I love Adam Ellis' comics and these ones were no exception. I'm not normally that into horror, but I loved this book. The art style and storytelling were both excellent.

Thank you netgalley for letting me review this book.

This was an interesting book. I did not realize it was a collection of short stories based on the real life of the author.

Some of the stories were very creepy and scared me a little bit, but I still enjoyed them.

I really enjoyed reading about the reason he wrote the story.

I did not want to put this book down.
#netgalley #baddreamsinthenight

Bad Dreams in the Night by Adam Ellis is a captivating collection of haunting and creepy stories that stands out with its vibrant and colorful graphics. Each story immerses you in a world of eerie thrills, but the first story, which revolves around an intriguing alien love, is my personal favorite.
This was my first time reading Adam Ellis, and I was thoroughly impressed by his storytelling and unique narrative style. The blend of spooky tales with striking visuals keeps the reader engaged from start to finish. If you're a fan of horror graphic novels, Bad Dreams at Night definitely deserves a spot on your reading list. Without a doubt, I give this book 5 stars for its creativity, visuals, and hauntingly good stories.

I generally enjoy Adam Ellis's work online and I find the horror comic shorts he posts to be super fun (many of the ones he posts online are adaptations of stories from online, but this collection is mostly original creations), so I figured this would be one I'd have fun with. And I did!

Bad Dreams in the Night tells eleven different stories. Not every story is a masterpiece by any stretch (I'm personally too grossed out by "Butter Corn Ramen" or "Hangnail" to really enjoy them), but there's lots of fun stuff to work with here anyway. He offers up a fresh retelling of The Green Ribbon that is fun and faithful to the story we all grew up haunted by while also offering a new take on the ending (which properly vilifies the husband, like all good adaptations of this story should). I personally think it opens and closes with a handful of really strong stories ("Me and Evangeline at the Farm" and "Milk Door" at the beginning, "Murder Party" and "Viola Bloom" at the end), but there are still a couple of highlights throughout. "Better Kate Than Never" has a great surreal vibe to it, and "Forest Fruit," "Bus Stop," and "Little House in the Sea" are the exact kinds of stories I was hoping to read when I picked up this collection.

I think one of the highlights of this collection is that it isn't trying to be some sort of fresh new face of horror, rather it emulates collections like In a Dark, Dark Room and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, while also being influenced by urban legend and creepypasta. Anyone who enjoys those collections, urban legends, creepypasta, or Adam Ellis's online stuff should definitely check this one out!

My students love scary stories to tell in the dark and this was a great option for those students with a new spin.

An enjoyable feast for the eyes. The contrast of the bright colourful art with the dark stories was brilliant.

I absolutely loved this! The colorful, vibrant illustrations in contrast with the disturbing, spooky stories is so much fun!!

Some of these stories were deliciously weird, just as I've come to associate anything that Ellis' name is attached to. Usually, the comps of a book somehow fall short of its promise, but in this case, the taglines were spot on. Fans of Stranger Things and Black Mirror will enjoy the dark, alternate universe feeling that is interwoven throughout.

What a compelling and creative horror collection! It's rare that an anthology has all hits for me but this was an exception.

I enjoyed all 11 tales except maybe for Little House In The Sea, which felt underwhelming against its counterparts. The varying art styles were a visual feast and really enhanced the reading experience. I particularly loved the retelling of The Green Ribbon and found it to be the most beautifully illustrated. Some stories also had subtle social commentary masterfully weaved in.

Such a clever way to end the book too 👀 Let's just say I'm glad I got to read a gorgeous hardcover in the bookstore instead of buying and taking it home...?!

This was a great read with good illustrations. Perfect for R. l. Stine fans. These are fun, spooky stories. I enjoy this collection.

Bad Dreams in the Night by Adam Ellis was an awesome little read. It was interesting and unique and kept my interest. I only planned to read a few pages and ended up enjoying this whole graphic novel in one sitting. I will be looking to read his other works!

Adam Ellis is one of my favorite creators. This is different from his other works since it is him entering the horror genre. I think he has a great grasp on psychological thriller and how to entice the reader with each story. If you follow his Patreon, you will recognize these stories, but its nice to have them altogether in one book.

I’ve been supporting Adam Ellis on Patreon for about a year, so I knew, when I saw that he was releasing a collected version of his horror comics, that’s I’d be ALL OVER THAT.

Adam’s art has matured and gained fantastic detail since his early days on Buzzfeed. Now, there’s full backgrounds everywhere, dynamic poses from the humans, and storylines that most online magazines wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole. Which isn’t to say that Ellis is overly gorey or does things just for shock value. His reveals are built up with craftsmanship, and even the stories which echo more well-known urban legends are given his full attention.

There’s a few “autobiographical” stories in here, so you get to see how Adam depicts himself. It took me a moment to realize he only does this for these supposedly true stories, and doesn’t do it to reuse a character design. Because he does some pretty good character design! As his work goes on, from his Patreon posts, he depicts people from more ethnic backgrounds and body shapes. This volume, being early horror, isn’t as diverse as his newer stuff, but there are some non-white characters around.

I think the story that will most stick with even well-read horror fans is going to be “Buttered Corn Ramen.” Just…what the fuck. Unique damn story, a good punch of horror, but what the fuck?

And if not that one, “Hangnail.” Brrr, “Hangnail.”

Now, Adam…when will you be releasing a collection of your…Patreon-only posts? ;P

Advanced reader copy provided by publisher.

Bad Dreams in the Night is a collection of horror comics by Adam Ellis. There are eleven tales in total. These vary from the supernatural to the extraterrestrial to body horror and so on.

This was an okay read for me. I was easy to read in one sitting. Ellis's art style is fairly clean and cartoon-ish, which isn't naturally creepy, but he does his best to make it work. The main thing was that it didn't feel super unique. Many of the stories felt familiar; like being told the same urban legend or shared internet post again. It made this collection a good cozy day read and perhaps a good recommendation for someone who is younger and/or new to the genre.

This was a fantastic collection that I’m excited to share with my horror readers. I can’t wait to hear their thoughts.

"not every question has an answer. Some stories don't have endings"

the art for the title cards is amazing and skyrocketed my hopes for the art within the stories to feel really cartoonish and silly for how scary and gory the stories actually are. Most of them contained plot twists that actually made me respect the author even more and "Hangnail" is easily my favorite making me physically cringe, but the art kept drawing me out of it, preventing me from giving it a full 5 stars. The paragraphs after each story to give them some background and context, I really liked as well and made me appreciate some of the stories even more. I also really like that a lot of them weren't just horror for the sake of horror, but had fairly interesting, and even sad, plots at times too. Overall, really good stories, the art is not for me besides the title cards which is very very much for me.

Bad Dreams in the Night is a fun comic anthology with varying styles of horror for middle-grade readers. I enjoyed that it harkens back to scary stories we told in middle school and has a variety of different kinds of horror - situational, body, etc. My favorites were Little House in the Sea and Evangeline. Those seemed the most original and had the clearest plot line. Some of the stories were predictable and didn't make sense, which makes them less unsettling. I appreciated the short note at the end of each story that offered Ellis's insight and explained how many of the stories were personal to him. The stylization wasn't particularly for me. The characters had very little differentiation, and they needed more depth. They're short, fun stories, but they weren't very developed in terms of characterizations. There was a lot of copy and pasting between scenes and that in combination with the lack of facial/body diversity made it feel cold to me. Overall, this is a fun middle-grade novel with engaging coloring and accessible plot lines, but the art and characters are underdeveloped for older readers.

This is a great book. It is nicely scary but not too horrifying. The artwork is bright and the stories are gripping. I really enjoyed reading these.

I don’t usually read horror but I do love a graphic horror story. There is something so creepy about seeing the story come to life on the page. You feel like shouting a warning to the characters but alas they can’t hear you or can they? Great book by a very talented author.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

4/5

I really enjoyed the stories in this book. The retellings and urban legends were creepy and some even going to give me new nightmares so that’s exciting. I think if you like creepy pasta and horror you will enjoy this graphic novel. I want to get a physical copy to revisit the stories.

I already enjoy other illustration work this artist does so I was very excited for this arc. It was creepy and like their other work.

Great mix of horror stories here, from retellings of old tales and urban legends to new nightmares and mishaps. The author's art style and writing are appropriate for the middle grade genre, and I really like the addition of "author's notes" giving background on the seed of each story idea.