to remedy his granddaughter’s fears, good ol’ grandpa decides to whip out some Halloween tales.
The first tale he tells is one of two lovers who are forced to face the brutality associated with witchcraft in 17th century Ireland. Combining historical themes with magical elements (not to mention a bit of juicy romance), Seed acts as a very successful opening to the collection. I found writing itself is very easy to comprehend, creating a seamless story across the pages. I also enjoyed the story’s utilization of classic literary themes, such as the “Romeo and Juliet” type romance and the incorporation of consequences from “fearing what we do not know.”
The art and illustration in Seed is also executed rather successfully. Just like the writing, each comic panel clearly illustrates the plot of the story with beautifully drawn characters and scenes. The color-tones seemed to be carefully chosen to enhance the mood of each scene, creating a wonderfully constructed comic.
CORN MAIDEN
Continuing along the historical timeline, the next story in the series takes place in mid-19th century Illinois, just a decade before the construction of America’s transcontinental railroad. Corn Maiden tells the story of what happens when a caravan of greedy railroad entrepreneurs and a Native American tribe find themselves in a battle for land, tradition, and life itself. Sarah, the protagonist of the story, finds herself caught in the chaos and is forced to choose between following her family or following her spirit.
This was definitely one of the better stories in the series. Once again, the story beautifully balances historical elements of American, as well as Native American history, with the spiritual aspects of Halloween. Not only is Corn Maiden a fantastic Halloween tale, but it is also a wonderfully written coming-of-age story. While reading, I found Sarah’s character easy to connect with and wildy interesting, therefore allowing the story to have a deeper impact on myself as the reader.
Stephen Byrne, who both illustrated and colored this particular comic, made exceptional choices when working on this piece. He chose a softer art-style, which I found worked well with the themes of the story. What I loved most, though, was the color scheming he chose for each of the scenes in the story. Depending on the ambience of the scene (time of day, mood of the dialogue, etc.), Byrne utilized various shades of a singular color palette, usually oranges, reds, purples and blues. This worked brilliantly with the storyline, and I have to give mad props to Byrne for this choice.
ECHOES
Moving forward along our terror-filled timeline, we come to the third story in the Days of the Dead series: Echoes. Featured in 1955 Los Angeles, Echoes follows the story of a middle-aged mobster who finds himself messing with some pretty creepy characters. While this story is written more along the lines of a murder-mystery as opposed to a Halloween theme, the element of eeriness does still exist. I do, however, have to be honest when I say that I found this particular story difficult to follow, and is therefore my least favorite in the anthology.
While the writing style does successfully incorporate language often associated with the 1950’s American era, that factor alone does not redeem the unclear story being told throughout the comic. I often found myself confused about who was speaking at particular points in the dialogue, therefore having to go back and re-read certain panels multiple times (a chore that most readers, like myself, find rather irritating). Not only is the dialogue often unclear, but the art-style certainly does not help decipher the plot. While I appreciate Stuart Sayger’s art as stand alone pieces, his style is unfortunately too messy and scribbly to illustrate a cohesive story line. I do agree that the dark and dull color choices made by Guy Major work as a mood-setter, although the overuse of shadowing in many critical areas prohibit the reader from fully understanding the premise of the scenes. Echoes is a story that I believe could have potential if better executed with a more constructed writing style and cleaner art.
MONSTER MASH
Coming around full circle, the beginning of Monster Mash brings the reader back to the two initial characters of Seed: an old man and his granddaughter. Still a bit frightened by the darkness of Halloween, the little girl gets the privilege of hearing one more Halloween tale from grandpa before the trick-or-treat festivities begin.
Monster Mash follows the story of two young boys who decide to cause some mischief on the night of Halloween. Taking place during the modern era, this story combines all the classic elements of Halloween that we know today; from spooky spirits and conjured characters, to bounties of candy and festive decorations. These two boys flourish in the spirit of Halloween, so much so that when tested by the temptations of Halloween, each boy is faced with difficult decisions.
In my opinion, Monster Mash is the best story of the compilation. The tale is a perfect mixture of so many resonating themes: the struggles of boyhood, finding oneself, the bonding ties of friendship…all of this along with the hocus and pocus of Halloween. The comic is not only fantastically entertaining, but also heartwarmingly touching. It is stories like this one that remind me of why Halloween is such a special time of year and why I love it so. The solid writing style combined with flawlessly detailed artwork creates what I would call a perfect Halloween-themed comic (or just a perfect comic in general).
