Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things (Courtney Crumrin, #1)

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Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things (Courtney Crumrin #1)

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 1,667 ratings · 150 reviews

Presenting the initial Courtney Crumrin miniseries in a new digest-sized format. Courtney's parents have dragged her out to a high-to-do suburb to live with her creepy Great Uncle Aloysius in his spooky old house. She's not only the new kid in school, but she also discovers strange things lurking under her bed.

Paperback, 128 pages

Published September 8th 2003 by Oni Press (first published January 13th 2003)

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Jan 14, 2009 Colleen Venable rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, 2009-read

Any book where children occasionally get eaten by night creatures without any apologies by the author is okay in my book! Courtney is such a fantastic character. Wish I was half as badass as she is! (Though personally I am happy I have a nose. Why does she have no nose?! Why did I not even notice she didn't have a nose until someone pointed it out to me?!)

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Apr 02, 2012 Blue rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, graphic-novels, ebook-galleys, paranormal

Originally posted here

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things is filled with dark humor and wild characters that I did not expect from a series that seemed to be aimed to a younger audience. I liked it, however, and for a first volume, it kept me engaged and wanting more.

Courtney Crumrin, its titular heroine, just moved with her parents to her Uncle Aloysius’s house. I think mansion would fit better, but it is obvious that it has seen better days. It is now dark, spooky, and had all the looks of...more Originally posted here

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things is filled with dark humor and wild characters that I did not expect from a series that seemed to be aimed to a younger audience. I liked it, however, and for a first volume, it kept me engaged and wanting more.

Courtney Crumrin, its titular heroine, just moved with her parents to her Uncle Aloysius’s house. I think mansion would fit better, but it is obvious that it has seen better days. It is now dark, spooky, and had all the looks of a haunted house. Courtney finds herself having a hard time fitting in anywhere for the days and weeks that follow, even in her own home. However, she finds out more about herself – she is in fact a witch. Uncle Aloysius is considered an oddball by many, and Courtney soon finds his strange but interesting collection of magic books. From here, she discovers a world far from anything she has ever imagined. Here she meets goblins, changelings, talking animals, faery queens, and a whole lot more.

I am extremely fond of stories based on folk tales and paranormal mythology, and this is no exception. I really liked how writer/artist Ted Naifeh illustrated everything, and I enjoyed both the colored and black and white panes. Courtney Crumrin is filled with dark humor and wild characters – it is not unusual for children to be eaten by goblins, or mortal babies sold in the underworld market while a changeling cries for milk in its place. The fact that the author is unapologetic for these horrible occurrences, as if it really is a fact of life for the characters (and indeed it is, whether they are aware of it or not) made me love this.

For a first volume in a series, it did not fail to engage me, and I would not pass up a chance to read more of Courtney Crumrin. This series is especially recommended for people who love fairy tales and myths. People who love paranormal/supernatural cases in a graphic novel would find this fun to read. Despite looking like something suited for middle grade readers, I think this would suit young adults better.

The full color hardcover edition of Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things will be released on April 11, 2012.(less)

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Sep 04, 2007 Seth Hahne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

I had read the four chapters that comprise this initial volume of the adventures of Courtney Crumrin as they had originally appeared in single issues. I had found the series amusing but nothing spectacular. It's grim and fun, but shows little staying power.

Which is why it took me so long to review the collection.

I had purchased the first two volumes of the series in a fit of patriotism (participating in wild consumer endeavors is the best way to show ones support of the establishment). They've s...more

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Feb 07, 2009 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like really dark young adult graphic novels

I stumbled across this series in the comic store, where I picked up one of the later books. I liked the style so I bought the first two volumes. And they did not disappoint. This book is very dark (horrible things actually happen to people, and this is just shrugged off by those who know about it), but it's also about being an individual and not worrying too much about what others think. Courtney's a great character. I did think her parents were a bit overdone. Yeah, we get it--they're superfici...more

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Mar 29, 2013 David rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: rude little girls, goblins, talking cats

Shelves: female-protagonist, fantasy-contemporary, faeries, children

This is a graphic novel series aimed at about a 12-year-old's level. Courtney Crumrin is a fairly stock character: the rude, precociously misanthropic little girl who's brought to a new town by her callow, grasping, negligent parents, where they stay for free in a rich great-uncle's mansion while trying to climb the social ladder. Courtney has no friends and doesn't fit in, but soon discovers that her Uncle Aloysius has some interesting books and more interesting hobbies, and that all kinds of g...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy, comics, young-adult

I had already read this book in the original black & white, but when I saw they had released a color edition I squeeled in delight and just had to have it - and my wonderful husband obliged me. :>

First, for the art, the colors do wonderful things. One of the, erm, issues with Naifeh's art is that a lot of it is similar and I sometimes find it hard to differentiate things. The color both helps create depth and detail, as well as just bringing the images to life. 4.5 stars.

As to the stories...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Khairul H. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This review is from my blog: The Malaysian Reader:

Here’s what I love about Ted Naifeh’s book. It’s basically a story with a familiar theme: a young girl moves to a new place and a new school and has to make new friends. Except there are strange goings on in her new place (her granduncle Aloysius spooky old house to be precise) and there are even stranger things in the woods of her new neigbourhood.

But those aren’t what I love about this book. They are great and familiar tropes but what hooked me...more This review is from my blog: The Malaysian Reader:

Here’s what I love about Ted Naifeh’s book. It’s basically a story with a familiar theme: a young girl moves to a new place and a new school and has to make new friends. Except there are strange goings on in her new place (her granduncle Aloysius spooky old house to be precise) and there are even stranger things in the woods of her new neigbourhood.

But those aren’t what I love about this book. They are great and familiar tropes but what hooked me in was the dark route the author chose to take. There are at least three instances in this collection that would make the unreasonable parent throw this book in disgust and petition the local and school library to ban it from their shelves. Without spoiling it too much, two kids get eaten by a night creature (one of them was bullying the other so it was a comeuppance, but still…) and a baby is exchanged with a goblin and the baby sold at the Dark Market in Goblin Town. Well here’s the thing, these disappearances were not resolved in favour of the humans at all. The goblin gets to stay in the crib pretending to be a human baby at the story’s end (Courtney is told that human babies are kidnapped and sold to strange creatures all the time and besides in this case the baby’s mother wouldn’t know the difference anyway) and it was only mentioned in passing that the bullied kid would be missed by no one. No mention at all of what the neigbours thought of the missing bully.

Well, I guess I did go and spoil it after all. Here’s one more: the only reason the night creatures visited the bully was because they were told to by Courtney herself. So this is a story about a kid who ordered a hit on her tormentor. Now you see why I love this book. It tickles my dark soul and pushes all the right buttons in me. If you’re still shocked, let me assure you that all the violence and auctioning of a baby happens ‘off-panel’.

Courtney soon discovers her weird granduncle is actually very nice but he does have a secret which he eventually shares with Courtney. This first volume is a collection of four previously published graphic novels in which were in paperback and black and white. This time around the adventures of Courtney Crumrin is bound in hardcover and in colour and if you are just as weird as me you should get this book and share with your little siblings or children. They’ll thank you for it.(less)

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Aug 05, 2012 Tammy Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-reviews

Courtney's parents are down on their luck. They've maxed out all their credit cards. Uncle Aloysius is old and nearly infirm, so they move in with him under the pretense of taking care of him. What really motivates them to move is the wealthy suburb they're going to be moving into, rent-free, of course. There they can hob nob with all the wealthy suburbanites and live in a style they always wanted to become accustomed to.

Courtney seems to have a bit of an attitude. She seems to be a bit of a lon...more Courtney's parents are down on their luck. They've maxed out all their credit cards. Uncle Aloysius is old and nearly infirm, so they move in with him under the pretense of taking care of him. What really motivates them to move is the wealthy suburb they're going to be moving into, rent-free, of course. There they can hob nob with all the wealthy suburbanites and live in a style they always wanted to become accustomed to.

Courtney seems to have a bit of an attitude. She seems to be a bit of a loner and and feels even more isolated in her new school where all the kids stay away from Old Man Crumrin and creepy Crumrin House. The rumors fly about the old mane and the house. One of Courtney's fellow students actually asks if Old Man Crumrin really does have a bunch of deformed kids in the basement. She's not really fitting in and on the way home from school on her first day encounters the local gang of bullies who beat her up and take all the money she has. To make matters worse, she keeps thinking she's seeing things in her room at night and actually gets chased by a goblin on her way home from school one day.

Uncle Aloysius is a bit of a hermit. He's scary and tells his relatives straight away that they are welcome to go anywhere in the house, but his private chambers are off limits. Not very welcoming.

Courtney goes wandering in the house one night because she can't sleep with all the shadows she keeps seeing. She eventually finds herself in Uncle Aloysius' study, which seems a very interesting place. Here uncle is in the room unfortunately, so he takes her back to bed, but the next night, she sees a monster in her room and runs back to Uncle Aloysius who is not in his study. She does find a very interesting book written by A. Crumrin. It is a book called The Bestiary of Night Things Great and Small. She reads the book and finds out all about the things she's been seeing in her room and the thing that chased her home. With it, she learns how to control the night things and even figures out how to exact revenge on those who have pissed her off. And whoever said reading a book is a waste of time? (less)

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May 27, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cats-fiction, dog-and-canines-fiction, fairy, netgalley, fantasy-dark, comic-books-fairy-tales

Disclaimer: I got a free ARC via netgalley.

Poor Courtney Crumrin. Her parents are clueless, the family has moved in with her mysterious uncle, she’s the new kid at school, and there is something that goes bump in the night in her bedroom.

What’s a girl to do?

Use her noggin.

Courtney Crumrin, like Tiffany Achling, is the girl’s answer to Harry Potter. She’s Hermione gone gothic. Well, slightly Goth. Courtney is her own teen after all. (And how come male authors keep doing this, not female ones?)

Th...more Disclaimer: I got a free ARC via netgalley.

Poor Courtney Crumrin. Her parents are clueless, the family has moved in with her mysterious uncle, she’s the new kid at school, and there is something that goes bump in the night in her bedroom.

What’s a girl to do?

Use her noggin.

Courtney Crumrin, like Tiffany Achling, is the girl’s answer to Harry Potter. She’s Hermione gone gothic. Well, slightly Goth. Courtney is her own teen after all. (And how come male authors keep doing this, not female ones?)

This volume contains three stories about Courtney as she adjusts to her new life. The first is about her experiences in a new school, and the other two are adventures. What Ted Naifeh has done, and done brilliantly, is take that out of place teen feeling and grafted in onto fairy stories.
And I don’t mean Tinkerbelle fairy or the Tooth Fairy. I mean the let’s dance in the fairy ring for days fairy.

Courtney isn’t nice or sweet. In fact, she’s every anti-social teen you’ve ever met. Yet because of this, she becomes the every teen. The idea of belonging or not belonging, that desire to be social that inflict even the most unsocial of us, runs though these three stories. Yet, while Courtney is that outsider teen, she isn’t a victim. She might be a potential bully victim, but she fights back. There is something special about Courtney in her anti-behavior, in her ability to learn from her mistakes, of her better nature. The reader roots for her.

Naifeh makes great and intelligent use of fairy motif and lore. There is a bit about magic, and the story is framed by a goblin/demon that resembles a large wolf. He’s not sweet, don’t worry. In addition to the use of teen awkwardness, Naifeh makes good use of family behavior in terms of changelings. There is some social and family dynamic commentary here, such as people who have children as a status symbol. There are wonderful touches of detail, not only in how the tales are used, but also in the families and the drawings. In addition, Courtney’s desire to be herself is balanced by her parents’ desire to belong. While the moral might not be subtle, the parents are not necessary walking clichés or stereotypes either. Despite their brief appearances, there is some depth to them.

This is a great book for a teen or an adult to read.
(less)

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Apr 11, 2012 Jessica at Book Sake rated it 3 of 5 stars

I hadn’t read any of the Courtney Crumrin stories previously, but when I saw this new edition I jumped at the chance. Courtney’s parents are so awesome – in that oh-my-god-they-are-clueless-butt-kissing-money-grubbing-idiots kind of way. So basically they are just a lot of fun to watch and read the things that come out of their mouths. However Courtney and her sass steal the show. This new house has its secrets, which are creepy and fantastic to read about, but it’s more than the house that’s go...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Sinn rated it 5 of 5 stars

A friend of mine sent me home with this graphic novel back in October. Even though I don't usually won't when someone has lent me a book, he requested that I not read it in the bathtub. That being the case, it has taken be this long to get to it. While over at this house eating lasagne and watching horror movies, he brought it back to my attention. He said that it was a quick read, which I already figured given the page numbers and the simple fact that it is a graphic novel. After finishing Life...more A friend of mine sent me home with this graphic novel back in October. Even though I don't usually won't when someone has lent me a book, he requested that I not read it in the bathtub. That being the case, it has taken be this long to get to it. While over at this house eating lasagne and watching horror movies, he brought it back to my attention. He said that it was a quick read, which I already figured given the page numbers and the simple fact that it is a graphic novel. After finishing Life As We Knew It and waiting to pick up a book on hold at the library, I took this book down. It took me about an hour full of interruptions to finish it.

After using all of their credit cards, Courtney's parents move in with Great Uncle Aloysius on the pretense of taking care of him. Seeing this as a wonderful way of elevating their social status and still living at elevated means, they move Courtney into the old mansion. Given the neighborhood, Courtney is immediately put off. Not only is she eccentric, dark, and brooding, it is obvious by her dress than she is not as well off as her other classmates. However, after a strange encounter on her second night in the house, Courtney makes and unlikely friend in her reclusive Uncle Aloysius.

The book has four chapters. It follows Courtney from her beginnings in the house, the town, and her school. In the first chapter, she makes a new friend, develops some tormenters, and end up finding a way to keep them in her place. After feeling isolated and lonely in her new home, she puts a glamour on herself and learns "to be careful what she wished for." The third chapter takes her to the goblin market and the fourth heralds her doppelganger.

The artwork works well with the story. It lends it a dark, gothic feel. Even though it is black and white, I get the impression of Courtney being very pale while the rest of her world is colourful. It could be the writing style of Naifeh. The graphic novel is a combination of storytelling and Courtney's thoughts and experiences. It is different from other young adult graphic novels I have read, but it makes a big impact. Honestly, the story caught my attention when I read the note by the author at the beginning of the book.

If you're interested in more dark and sinister things, this is a good graphic novel. I am curious to see how the series continues. The art is a clever mix of manga and something else. I could see more cynical children really enjoying this. (less)

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Jan 12, 2012 Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: dark fairy tales in graphic novel form

Recommended to Rose by: NetGalley, Oni Press

Shelves: young-adult, netgalley, arc-or-galley, fantasy, urban-fantasy, paranormal

"Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things: Volume 1" is rife with dark humor and imaginative interactions, much of which I enjoyed for the most part. I wouldn't say it's the most engaging comic I've ever come across for its genre, but it is entertaining for an introductory read, and one I'd likely continue to see what happens.

The titular protagonist is a young girl who, along with her parents, goes to live with her strange, but oddly alluring uncle. From there, Courtney has to deal with a little mo...more "Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things: Volume 1" is rife with dark humor and imaginative interactions, much of which I enjoyed for the most part. I wouldn't say it's the most engaging comic I've ever come across for its genre, but it is entertaining for an introductory read, and one I'd likely continue to see what happens.

The titular protagonist is a young girl who, along with her parents, goes to live with her strange, but oddly alluring uncle. From there, Courtney has to deal with a little more than the average new girl. When you live in a town full of creepy things - talking cats, changelings, goblins, beasts, among others - it's a little more than the average kid can handle. Courtney, on the contrary, seems to embrace the weirdness in her new life with a smart, snarky attitude, and she isn't afraid to fight back. In retrospect, I found that I liked Courtney's character and was willing to follow her through her respective encounters.

Despite places where the commonplace humor is a bit forced and cheesy, the story does have decent dark humor and situational focus. The episodic pursuits Courtney finds herself within are interesting, from one instance of magic gone wrong (when Courtney tries to fit in with her peers and ends up getting *too* much attention) to dealing with a doppelganger attempting to steal her identity. Those elements drew me in, though I'll admit that I wasn't necessarily drawn to many of the characters in this work other than Courtney and her uncle. I think that's probably the story's major Achilles heel, because the characters don't draw you into the work, and most of them (other than Courtney and her uncle) aren't even around long enough for you to get to know them.

The art style is appealing, particularly in its darker, convoluted stylings. I liked both the full color and B&W panels the graphic novel showcased.

It feels like the kind of story suited for those who like Grimm's Fairy Tales (especially in places where the story gives off a dark contrast) and those who like the paranormal in an episodic format may find the interactions among different creatures fun. Despite the age recommendation of 7 and up, I would say that this story is probably better suited for elder teens.

Overall score: 3/5

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Oni Press.(less)

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Dec 03, 2011 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

ARC provided by NetGalley

Courtney and her parents have just moved to the rich suburbs to live with Courtney’s uncle in his eerie old house. Things are not going well for Courtney. She can’t make friends, her teachers hate her, and there are monsters in her room. When she mentions she can’t sleep to her uncle, she finds out about his dabbling in witchcraft and tries out some of the spells on her own.

I first heard about Courtney Crumrin from USA Today’s PopCandy. I wanted to read more graphic nov...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Maxine McLister rated it 4 of 5 stars

Courtney Crumrin is being forced to move to a more upscale suburb by her slightly opportunistic and always oblivious parents to live with her Uncle Aloysius. Thing is, though, Courtney isn't your average mall kid, the new house isn't your your modern day McMansion, and Uncle Aloysius isn't your typical crusty old coot - good thing, too, because when things start getting weird, Ucle Aloysius may be the only one standing between Courtney and disaster.

Courtney Crumrin is a modern Gothic fairy tale,...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Ravwrin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Courtney Crumrin was forced by her parents to move to her great uncle's home, or was it her great, great uncle? No one's quite sure to be honest but all Courtney can remember of her times there before were that the place was quite odd and it hasn't gotten any better. And as uninviting as his home is, her great uncle is just as uninviting. As she stays in the house of her Uncle Crumrin she has many adventures, or misadventures while living there and she learns quite a lot about herself and her un...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Reading Teen rated it 3 of 5 stars

From a parent's point of view:

I thought that this was a pretty cute book, and I like that my kids are really enjoying Manga. It's an easy read for them and something that they can read in between other books to boost their confidence. I wasn't crazy about the content in this book, though, and if I had read it before my daughter, I probably wouldn't have given it to her. The age recommendation on the book is for ages 7 and up, but I found the language a bit much, and the content was too old for...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Readingtween rated it 3 of 5 stars

Plot Summary
This book is about a girl who had to move to her uncle's mansion and she thought her uncle was creepy. At school she was teased and talked about. She was bullied by a group of kids who beat her up and took her allowance. Then she meets a boy at school who is nice to her. But when they were walking through the woods, he was attacked and eaten by a werewolf. She gets away, but then discovers a whole new world of creatures that she never knew existed, and found out that her uncle was mo...more

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Sep 20, 2009 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Here is yet another story introducing a young character to a secret magical world, but Naifeh puts forth an above-average effort in capturing the perspective of an extraordinary girl, making it more engrossing for younger readers while losing none of the wit or edge necessary to charm those older than the heroine.

Courtney's flaky and selfish parents take the opportunity to sponge off a mysterious older relative, Uncle Aloysius, moving their family into his spooky mansion located in the middle o...more

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Jun 11, 2009 Ruhama rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen

A creepy graphic novel with a good mix of reality and fantasy. Courtney and her parents have just moved in with her great-uncle, the mysterious Professor Crumrin, and Courtney is having a hard time adjusting. By nature an outsider, being new makes her transition to the new town
and school all the more difficult. Right away at school she meets the bullies, and realizes the one boy who is nice to her is really the ultimate nerd of the school. And at home her parents are off in their own world—tryin...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, graphic-novel

Eh.

The plot was meh (pretty predictable). The characters were meh (although I actually liked the parents since they were so self-absorbed in trying to fit in with the rest of gentry that it was both amusing and pathetic to read about).

The art was decent. However, I had a big issue with Courtney's face. While everyone else's faces were relatively normal looking with chins and whatnot, Courtney's face was basically a rounded blob that sometimes was more square-ish with rounded edges, and what re...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Adriana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel

http://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot...

Courtney Crumrin just moved into a new town with her parents in her Uncle Aloysius big spooky mansion where there are tales and rumors surrounded her uncle and what really goes on at his house. Courtney doesn't know what to really make of it she just knows that her uncle gives her the creeps. She is an instant outcast because of this and she's just an outcast herself. She isn't rich like the other kids and she doesn't suck up to them either.

She soon discov...more http://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot...

Courtney Crumrin just moved into a new town with her parents in her Uncle Aloysius big spooky mansion where there are tales and rumors surrounded her uncle and what really goes on at his house. Courtney doesn't know what to really make of it she just knows that her uncle gives her the creeps. She is an instant outcast because of this and she's just an outcast herself. She isn't rich like the other kids and she doesn't suck up to them either.

She soon discovers that her new home and the woods around her new town are filled with many dark secrets and many dark creatures. Her Uncle has strange books around about the strange dark world and they form a bond because of their knowledge while her parents are the suck up types and have no clue what's going on.

Our young heroine Courtney has got gumption I'll give her that. The way she's drawn though... I don't know. I really feel like she needs a nose. But she grew on me. She goes out of her way to obtain control of the dark creatures. There are a couple in her room and I'm still wondering what they are for. I mean can she use them to do things? Why do they hang around her? The book is narrated by one of them which is a nice change of pace especially in a graphic novel like this. The book isn't ridiculously scary so it should be just fine for some kids. The heroine is in Junior High so... She is another one of those children who are the underdog. No one really pays attention to the quiet ones which is too bad if you don't want to be eaten by a goblin.

This is a special edition because it now comes in color so it must be very well liked which isn't surprising. I like horror books. Books with things that go bump in the night from time to time. I don't understand why how the only person who was paying any kind of good attention to her just disappears and there's no real mention of it anymore. That's pretty messed up how nobody cares and then there is this baby who gets taken away. She tried to get him back but the Uncle says that these things happen. His going to turn into a slave! So this isn't as you can tell a very happy touchy feely book. Courtney might not get a happy ending and if she does she's going to deal with a lot before she does. I just hope for her sake that she doesn't get eaten by an even larger smarter creature.(less)

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Jul 06, 2012 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel

Courtney Crumrin and her parents are moving in with Uncle Aloysius who lives in a big creepy house. Her parents are trying to get in with the wealthy crowd and Courtney is having trouble adjusting and making friends at the new school. She has trouble sleeping at night and goes snooping in Uncle A's study where she finds books about different night creatures. She ends up getting herself in several binds throughout the book.

This was a really creepy story but I quite enjoyed it and read through it...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Krista (CubicleBlindness Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this story. Courtney's courageous, smart and has a lot of spunk. If your looking for something that's got a little bit of a creep factor, but enjoyable even for younger readers I recommend this one.
This story opens up with Courtney and her parents moving to a posh part of town to live with their Uncle Aloysius. In the opening pages Aloysius is described to us by a gremlin creature Butterworm
who is peaking through the monstrous houses' windows about the
creatures and experiments that he...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Regan ♥ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, graphicnovel, arc

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things is about a girl who moves to a wealthy suburb with her parents to live with her creepy Uncle Aloysius in his spooky old house. While there, she realizes she can do magic and discovers some strange things living in the house.

I really liked the main character Courtney, who was seriously bad ass and didn't put up with anyone's crap. She was really brave, sassy and witty -- a great main character. If I was her, waking up to find scary monsters on the end of my b...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Elia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tweens

As graphic novels go I found this first issue of the Courtney Crumrin series unremarkable.
There is nothing here we haven't seen before: an youg girl who is an outcast at a new school, a creepy old uncle and a creepier old house, parents who are not interested in what their kid is up to, things that go bump in the night, and even a talking cat. Both the story and the artwork at at best average.
Throughout my reading of this I found myself comparing it to one of my all-time favorite "little girl i...more

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Feb 06, 2011 Annie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Courtney moves into a gothic mansion with strange noises and a fey forest right outside her door. "Harry Potter," this is not. After Courtney's only kind-of friend is eaten by a goblin in the woods, she decides that she's not going to put up with the trouble in her life, both everyday and supernatural. With a book of spells she "borrows" from her uncle, she takes on school bullies with the aid of a goblin, tries to make friends with a magic spell, baby-sits a changeling, and takes on a doppelgan...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Brendan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, adventure-thriller, comics, fiction, horror

Courney Crumrin tells the story of the eponymous girl, middle-school-aged, who discovers that her mysterious uncle is actually a wizard of some sort. She begins dabbling in the occult arts and nearly gets herself killed, enslaved, and blown up. In other words, she has a whole lot of fun.

It's an entertaining story with solid characterization and a dark narrative that fits the style of the art well. It's probably a little advanced for a six-year-old, as evidenced by the fact that I had to edit Co...more

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Nov 27, 2009 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

I was sucked into the story right away! Courtney's parents, living well beyond their means, jump at the chance to live rent free at Great Uncle Aloysius's creepy old mansion that happens to be in the rich area of town. Having use of the lower floors but strictly forbidden to enter his upper domain the parents settle in. Courtney can't make friends at school due to her association with the Crumrin house and she hears things in the night. This leads to her snooping around and finding an old book w...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Jody rated it 3 of 5 stars

A fun new graphic novel about a young girl who doesn't fit in. I loved the main character Courtney. She is cynical, smart, and cool. The story is interesting and dark. It takes place in an old creepy mansion in the ritzy part of town. Courtney has just moved into her Uncle's place with her idiotic parents, but cannot seem to fit in, even though she doesn't try very hard.

The biggest problem I had with this book is that they seemed to drop plot lines right as they got interesting. Someone gets eat...more

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May 28, 2012 The Lost Lola rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: faeries, graphic-novels, horror, modern-fairy-tales, young-adult, urban-fantasy, supernatural

Courtney Crumrin Volume 1: The Night Things by Ted Naifeh -- April 11, 2012 -- Hardcover, 137 pages, Oni Press (9781934964774)

"'Careful now. Old Professor Crumrin doesn't take kindly to youngsters gally-vantin' in 'is backyard.'"

The already eccentric loner Courtney Crumrin has enough to deal with in her life, but now her moocher parents have run out of money and have relocated the family to the posh town of Hillsborough to live with Uncle Aloysius in his creepy mansion. Now poor Courtney has to...more

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About Ted Naifeh

Ted Naifeh is an American comic book writer and artist who gained notoriety for his illustrations in the goth romance comic Gloomcookie. Naifeh has since become most known as the creator of the Eisner-Award-nominated series Courtney Crumrin, published by Oni Press.

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Books by Ted Naifeh

Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics (Courtney Crumrin, #2)

Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom (Courtney Crumrin, #3)

Polly and the Pirates, Volume 1 (Polly & the Pirates, #1)

Courtney Crumrin's Monstrous Holiday (Courtney Crumrin, #4)

Courtney Crumrin and the Fire Thief's Tale

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Quotes from Courtney Crumrin and t...

“Courtney didn't like babies at the best of times. As far as she was concerned, anything that existed solely to emit drool, vomit, ghastly odors and loud, annoying screams was more trouble than it was worth.” — 2 people liked it

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Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things (Courtney Crumrin #1)

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