3.5

i’ve been seeing mini-comics drawn by adam ellis online, so i was somewhat familiar with his drawing style, so when i saw this anthology of horror comics, i was intrigued. overall, i enjoyed most of these stories, so i’m glad i requested it.

i think the author did a good job at crafting the creepy atmosphere, but i wish we got a bit more background on the stories. after each mini-comic ended, we get an author’s note with an explanation to how the story came to be and a few times, these notes added absolutely nothing to the story. all of the stories have basic plots and some of them are re-imaginings of popular creepy tales or other horror creators’ works.

one story that stood out to me the most was “bus stop” - not because it was scary, but because i found it quite creative. i’m not sure if it’s an original idea or not, but it was definitely among the more interesting stories.

i did read the collection over a month ago and i’m already forgetting most of what happened, so i can’t say it’s a memorable read for me, but i think it’s definitely worth a read.

This graphic novel was amazing!

This is my first time reading Adam Ellis and I was so suprised to see that he was the main illustrator for the entire book. His style is so different for each story that I had just assumed it was a collaboration with a bunch of different illustrators.

I think I yelled out "EWWWW" maybe six times while reading this lmao. There is a lot of weird body horror stuff that reminds me a lot of Jinji Ito. (If you're squeamish, its not really TOO gross visually, its mostly just contextually digusting. The art style isnt as intricately gross as Jiji Ito.) I particularly liked the 'hangnail' story which reminded me of that horrible scene in Black Swan which horrified us all.

I found the stories to be very predictable - i'd clearly see where it would go almost as soon as it started, but it honestly didnt take away any of the enjoyment, and I feel like that's often the nature of these kinds of scary stories anyway. I really liked that it relied a lot on visual story telling and allowed the illustrations to take the spotlight.

An easy 5 star for me, and I would recommend this to any of my friends who enjoy spooky vibes.

Spooky, creepy and spine tingling scary! These 11 stories are entertaining and beautifully illustrated. Each story has its own unique element that gets into your head. I’ll be thinking of these stories for a while. I enjoyed the entire graphic novel and devoured it in about an hour.

I wish there were more stories because they were fun, and creeped me out. Think Scary Stories to tell in the Dark but more for adults than children.

Colors and illustrations are appealing and make characters seem alive. I loved the who 90s retro/vintage vibe and would definitely recommend this book to everyone.

When I realized Adam Ellis’ gripping comics are in the shape of a book I literally squealed. In fact I couldn’t shut up about “Bad dreams in the night” and told every human in my vicinity of its greatness (unfortunately for Ellis I only had two humans close by). Then I read it by myself and picked some of the short horror stories to read out loud with said humans. Which means some of them I read twice. Three times if you count the time when I read their beginnings on instagram. What more can I say? I really love Ellis’ combination of horror and humor, which works perfectly for me, as I’m not much of a horror fan. I adore how many of the stories start from something simple, mundane, delving into something terribly creepy, but also kind of funny at times. I enjoyed reading the note about each story at the end - of how it was conceived or where the idea came from. I find these kinds of notes give context to the stories in a way which makes me appreciate them more. I’ll write a few words about each story below:

Me and Evangeline at the Farm - a good start to the book because it’s only a tad creepy, and kind of nostalgic in a way characteristic of the author.
Milk Door - super funny and super creepy at the same time, so I’d say it’s another classic.
Butter Corn Ramen - in black & white aesthetic, with perfect pacing, this one keeps you at its grips just like the character is kept, addicted, to ramen.
Green Ribbon - a re-telling of an older story, with a (feminist) spin that you might see coming and yet is still terrifying. The facial expressions Ellis draws add much of the humor, while finally seeing his work in a bigger format (not in my phone on a tiny instagram post) gives it space to be dazzling in its use of light to create a certain atmosphere of doom.
Forest Fruit - Short but vivid, indeed.
Bus Stop - This one is my favorite, I think, because the horror is quite unexpected. Read it and you’ll see why. Besides that - it holds a sort of magic & nostalgia as well.
Hangnail - Again something very mundane turned into something terrible. 5/5 because I can totally see that happening.
Better Kate Than Never - Interesting rendition but this one was kinda hard to follow, something about it was off for me.
Little House in The Sea - With beautiful backgrounds drawn by Deb JJ Lee, this one doesn’t feel scary at all, in fact it feels a bit lacking, as if unfinished, although interesting.
Murder Party - A punchy commentary on society’s obsession for murder & detective stories & small-fame.
Viola Bloom - This is maybe the most horrifying of all the stories, and a great way to end this book, which I 100% recommend.



Thanks to NetGalley & Andrews McMeel Publishing for the E-arc!

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Very haunting but so so very disturbing in many ways. Milk Door really freaked me out, and Butter Corn Ramen made me think twice about eating ramen. The other one that horrified me was Hangnail. This horror anthology by Adam Ellis is perfect for any murder mystery, occult, and thrill-seeking fans. With a mix of Junji Ito and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this graphic novel will haunt readers for a long time.

For anthologies I review each story with a star rating, that accumliates the overall rating. With a small summary of my thoughts in the end.

Story #1: 3⭐'s
Story #2: 3.5 ⭐'s
Story #3: 4⭐'s
Story #4: 2.5⭐'s
Story #5: 3⭐'s
Story #6: 3⭐'s
Story #7: 4.25⭐'s
Story #8: 3.5⭐'s
Story #9: 2⭐'s
Story #10: 4⭐'s
Story #11: 3.5⭐'s*

Overall rating has to be a 3⭐. I wanted to love this so much more than I did. In all honesty I like the idea of a short story collection of comics but none of them really worked past there gimmick. Most of them didn't feel complete, but not in an uncomfortable way but in annoyance way. Normally I like reasons why the short story was written but it also didn't work here expect for the last one. Would still recommend but excited to read full length things by this author one day. A lot of potential.

Entertaining and reminiscent of Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark . It was funny and spine tingling. I hope he makes a sequel to it

I really enjoyed the book and the author has such a unique style. The story behind each one is also a great touch. He does a great job creating atmosphere and tension with minimal dialogue.

⊰ 4,5 stars

First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Bad Dreams in the Night is a collection of 11 horror comics. I absolutely loved the art, it was very stunning! I liked how every comic had the same art style, but the way it was drawn was different to indicate a different time and this gave every comic a different setting.
The comics are short and straight to the point, there's no useless dialogue.
I liked how the author included information from their personal life after every comic to explain how they came up with the comic. This gave a more personal feeling to the graphic novel and made me understand the feelings that created the stories.
My absolute favorite out of the comics is Viola Bloom, but I guess you're just going to have to read the graphic novel to find out why!

I would absolutely recommend this graphic novel to everyone who likes horror comics.

Terrifyingly spooky, each story kept me hooked. Each exploring a psychological horror, that kept me on my toes

Thank you Andrew’s McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an arc of this in exchange for a review!!!

I have been so excited about Adam Ellis’s collection of horror stories since he announced it. I love reading his comics on Instagram, especially the ones that leave me feeling unsettled or on edge. This collection did just that! Each story came with its own brand of horror. It’s being advertised as something similar to a graphic novel version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and I think that’s a perfect description of this! Ellis presented a wide variety of horror sub genres in this collection.

From body horror to the classic ghost story, there’s a story for every horror fan. Of course, I liked some more than others, but that didn’t mean the ones that weren’t my favorites were bad. They were all very well done! If I had to pick a few of my favorites, I would have to choose Viola Bloom, Evangeline, and Butter Corn Ramen.

Ellis also writes little notes in between each story which give us insight on either his inspiration for the story or his thoughts on a topic that is talked about in the story. I loved these because they gave me a different way of looking at the story I just read.

Lastly, I have to praise the art. It was creative and did a wonderful job of setting the tone of every story. One of my favorite shots was the overhead look on a room that looks like a vhs tape from Evangeline. So cool.

I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this and recommending it to friends who enjoy a good, classic horror story.

I've followed Adam Ellis on Fb and IG for such a long time and was very invested in his haunted apartment saga. I am so happy this was on Netgalley. I devoured this within an hour maybe? Some of these will definitely creep you out, others will make you laugh. The ending explanation for Milk Door had me cracking up because I'M the one that moved away and gets yelled at for it constantly, lol. Hangnail will always give me the heebie jeebies.

This is a fun graphic novel for the fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and similar works. The art style was clean and easy to consume.

A few of these comics were shared on Adam Ellis' Instagram previously, which I excitedly consumed. I've been a fan of his work for quite some time, so I was excited to get my hands on an ARC of this collection! (Thanks NetGalley)

My favourite part about this is Ellis' short commentary after each story. It helps bring context, but it also helps that nagging feeling of, "why does this seem familiar?!"

I particularly enjoy the fact that each short comic has it's own look. Whether it's the colour palette used, the subtle textures, or even how the background styles, the style choices differentiate the stories from one another. There's atmosphere to these stories that I really appreciate. Even the bright coloured ones, it's all chosen for a purpose.

There are eleven stories in all, which would have been a ton of work! But it did leave me hankering for more. I don't think that's a bad thing! Just makes me hope he releases more like this in the future.

I hope Ellis keeps at it with the slightly unsettling. He does it so so well.

So deliciously dark and weird and creepy! Adam Ellis’ stories are always fantastically drawn and make your skin crawl or make you think or are just plain weird but in a good way. I’ve read some of these stories before but even on the second reading his stories still hit home and make you want to read them through your fingers.

I've loved Adam Ellis' online comics for years and this book did not disappoint!

What a great mix of horror (in its many forms), gore and humor with a hint of nostalgia. I particularly enjoyed the backstories of each part. Gorgeously drawn as well, different styles reasonated so well with the specific parts of the anthology.

Would highly recommend to any horror, comedy and comic fan!

Amazing short horror stories in graphic novel form! Loved every second and cant wait to read more from the author!

These stories were so good! I was a fan of the art but it was really the eeireness of the stories that drew me in. Each story is quietly terrifying and I loved every minute of them!

I devoured this! I was aiming to just read one in the time allotted but ended up reading the whole book - I just could not stop reading.
These are bite sized stories and I love that they’re quick to read, interesting, and creepy.
Ellis’ comments after each story though is the real highlight of this books for me. Some of his comments were down right hilarious but all were entertaining.
Absolutely loved this little graphic novel of horror stories!

I loved every second of this! Wonderfully illustrated and color choices, and each short story was spooky! I couldn't read this fast enough.