Gothic Tales of Haunted Love Graphic Novel Review

Since this review was posted, Hope Nicholson was outed as an abuser. As comic books are a collective effort, this review will remain live, but I cannot in good faith recommend purchasing this book or other works by this person.

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love

Erica Gives This Comic Four StarsGothic Tales of Haunted Love edited by Hope Nicholson and S.M. Beiko, prose and art by Jacque Nodell, Janet Hetherington, Ronn Sutton, Becka Kinzie, Zakk Saam, Colleen Coover, Nika, Femi Sobowale, Caroline Dougherty, Hope Nicholson, Scott Chantler, Hien Pham, David A. Robertson, Scott B. Henderson, Cherelle Higgins, Rina Rozsas, Sarah Winifred Searle, H. Pueyo, Dante L., S.M. Beiko, Maia Kobabe, Chris Stone, Dani Bee, Megan Kearney, Derek Spencer, Amber Noelle, Allison Paige, Barbara Guttman, Svetla Nikolova, LAB, Cecil Castellucci, Willow Dawson, Becka Kinzie, Katie West, Ray Fawkes, Sanho Kim, Kitty Curran, and Larissa Zageris

Both Nicholson and Beiko did a fantastic job of curating this anthology with the theme around Gothic Romances. I greatly appreciated the opening sentiments and historical look at this genre of comic books by Nodell. Of course, this genre would’ve been squashed by the comic book code of authority and fell “out of fashion” when mainstream comics moved almost exclusively to superhero stories, instead of the many genres they used to cover.

All of the stories featured inside were entertaining, and I was extra pleased to find that all of them — no matter how short or long — were a complete story. Too often in comic book anthologies, you get the sense that the creators wanted something longer, but couldn’t get the space.

I appreciated that this anthology featured several queer stories, stories beyond just romantic love, stories featuring people of color, and stories set outside of America. It showed how flexible this genre is — and how it’s not just white ladies running from sexy ghosts. Continue reading “Gothic Tales of Haunted Love Graphic Novel Review”