Gothic tales + haunted love + diverse characters = yes, please!

This strong anthology has 200+ pages of short illustrated stories that are horror-themed, as they are a tribute to 1970’s Gothic pulp novels. Each story has a different author and illustrator, with lends to many different styles within this collection. The stories are extremely diverse, with characters of different nationalities, cultures and sexual orientations plus they take place in several different time periods. This variety will give every reader some stories that they will absolutely connect with as there are stories with revenge motifs, historical heartbreak or the supernatural.

As with any anthology there are some stories that are stronger than others. Pair that with a graphic novel format, and there are some illustration styles that will not appeal to everyone, but the art as a whole is well done with evocative coloring. The book includes eighteen new stories, and one reprint of an original Korean Gothic comic. A prologue, art gallery and author bios round out the collection.

My favorites included:

Crush– Janet Hetherington, Ronn Sutton, Becka Kinzie & Zakk Saam: An African American governess falls in love with a widowed Sea Captain, father of the seven children she cares for. When he disregards her as a love interest, she obtains revenge.

The Return– David A Robertson & Scott B. Henderson: A Native American woman comes back from the dead to be reunited with her fiancee, but she finds a better man who sees beyond her beauty to what was in her heart.

Green, Gold, and Black– Cherelle Higgins & Rina Rozsas: Set in Jamaica on the eve of a slave uprising, an enslaved woman is giving birth. She is chained by her white mistress, for her husband had raped the woman and the child is his, and she is consumed by jealousy. This is the most heartbreaking of all the stories, although I found a nugget of hope in the end, depending on how you interpret the mother’s visions.

Mistress Fox– Megan Kearney & Derek Spencer: A bride shares an unsettling dream with her guests the morning after her wedding – the night before, her new husband had killed a maid that he was having an affair with. You know she is framing her cad of a husband, but there is one more sly twist at the end.

I received an online copy from NetGalley for an unbiased review back in April, but I had downloaded it close to it’s expiration date, and had to do a quick review based off only one day at looking at it online. That just wouldn’t do, so I ordered a print copy for my library, so I could re-read it and have library patrons enjoy it too. And isn’t that the point- to purchase a book you’d like to read over and over again- and then share it with others?!

I was not a fan of this. Several of the stories were interesting, but the choice of the artist to draw panels that looked as if they were transported through time was not a preference. Comics have come a long way since the 1970s and a step backward regarding art just feels like a hipster trick or a lack of skill.

This was a five star read for me! Very graphic but it was worth reading g it if you are into gothic little stories like myself.

I thought the stories in this anthology were very good for the most part. I always enjoy reading anthologies because I get to hear from new (or at least new to me) authors. This one kept me up a couple of nights not wanting to put it down.

I was unable to read this ARC before the reading time expired. I can only be neutral on both art and plotlines.

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.

This is a mixed bag, as all anthologies are, but almost all of the stories are really quite good, both art- and writing-wise, and thematically I think there's a wide enough range that most romance and/or horror readers will find something to enjoy. The stories feature a diverse range of characters and a diverse range of authors (a zombie story about Native Americans written by a Native American author? awesome!), and I very much appreciated the bios at the end which will enable me to seek out other work by the creators. For me some of the standouts were the aforementioned "The Return" by David Robertson and Scott Henderson, "Green, Gold, and Black" by Cherelle Higgins and Rina Rozsas, "Fazenda do Sangue Azul" by H. Pueyo and Dante L., "Mistress Fox" by Megan Kearney and Derek Spencer, and "One More Cup" by Barbara Guttman, with a special shoutout to "Rose's Heart" by Colleen Coover for the best punch line in the book.

This editor has been great at curating wonderful collections of stories. The writers and artists always know how to draw in the reader. A very highly entertaining book with some twists and turns, and new takes on old stories. Some of the stories are edgy and very violent.

Excellently organized and entertaining. A real winner for the publisher and the reader.

Whoa! This anthology dives right in! That first story is a doozy! <i>Crush</i> really delivers.

And I realized that this is why I like to check out new stuff on NetGalley. This was amazing. Different from what I expected - and really different from most comics I’ve read. It’s really rare to discover an anthology where there wasn’t a single story I wasn’t fond of. I think there were one or two stories I might give Goodreads rating 3/5 stars - but those were by far the worst.

That first story was followed by <i>Rose’s Heart</i>. I was thinking I was all smart, figuring out the twist. But holy crap! Nope. This was pretty good, too.

Both delightfully - almost traditionally - gothic.

The third, <i>Secrets in the Silk</i>, breaks a bit from the tradition in look and feel and setting. But OMG! It sure does fit.

Then there was <i>L’Heure Verte</i>. Such a fantastic story! Wow. (This one was so good, I found the writer and artist on Twitter and told them so - Femi Sobowale and Caroline Dougherty!)

<i>Green, Gold, and Black</i> was harsh. But well done.

<i>Mistress Fox</i>. Chilling.

I kind of figured what might happen in <i>My Heart Still Beats for You</i>. But it was still great.

<i>One More Cup</i> was a bit different. I liked it.

As far as the rest of the stories go? They were all great - or at least really good. And very diverse.

What a great anthology. I can’t recommend this enough!

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Bedside Press for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

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!

This new look at gothic romance comic books from Bedside Press meets all the expectations of a modern horror fan and more! The 22 stories fill a full 200 color pages, meaning it allows for multiple reading sessions, unlike most graphic novels that the average reader completes in an hour. The wonderfully conceived cover spotlights a black woman running in her night shirt as though straight from a 1970s gothic paperback, (oddly lacking the mansion with a single light on in the upstairs window and the water crashing on the rocks below, but the inclusion of some exciting pin-ups is a delicious addition!)

This is an adult comic, no doubt. It portrays adult situations and shows its share of bloody revenge. What makes it special is its diverse representation of characters and sexuality that has been lacking in the graphic novel industry since forever. It is a multicultural take on illustrated horror stories that are as diverse in the sexuality of their romance as in the artistic styles represented on their pages.

The forward discusses the history of romance comics, the gothic genre specifically, and is well researched. The writing is original and gripping. I wish many of the stories were longer, but the format is a collection of many short tales by many different voices, (since there is so much missing history to cover.) Because the genre is taken in a slightly new direction, the twists are unexpected and quite successful. Some leave you warm and wanting a cup of tea while you read, others leave you with a chill deep in your spine.

My favorites were <em>L'Heure Verte,</em> (The Green Hour, in reference to the absinthe she is drinking...) because of the visual depiction of the characters and the simplicity of the story, and the Native American story <em>The Return</em> for its frightful imagery. <em>One More Cup</em> is a Gaiman-esque dark faerie tale, and <em>Mistress Fox</em> is a great typical Gothic with an ending that resounds through the night. Some tales, like <em>Minefield</em> and <em>Green, Gold, and Black</em> require multiple readings to truly appreciate what is going on.

The real eye-catcher for me was a piece re-printed from the pages of a Golden Age horror comic by Charlton, a story by Sanho Kim, the first Korean artist to make a name in Western comics. It is a classic ghost story in the Asian tradition, written in Korean (don’t worry it has English subtitles, though you don’t really need them to follow the action.) In it, a pair of talented swordswomen make a deal with a soldier on the run. It was originally published in <em>Ghostly Tales</em> #101 (1973).

This reboot of the traditional formulaic genre is long overdue. It’s impossible to find the old gothic paperbacks at the thrift store because the covers themselves are now being recognized as an art form. As the wave of Supernatural Romance spawned by <em>Twilight</em> has finally crumbled to a dry, welcome death, the market is ripe for grimly romantic ghostly tales with a more contemporary outlook. The governess may not be white, and he may not be heterosexual. The castle may not be on the New England coast, but the feeling of loneliness and heartache echoing through hollow hallways is timeless.

Gothic tales of haunted love is a new comics anthology curated by Hope Nicholson. It is not your normal book of paranormal stories. The comic book style actually gives to some of the stories as well as some it takes from. There were a few stories int he book I would of loved to read a whole book on instead of a few pages of comics.



The stories were good do not get me wrong I am just not a big comic book kind of girl. There are 19 stories packed into this book. There are pretty much every paranormal entity I can imagine in this book from Ghosts to just plain old murders. The stories are short. There are only 216 pages in the book.



The art work is done very well and tell the story pretty well without any words. The story Minefield is mostly not in English so I had to rely on the pictures. It is a story from 1950's Vietnam.



I did enjoy the story The Return. It is about an Indian who brings back his love who has died. She was actually engaged to another man. When they brought the man in to see her after hr return he was mortified but her. She had not been fully returned to the living yet. When she was fully returned to her formal self and her beauty restored the Fiance decided he did then want her back. /She tells him no since he did not love her enough to want her when she was ugly she would not take him now that she was fully restored.



I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

I recieved a free advanced ebook from the publisher and netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This comic collection was great. I never knew of gothic romance comics before, and now I have read updated versions of them, and learned about them. I would be interested in more from the past and modern ones like collected here.m
Each tale is very fun, and the art and stories vary wildly which I loved. There was tons of diversity ( which would be missing in the older comics!) , and takes you would not expect. I hope another collection will be made, perhaps also reprints of the older ones as well.

*Spoiler/Trigger warning: There are lots of blood, gore, pictures of what looks like self harm, and murder...also baby killing.

I have conflicting feelings about this book, but I did enjoy it overall.

There were a few stories that I personally felt did not make sense. I did like it that the "bad guy" was usually the girl, and she wasn't a damsel in distress or something.

Highly disturbing stories, but I went in expecting that and enjoy the morbidness of this book. However, there was one story that was a little too much for me personally and it involved taking a baby from a mother's womb and killing it.... Now that is a little much in and of itself, but I've also delt with infant death in my family, so it made it harder in that sense as well.

I enjoyed the varied artwork and color schemes used in this.

"Gothic Tales of Haunted Love" is a great modern adaption of 1960/70 American gothic romance comics. The comic anthology is spooky, bloody and super diverse.

An extensive introduction by Jacque Nodell, outlines the (short-lived) history of gothic romance comics and the motivation for this anthology and then the comics begin.

And what comics they are … Full of ghosts and ghouls, bloodshed and all other kinds of goriness but also full of diversity, characters of colour, LGBTQIA* characters, etc. I loved that combination and overall I also loved the comics, even though a few of them were too strange for my taste. But I loved all the different art styles, the variety of stories and especially how there weren't any damsels in distress but instead a lot of bad, bad ladies.

i've requested a few from netgalley, but i couldn't seem to get the files to actually work. and in all honesty, i didn't even think i was going to enjoy this graphic novel. little did i know, gothic tales of haunted love would become one of my favourite non superhero related graphic novels.

the first story is definitely my favourite. it was unexpected, to say the least. i think it's my favourite not because of the story but because my hopes were rather low to begin with. i like the fact that there's so many diverse works (i literally just found out that many are actually own voices).

the stories could've been creepier to fit the gothic narrative, but considering i thought it was all sappy romance stories, i'm happy with the murders and whatnot.

i really enjoyed the artwork, it was great to see so many different styles. i also really enjoyed how short the stories were. i read some reviews where they complain about the length but i actually found it refreshing  and nice. i haven't read a graphic novel anthology before, but my experience with non graphic novel ones is that the stories tend to drag out and are rather boring. considering the length of some of the stories, i still connected with some of the characters and got into it. (i know some people struggle with this)

anyway, thanks so much to the publishers for providing me with a copy to review, i didn't regret a single minute i spent reading it! definitely a good book to recommend to friends and family.

This was a wonderful collection of some deliciously creepy stories, but the varying quality of the stories in general dragged it down a bit. But the better stories were magnificent. Here are my favorites, in the order they appear in the book:
Rose's Heart by Colleen Coover- I loved the art and the subversion of reader expectations.
Secrets in the Silk- a wonderful story of female solidarity and getting revenge. The art was absolutely wonderful too.
Minefield by Hien Phan- I loved how the artist is able to tell the story visually, even without being able to understand vietnamese. And the art was so sweet too.
Ladies of the Lake by Sarah Winifred Searle- This one was definitely one of my favourites. I loved the protagonists and the story, and the art was absolutely wonderful. I'd kill for a whole book with these characters having adventures.
Fazenda do Sangue Azul by H. Pueyo and Dante L.- This story was my favourite. From the gorgeous art and colours, to a touching story and a really great world setting, I kept thinking about this one long after finishing. Again, would love to read a whole book about them.
Mistress Fox by Megan Kearney and Derek Spencer- This was a deliciously creepy twist on the already creepy tale. The art fit the mood of the story very well too.
One More Cup by Barbara Guttman- I loved it! The art was beautiful and the story very compelling and I loved the whole premise and the relationship of the characters.

I would hardly have called these gothic more twisted or horror. Some where better than others but overall an okay read.