Graphic novel/short story collection published by Dark Horse Books in 2023. The book features Christmas-themed ghost stories by Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, and James Harren.
If you ain't heard the news yet, the Victorians really, really loved ghost stories told at Christmas. Part of that was because Christmastime was the coldest and darkest time of the year. People had the family around all day, sitting around for hours, bored out of their skulls, looking for something to do to pass the time. So it became a big ol' thing to sit around a blazing fireplace and tell spooky stories on cold Christmas nights. But the Victorians -- and the Edwardians -- loved telling scary stories in the dead of winter.
That tradition never really caught on strong in the United States, but it's slowly become more common knowledge over the last few decades. So people who love ghost stories, and who also have a certain fondness for the Christmas season, have begun looking for excuses to tell their own yuletide spook stories.
And that brings us here, to this wonderful (but smaller than I would've liked) collection of stories. Powell is one of the editors (along with Katii O'Brien), and he has credits on two of the stories and the interstitial story that links all the tales together. In other words, I think Eric Powell is jazzed as hell by Christmas ghost stories.
Much like the traditional Christmas ghost stories, the tales within this book are not necessarily set during the holidays. Several could potentially be set in the yuletide season, but there aren't any explicit Christmas elements -- except for the interstitial story, which is set, like the title says, on Christmas Eve.
We should talk about the interstitial story first, actually. It's written and illustrated by Powell, and runs before, after, and between all of the other stories. It's set in London on Christmas Eve, 1843, and it stars Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, and James Harren -- or at least the very worst, most demented, and most Victorian versions of all four cartoonists. They all meet at Powell's run-down mansion to tell each other scary stories -- and to insult and infuriate each other.
The stories told by our quartet of creators include:
"The Eyes in the Primordial Dark" - Story by Eric Powell, Art by James Harren, Colors by Dave Stewart, and Letters by Comicraft. A Victorian science fiction story of the first men to venture to Mars -- Dr. Waldorf Horner is a pompous egomaniac with little appreciation for the work of his engineer, the naive but level-headed Nevil Phillips. But as the days of the journey pass into months, as the pressure of isolation builds on both men, do they have to fear the approach of madness? Or of something much darker and more arcane?
"The Kelpie" - Story and art by Becky Cloonan, Colors by Dave Stewart, and Letters by Comicraft. A ghost story told as a poem. A woman is unwise when passing a creek that once drowned a man, and decides to allow a strange man to pass the night in her attic. But there are dangers when you catch the eye of a man who rides a kelpie...
"The Night of the Jaberwok" - Story and art by Mike Mignola, Colors by Dave Stewart, and Letters by Comicraft. Well, it's Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," but it does get a bit more verve when the creator of Hellboy illustrates it as the mad dream of a perplexed academic.
"The Gift of Major Courtenay" - Everything by Eric Powell. A wealthy man invites an old childhood friend, now the military adventurer Major Courtenay, to visit him at his palatial home. But Courtenay refuses to step inside the manor, insisting on sleeping and taking his meals outdoors. What's the reason for this strange behavior? And how far will it ultimately lead?
The great thing about this book is that there really aren't any bad stories in it! Powell's two stories -- "Eyes in the Primordial Dark" and "Major Courtenay" -- are both very true to the style of Victorian ghost stories (aside from the comic book format and the science fiction setting of "Primordial"). "Jaberwok" is a delight for anyone who loves Mignola's distinctive art style. And Cloonan's "Kelpie," while coming across as the most modern and least Victorian of the stories in terms of artwork and storytelling, brings us the most lushly romantic and personal of the four horror tales.
The sole disappointment about this book is that at just shy of 70 pages, it's too dang short. For $25, it needs to be at least 30 pages longer, or maybe a proper folio size instead of the modest 6" by 9" octavo, so we can enjoy the full details of the artwork.
Still, the high quality of the stories and art make this a must-buy for anyone who loves comics, ghosts, or Christmas. Prop it up on the fireplace mantle with all the holiday cards so you can give your maiden aunt a proper scare when she comes over for Christmas dinner.