I used to read Adam Ellis on his blog all of the time and then I absolutely loved "Adam Ellis: The Blunder Years" so I was so excited and shocked to see this new release. It definitely lived up to my inner hype because it was such a fun collection of short horror stories. This is EXACTLY what I look for when I look for horror short stories or graphic novels. Some of them are just fun or goofy horror while others are creepier and may have a deeper meaning. I love that he explained after each story what his motivation for that story was. I loved having that little bit of closure especially for some of the stranger stories.

This was great and I can't wait to read more.

I happily admit to being a bit of a scaredy-cat and I gotta say, these short stories did scare me a little. Not too much, but just enough that it was enjoyable without being awful. The stories are short and well-crafted, but some of them are maybe a bit on the too-short side; they didn't feel as "done" as the rest. My favourites were Bus Stop and Little House in the Sea - I hated Viola Bloom because it scared me to bits :')

Adam. ADAM. This is quite good storytelling, some pretty quirky and some more horrible, but each one has this unplaceable vibe that it's a story you might have heard through the grapevine before.

I liked some of the stories and some not. Some story were mostly gross, and I can’t deal with gross pictures in graphic novels. Overall this was alright, but not great.

really enjoyed the art style! featuring different artists for the backgrounds was a great way to visially differentiate the stories and perhaps elevate artists with smaller platforms

storywise, i had fun but i left several of the stories thinking it could have been pushed further. evangeline in particular had an interesting twist but was mildly eerie at most. this will likely work for many readers, but i was left wanting more. the mysterious figures could have appeared in the background at the end or something! let's get a little terror in here!!

overall i would still recommend this! despite my desire for more from some stories, i devoured it all in one sitting

I think I first started following Adam Ellis when his Dear David tweets were going viral. I remember obsessively checking his Twitter profile for updates on how he was being haunted. I've been following him on Instagram for a while now and I enjoy the comics he posts there. I was so excited to have access to this ebook a little early via NetGalley.

I thought the art in this book was excellent, and I loved all the little details (all the Oliver Joy merch??). In one panel in one of the early stories, you can see the last photo the character took was a silly picture of themselves and I just thought that was so fun.

Apparently this is a hot take, but I liked the blurbs at the end of each story. I do agree that stories mean different things at different times to different people, and that the author detailing what inspired those stories can distract from that. However, you can simply Not Let It™. I love gossip, so I was able to let the stories mean what they meant to me while still being glad to hear the author say what they meant to him.

I liked that sometimes you are meant to draw your own inferences from the end of the comic (like in Forest Fruit) and sometimes the fate of the character is extremely clear (like in Milk Door). I remember reading Bus Stop on Instagram but I had forgotten how unexpectedly wholesome it is. Overall this collection was so fun and I immediately preordered a signed copy for my shelf.

thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the arc

FOR THE PUBLISHER/EDITOR on page 143 there's a repeated line "which went extremely viral online, and everyone hated it because it was gross." hopefully someone else pointed out the mistake and that it is fixed before the book gets shipped out for print

anyways!!! very fun, loved the range in stories and inclusion of other artists’ backgrounds,,, some stories were a bit silly but I appreciate the little explainer blurbs at the end of each one. i think there could've been more gore tbh! would've loved to see some active murders or slashings.

favs: Bus Stop, Little House in the Sea

I loved this and can’t wait to share this with my students who are constantly asking for horror. I artwork is so visually pleasing and really add to each story in its own way. I love that this feels like the stories that would get passed around so much you never knew if they were real or not. Also gives lots of creepy pasta vibes love it and can see this being constantly on loan.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Not a horror fan, but I enjoyed Adam's mix of comedy and spooky stories. A fast read!

This was a fun read! Although I didn't grow up with the shows mentioned, I did watch Courage the Cowardly Dog and Beetlejuice, sometimes also watching Happy Tree Friends when my parents were not around. This book took me back to those times when I stayed up late just to catch another episode and see what else I could find, and hardly got nightmares because of them. Both the art and writing style made me feel like a baby-bat again.

Being a comic book, there's obviously a lot of highlight on the graphic aspect, but the writing is also strong. It's refreshing, original, and with a lot of twists that you don't expect. While it left me wishing some stories were longer, because "Hangnail" and "The Green Ribbon" were just too good to stay this short, there's a charm in them being quick shocks.

Some of the stories were not of the same quality, however. "Batter Kate than Never" and "Me and Evangeline at the Farm", for example, left me with a bittersweet taste afterward. There was also something strange about facial expressions in several of the stories, as if the characters didn't know what to do with their faces or how to react sometimes.

However, it's a reading you fall in love with because of its original charm. Addictive and creative, it's a tribute to the stories we horror fans grew up with. While Adam Ellis has a definite art style, he adapts it to fit different narrratives, giving each of the comics a distinct flavor. If you want to feel like that weird, darkly-inclined child one more time, this is the perfect option.

I have enjoyed some of Adam Ellis' art in the past, so I was excited to see this type of book from him. I wouldn't necessarily call these stories spine tingling personally, if you're looking like actual scary stories these may not be what you're looking for. That being said, most of the stories did have a good hook or twist and were enjoyable. I liked the differing color palettes that helped to vary the styles of the stories. Also, the notation of what inspired each story at the end of them was interesting as it can be insightful to know where the inspiration came from. Overall I enjoyed it and didn't regret reading it, but it didn't satisfy my hope for scary stories.

I follow Adam Ellis on Instagram and think he’s very talented. I was thrilled to see he was publishing a new graphic novel. This was a collection of 11 terrifying stories that made me want to jump out of my skin. Great for a stormy night, and for horror fans. I also love that he includes a little note about how he came up with the idea of each story. As scary as I found it, I still wanted more. Can’t wait to read what he publishes next. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy.

Adam is the master at short story horror! Each story captivates you completely and always leaves you feeling unsettled and wishing for more. As a long time follow, I'm so happy to have seen how his stories have evolved (as well as his illustrations)! The additional illustrators/background artist he used absolutely completed each story.

Many stories are adaptations of other shorts, and Adam succeeds at turning them into his own. Each story ends with a blurb about the inspiration, and there is a wonderful dry humor that is classic Adam.

Big THANKS to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

My thanks to NetGalley for an e copy of Bad Dreams in the Night. It’s been a long time since I read a comic book and enjoyed every single page. The level of horror and grossness is what I want in a comic book. The art style is my favorite and the colors are beautiful. The mention of the 90s made it more enjoyable and the last story was very immersive that I imagined someone standing at my room’s door. I am happy I got this early copy and I would highly recommend if you love weird scary stories.

I follow Adam Ellis on Instagram so when I saw this book I was really excited. The stories are colorful and creepy just like I like them. He has a way of getting inside your head and showing stories that give you palpitations. Excellent work!

Thank you NetGalley, Adam Ellis, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

A just-creepy-enough fast read. The art is engaging and matches the stories well. For me, there was kind of an unexpected amount of body horror since the cover seemed more quiet, Poe vibes. I also didn't expect the author's prescence, with him being a repeating character, as well as including personal anecdotes after each story.

As a long-time Twitter user, I'm familiar with Adam Ellis because of his Dear David story/thread, which was sooo good. That was the first time I ever experienced a Twitter story as it was developing, and it was a lot of fun. It was also quite creepy, I loved it. That said, I wasn't familiar with Adam Ellis' graphic novels. I've seen his comics around here and there, but I'd never consumed one of his graphic stories until this collection.

This was fun, I enjoyed it a lot! The art is great and I loved that each story had its own style to match the vibes. The stories were simple but interesting and they're very much in the style of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which is what the description claims, so that's accurate. Overall, it's a nice collection of graphic horror stories and I had a good time with it.

With thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and the author Adam Ellis

Bad dreams in the night is very spooky and very creepy, I was reading it during my lunch break at work and got a little freaked out.

There are 11 short but spooky ghost stories, and all of them are brilliant. I found Hang Nail and Butter corn ramen the most creepiest. Hang nail actually made me shiver.

Bad dreams in the night reminds me of all the ghost story books and films that I read/watched in my teenage years in the 1990s (with a bit of x-files thrown in for good measure with the Bus stop comic, The artwork/comic is also amazing.

If you like short but super creepy stories/comics Bad dreams in the night wouldn't disappoint.

Go buy this book now.

I’ve been a fan of Adam Ellis for a while now and I love his art. This book brings together 11 freaky stories some inspired by real life events (with a twist), nightmares and influences growing up. The artwork is incredible.

I found Hangnail and Viola Bloom particularly creepy. There’s a sequence of drawings where he’s running away from Viola Bloom in the hallway outside his apartment and I genuinely got freaked out because I’ve had similar nightmares.

It’s so good. I recommend this 100% Thank you so much for the Arc in return for a honest review.

Imgur link goes to Instagram graphic scheduled for April 19th
Blog post goes live April 16th
To be discussed IN April Reads pt 1 on Youtube

**TL;DR**: If you’re a fan or new to Adam Ellis’s work, these short horror comics are fun and unsettling. I really enjoyed these.

Longtime fans of Adam Ellis will probably need no pitch on this one but for new fans I really truly recommend this. The stories are short, bite-sized horror with inspiration in classic and modern horror.

This collection had two big strengths for me. The first was that each story had an author’s note telling about the inspiration and the root idea. I loved this as it added depth to the story and a perspective I might not have seen.

The second is that Adam Elli’s use of space and composition is fantastic. I love his panel layouts and designs and the angles of so many of his shots. This is a development I’ve seen over the years of following his work and this graphic novel really illustrated how he’s grown as an artist.

I loved this collection and can’t wait to have my own copy for the shelves to reread, as I’ll definitely do so in the future.

4.5 out of 5 Creepy Milk Doors