Cover of Tales From the Crypt Graphic Novel Vol. 1Volume 1, "Ghouls Gone Wild"
Writers: Stefan Petrucha, Don McGregor, etc.
Artists: Mr. Exes, Sho Murase, etc.

Simply put, I liked some of it and was indifferent to other parts. Check the following:

Body of Work
In short terms: cute plot, would have made a great episode for the show. Strange neighbor has a "thing" and our heroes need money.

Ha - I don't know what I found creepier in this one, the victim of the unfortunate circumstances or "our heroes". I admit to wanting more when it ended, however.

For Serious Collectors Only
I was rather indifferent to this story about a middle-aged action figure collector living in his mother's basement -- perhaps because I was unable to empathize with the main character. If found it a -- cute -- tale.

The Tenant
Bad landlord, desperate tenants -- somehow, I feel I've seen or read this story before. Please forgive my ignorance if this was already aired on HBO. I tend to like this kind of story, so thumb's up.

Runway Roadkill
"The Devil Wears Prada" meets the Crypt-keeper's unique taste. Loved it :)

Extras -- Ghoullunatic Sequences, Preview of 'The Garden', Papercutz Presents
One must, when discussing "Tales", mention the extras as they are part of the fun. The Ghoullunatic sequences were some of the best bits for me, as usual. The "Garden" extra was a little fluffy for me, but hey I'm a horror buff. However, the "Presents" section is worth a read as it has the history of "Tales" in a nice, concise and understandable format. Side note: I was prompted by what was written to check out the Code of the Comics Magazine Association of America and was horrified, if you'll excuse the pun, to discover that zombies are still not considered acceptable. Zombies rock! How are they worse then werewolves, vampires or ghosts I wonder?

When looking at any "Tales" collection, I feel you have to take into account several factors. You can't just bunch all of them together and say "This is what I thought of the collection"; unless of course you are talking about a far more -- shall we say -- hoity toity work than the graphic novels we know and love.

Like many, I was spoiled by the adult nature of the television program and had to be reminded in the end of this novel of the immature nature of the original comic series. The demographic of the pages was the 10 year-old boy set. As I am neither 10 nor male, it would behoove me to mention that it was not for me or mine that this book was created. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this quick and fun read.

There's just enough horror in the novel to be fun for kids and up, without the truly bloody factor that might damage the reputation of the industry or this publisher. Kudos to Papercutz for producing a fine retelling of a classic series, fit for readers of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys -- I look forward to further works, and to introducing my younger friends to the world of horror with your "Tales".

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