Adrian Collins's Blog, page 21

REVIEW: Conan the Barbarian #18

Having decided to spare the life of Tarnasha, the foolhardy thief that invaded their bedchamber in Conan the Barbarian #17, Conan and Bêlit allow themselves to be talked into a plan to rob a local antiquarian of a priceless treasure of Stygian origin. Conan has misgivings, as his last encounter with Stygia and its Set-worshipping snake cult was an unsettling one, but he’s swayed by his pirate queen’s talk of riches and her eagerness to pull one over on the hated Stygians. The trio immediately begins plotting a daring heist. Once their hastily assembled plan is put into action, however, bloodshed and betrayal ensue.

This issue concludes the two-part Fangs and Foolish Thieves storyline. All previous arcs in Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian series have run across four issues, so it’s perhaps inevitable that this particular story feels abbreviated. Indeed, the pacing felt rushed the first time I read through this issue, with several elements introduced late into the story and left unresolved. That feeling lessened upon revisiting the issue, however. Tarnasha will doubtless reappear in a subsequent plotline, as will the other dangling threads established herein. The 2025 Free Comic Day Issue of Conan the Barbarian is set to launch an event called Scourge of the Serpent, and a Solomon Kane series entitled The Serpent Ring is scheduled to arrive even before that, so it appears that readers have a decidedly reptilian year ahead of them. Appropriate for the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Snake.

Issue #18 includes some entertaining references for knowledgeable Conan fans. The Stygian episode Conan flashes back to in the opening pages is, of course, a nod to the original Robert E. Howard prose story “The God in the Bowl.” The Stygian relic at the heart of the story is unmistakably the same intertwined serpent dagger wielded by James Earl Jones’ villain Thulsa Doom in the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie. The cinematic Atlantean Sword and Thulsa Doom himself (despite being King Kull’s foe in Howard’s work) have also appeared in previous issues of this comic, demonstrating Jim Zub’s fun willingness to embrace the Conan the Barbarian body of work in all its forms and expressions, rather than limit himself to strict Howard purism.

Judging from online commentary, Danica Brine’s artwork in the previous issue was a point of contention for some readers. While admittedly the art style does feel a tad on the “cute” side for Conan —Tarnasha and her truly outrageous pastel outfit would fit right in with Jem and The Holograms—I’d rather see a variety of representations of these characters than witness Conan the Barbarian stagnate and settle into dead-end “John Buscema Über Alles” conservatism.

While our reunion with Conan and Bêlit is regrettably a brief one, Conan the Barbarian #18 caps off a whirlwind caper. The shorter storyline and fresh artwork show that Jim Zub is still willing to experiment with the Titan Comics series, even as the title sprints towards its second anniversary.

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REVIEW: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

As much as I love long fantasy series and adore the trilogies that seem to be the backbone of the fantasy writing world, sometimes I can’t commit to a multibook adventure. Whether it’s a quick but impactful novella or a full-length standalone novel, there is something intensely satisfying in knowing that you are reading a contained singular tale.

I’m trying to use standalone fiction more to break up my jumps from series to series, and it seems to be working quite well. I’ve been working through the GdM Top 10 List of Standalone fantasy novels and adding others to my TBR list as I go. One name that kept coming up as a recommendation was Hugo Award winning Alix E. Harrow. Team GdM praises her highly, with magazine editor Beth saying, ‘Harrow can do no wrong.’ Harrow’s Southern Gothic Starling House tempted me as my first venture into her writing, I’ve had a copy of her The Once and Future Witches on my shelf for a while, so I picked that up instead.

What was originally intended as a palate cleanser between reading an eight-book series has become one of my top reads of the year so far. The Once and Future Witches is a very well-written, uncannily relevant story of power and sisterhood.

Set in 1893, The Once and Future Witches takes place in New Salem, a city free from the sin of witchcraft. We follow the three Eastwood sisters reuniting: Beatrice Belladonna, Agnes Amaranth, and James Juniper, who know what it’s like to be powerless and abused. The only power available to women is to rally for their vote; magic and the witches who wielded it have been purged from society and are now nothing but a half-remembered nursery rhyme. But all you need to cast is the words, the will, and the way. Some words survive no matter how many books are burnt. Some wills will not be broken. Witches will always find a way.

When faced with impossibly difficult times, Harrow’s story of hope and strength should appeal to many readers, but the Eastwood sisters make The Once and Future Witches stand out. They are all flawed, rough, and wounded in different ways. They must work out how they fit together as adult sisters after a profoundly cruel childhood and how they can be wilful women in a society that won’t allow it. Their development and growth throughout The Once and Future Witches were the reason I kept reading. I cared deeply for these women and their stories, and considering they are fictional women in a fantasy story, they felt genuine to me. They aren’t the morally grey typical grimdark lead we may expect, but they are far from perfect and are underdogs worth rooting for. The Once and Future Witches’ villain, Gideon Hill, is as disturbing as the Eastwood sisters are endearing. Sadly, a charismatic man who abuses their power is more than a fictional trope, but thankfully, at least Gideon Hill is fictional.

Set in a time most usually associated with industrial changes and the women’s suffrage movement, a story about the return of lost magic does not feel out of place. In The Once and Future Witches, Harrow places lots of historical nuggets to make the story feel more accurate to the reader. The story’s dark elements are also more real than fantastical. For example, there are two traumatic birth scenes, one of which results in maternal mortality. There is a societal stigma around unwed mothers, but even more so around the procurement or provision of abortion. But in a way, this makes the bad things that happen in The Once and Future Witches more impactful. These horrible things do not occur because they are witches; they happen because they are women. There are moments in The Once and Future Witches that ring eerily true in today’s world, even though this is an alternate-history fantasy novel set centuries ago, and that’s quite a disturbing feeling to have.

The Once and Future Witches is an unexpected newfound favourite of mine, and I am glad to have finally read Alix E. Harrow. I loved the tradition associated with her magic system and the complexity of her characters. As with all standalone stories, the ending is a little bittersweet, but that’s also a big part of their charm: this is all you get, even if you would actually quite like there to be some more, please.

I may not be able to read more of this particular story, but I will be picking up Alix E. Harrow again.

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Review: The Underhistory by Kaaron Warren

Last Updated on March 5, 2025

Kaaron Warren brings Gothic horror to a contemporary Australian setting in her latest novel, The Underhistory. The protagonist, Pera Sinclair, was only nine years old when her family’s mansion was destroyed by a plane crash. As the sole survivor, Pera was determined to rebuild her family home as a perfect replica from her childhood, also serving as a monument to everyone who perished inside.

The novel alternates between the World War II-era backstory of the Sinclair family and the modern-day setting of the reconstructed Sinclair House. Present-day Pera has made a living giving tours of her purportedly haunted home. Each room of the Sinclair House has its own quirky name and a unique story to tell, especially the cellar known as the Underhistory.

Visitors to the Sinclar House are captivated by the mansion’s history of death, and Pera is more than happy to oblige her guests’ desires to hear a good ghost story. Indeed, Pera’s storytelling abilities are one of the highlights of The Underhistory.

But Pera’s final haunted house tour of the season brings a group of suspicious and probably dangerous men. With these unscrupulous men threatening her home, Pera must use her storytelling prowess and some psychological manipulation to remain safe, lest death claim the last remaining member of the Sinclair family.

The Underhistory has a very interesting premise, and Kaaron Warren excels at creating a quirky yet foreboding atmosphere. However, for all the talk of paranormal activity, the horror aspects of the novel never build up to a truly satisfying level of terror. The story also suffers from too many time jumps, which give The Underhistory an overly disjointed feel.

Nevertheless, readers looking for a new twist on the classic haunted house horror will find a lot to love in this casually quirky yet deeply atmospheric novel, which rewards the patient reader with many layers of psychological depth. Kaaron Warren has been one of my favorite horror authors since her brilliant short story collection, Dead Sea Fruit, and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

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REVIEW: Pigs to Slaughter by E.J. Doble

E.J. Doble is back to de-Disneyfy another fairytale in Pigs to Slaughter, the second standalone instalment in his Grimdark Fairytales series. It’s a uniquely inventive and brutally dark reimagining of the classic Three Little Pigs tale, and in true grimdark fashion, we are reading from the big bad wolf’s perspective this time around.

Set in an industrialised cityscape called ‘The Capital’, Pigs to Slaughter follows saboteur-turned-foreman Kasten Dressler as he embarks on a quest of bloody vengeance against his masters. All he wanted was to leave his dark past behind and quietly serve in the Baron’s factories, but then the three pigs in charge managed to properly piss him off, and now he is determined to make them squeal.

Now, even though this is technically the second instalment in the Grimdark Fairytales series, you can safely pick this up first as it follows a completely new cast of characters and stands 100% on its own (save for one little easter egg in the epilogue). And honestly, the first few chapters admittedly took me a bit to warm up to, but only because I initially felt a tiny sliver of disappointment when I realised that we would not be seeing the badass bounty hunter Goldie from Gold, Lock and Key back here.

However, Doble has more than earned my blind faith and trust after delivering hit after hit for me regardless of the genre and page-length of the story he’s telling, and soon I found myself inexplicably entranced by his trademark evocative prose yet again. Plus, I will always be a sucker for a good revenge quest, and once Kasten took fate by the balls and set out on his rebellious mission, I was totally hooked.

I mean, I can’t say I was the biggest fan of the fridging trope being used as a motivator for the male protagonist to finally open his eyes and start his journey, but similarly to in Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, I think the execution of this dreaded trope was relatively well handled and didn’t end up hindering my enjoyment all too much. It was just so exciting and morbidly intriguing to see how Doble twisted this fairytale on its head, and especially the satirical characterisation of Glutto, Lusto and Envo (the ‘three little piggies’ in this tale) surprised me in all the best ways.

Although Pigs to Slaughter leans much more heavily into the grimdark (flintlock) fantasy than the traditional, whimsical folkloric vibes, it stays true to its fairytale heart in how it weaves heavy commentary into the deeper layers of the narrative to deliver a memorable cautionary tale. See, on the surface, this is just a bloody fun revenge adventure with some surprisingly exhilarating heist shenanigans and no less than 11 gruesome on-page deaths thrown in, yet at its core lies a much more hard-hitting tale of grief, class struggle, capitalism, rebellion, and the cost of progress.

Whether it’s epic grimdark fantasy as in his Blood and Steel Saga, philosophical fantasy as in his Realm of Prophets series, or these delightfully twisted grimdark fairytales, E.J. Doble’s wicked imagination and hauntingly immersive storytelling just never disappoints. So, if you are in the mood for a short grimdark adventure full of flintlock aesthetics, unconventional fairytale vibes, and lots of bloody action that will make you squeal in grim delight, then you can’t go wrong with Pigs to Slaughter.

Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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REVIEW: Conan the Barbarian #17

Launching the Twisting Loyalties story arc, Conan the Barbarian #17 depicts Conan adventuring alongside the pirate queen Bêlit. Having served at her side for close to a year under the assumed name of Amra the Lion, Conan joins Bêlit and the crew of their vessel The Tigress for some rest and relaxation in the port town of Kyros. Conan and his beautiful captain settle in for a night of passion at a posh inn called the Hidden Haven, but reckless bandits hoping for an easy score literally drop in on the pair.

In the original source material, Conan’s time at sea with Bêlit is related in Robert E. Howard’s 1934 story “Queen of the Black Coast.” While that story begins with the barbarian throwing in his lot with the crew of The Tigress and concludes with Bêlit’s tragic death, the largely unchronicled gaps in the narrative have been fertile ground for subsequent creators. “Conan the Pirate” is a premise that immediately appeals, and Bêlit is one of the strongest female characters in Howard’s literary output. In the classic Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian title, Roy Thomas showed Conan and Bêlit voyaging together for nearly 40 issues (1976-1979), and this era in Conan’s career was also revisited in Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s 25-issue Conan the Barbarian series (Dark Horse Comics, 2012-2014). While Bêlit has appeared in both flashbacks and in spirit (e.g., Conan the Barbarian #8), this marks her first appearance alive and in the flesh with Conan in the current Titan Comics title.

While this issue only offers a brief and—so far—landbound depiction of Conan and Bêlit, it feels good to see the pair back in action again. In both the artwork and the narration, Bêlit is portrayed as being appropriately competent and ruthless, and the issue concludes with a hint of the greed and ambition that led to her eventual demise in “Queen of the Black Coast.” From a storytelling standpoint, so far, so good.

Danica Brine is an interesting choice as an artist. While a handful of women (Rebecca Puebla, Ashley Izienicki, etc.) have done covers for Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian, Brine is the first to handle the interior artwork. She doesn’t have the deepest resume, but she did handle a variant cover for Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #3, and she previously worked with Conan scribe Jim Zub on some cover artwork for his Image Comics series Wayward (2014-2018). It appears that her most extensive work to date was for 2022’s Chef’s Kiss, a wholesome-looking gay romance comic from Oni Press. Perhaps due to that background, both Conan and Bêlit appear a little, for lack of a better term, “cute” in this issue. Her Conan is still brawny, but it feels like he’s rendered in a way that is more geared to appeal to heterosexual women readers than the more common scarred, veiny, brutish depictions of Conan. Brine’s version of Bêlit is beautiful but not as　overtly sexualized as some versions of the character. Conan the Barbarian is quite a change of pace from Chef’s Kiss, but the violence in this issue is presented sufficiently dynamically, if not as gory as combat scenes we’ve seen from artists like Doug Braithwaite and Jonas Scharf.

Conan the Barbarian #17 brings back sword & sorcery’s original power couple, and it’s great to see Conan and Bêlit reunited. The series also features a fresh new look, and I suspect the artwork will be an area of special interest during this story arc.

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REVIEW: But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo

Set in the secluded and luxurious Capricious House, But Not Too Bold tells the tale of Dália as she is promoted to Keeper of the Keys, a role she’s been training for her whole life. Unfortunately, her mentor Maltilde, the former Keeper of the Keys, has been eaten by the lady of the house, Madam Anatema. Under the threat of a similar fate, Dália must unravel the mystery that led to Maltilde’s abrupt end. Hache Pueyo has told a deliciously gothic, modern fairy tale with But Not Too Bold that squeezes a lot into this novella-sized package.

“Be bold, be bold, but not too bold,

Lest that your heart’s blood should run cold.”

These are the words that greet visitors to the third floor of Capricious House, where Madam Anatema resides and where only the women of her staff may tread. The words are intended for Anatema’s brides, of which she has had many, to remind them not to look upon Madam’s face. Breaking that rule means you’re next on the menu. Anatema is an Archaic One, an ancient being that has existed long before us human “little people”, and she has the form of what can be best described as a giant spider lady. Mostly spider, and big enough to eat a human whole.

Dália was raised in Capricious House from the age of 8 when she was adopted from a local orphanage. She is used to Anatema’s appearance, having seen her on a few occasions before succeeding Matilde. Not long after becoming Keeper of the Keys, Dália starts to realise that Anatema is paying her special attention – the sort usually reserved for courting a new bride. No bride has lasted more than a couple of weeks in the house before being consumed, nevertheless Dália seems drawn to Anatema and enjoys spending time with her. When the truth behind the aforementioned mystery sends Anatema into a destructive rampage, threatening to eat every member of the household staff, Dália is likely the only thing that can calm the beast; but what will it cost her?

But Not Too Bold blends a gothic setting with the tension of a sword of Damocles dilemma alongside the magic of a fairy tale. If the title and the warning words sound familiar, they feature in an English fairy tale called Mr. Fox, which is the oldest known variation of what became the Bluebeard story. You shouldn’t be surprised either that But Not Too Bold has been compared to Carmilla. This little novella is steeped in the history of both gothic horror and fairy tales, which have been woven together by Pueyo expertly to bring the reader a tense balance between love and tragedy.

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REVIEW: When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

It’s said that all authors write the same books over and over, and while this can sometimes seem like a theory in pursuit of evidence, horror wildchild Nat Cassidy has done his best to prove this both true and a good thing in his excellent run of Mary, Nestlings and Rest Stop, which all ruthlessly explore the idea of what happens when your biggest unexamined fears, anxieties, and faults come home to roost. So it’s fitting that his new book, When the Wolf Comes Home, puts this theme straight in the title—and even more fitting that it’s not just his best book but a genuine horror classic. Hurricane Cassidy has landed, and the devastation it wreaks will leave you breathless.

First, let’s be clear. When the Wolf Comes Home is one of those books that must not be described, so full of twists and blind alleys is it. So to paraphrase Tyrion Lannister, if you want a synopsis, you’ve come to the wrong place. We have Jess, a struggling actress, who comes home to find a five-year-old child in the bushes. After a violent and seemingly monstrous encounter with his father, they go on the run from him, and utter chaos and carnage ensures. That’s all you’re getting, and for good reason, because this is a book that plays with your expectations like a lion with its mewling prey.

What we can say is that the theme of fatherhood looms strong over this book, a warped shadow infecting every paragraph. Jess’s father was pretty rubbish. The child she’s now on the run with doesn’t seem to have a good one either. Bad fathers is a common theme in horror, but Cassidy goes deep into investigating the legacy they leave and how Jess might try and make amends with this child—and how in doing so she risks continuing the legacy of parental failure. These kid-surrogate parent moments form some of most powerful parts of this book; jokey conversations that turn heartbreaking on a dime. The character work is superb.

But if you’re thinking this is a quiet one, don’t be mistaken. This is an insane, whirlwind, chaotic book of fever nightmares for large parts. Gory, brutal, unexpected, and goddamn those twists. Classically, pace can come at the expense of character and thematic work, but Cassidy laughs in the face of such cliche. In this it reminded me of one of the most triumphant of Stephen King’s works, Firestarter, which married relentless action with blisteringly strong parent-child moments. But When the Wolf Comes Home is King dipped in rampant hallucinogens and pumped through Satan’s loudspeaker.

But put aside the traumatising Looney Tunes scene and arguably the the worst conclusion to a game of bridge ever and a dozen more horrors and When the Wolf Comes Home is a whipsmart, fatalistic examination of fear, and its sister anxiety, which asks: are we powerless in our fear, moulded this way by our genetic inheritance? Or can we face it and transform it into something else, retool our toxic legacy into something new so when the wolf finally comes home, we face it with a grin?

When the Wolf Comes Home might feature a wolfman but it’s Dr Frankenstein I’m left in mind: Cassidy has brought life to an unspeakably effective stitchwork of relentless pace, twists and horrifical tableaus fused with some of the most satisfying thematic closure and poignant character work you’ll read for a while. It’s a nightmarish but meaningful existential creation you won’t see coming—this wolf will blow your house down.

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REVIEW: Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

The latest novel from Australian author Kell Woods, Upon a Starlit Tide, is a standalone historical fantasy inspired by classic fairy tales. It is a dark and captivating tale, in the same way the stories from which Wood takes inspiration are. The conventions of some of these fairy tales seeping into Upon a Starlit Tide gives Woods’ novel a comfortable sense of familiarity, and even though this is an original story, it is very easy to slip into this world and enjoy the storytelling from the get-go. Particularly if, like me, you have always preferred the Hans Christian Anderson or Brothers Grimm tales to other, more popular versions.

As Upon a Starlit Tide is a standalone novel, there is no requirement to have read Wood’s earlier book, After the Forest. However, that tale of what happens to Hansel and Gretel once they escape the forest was an equally good story with the same writing style; if you like one, I’d bet on you enjoying the other, too. I read After the Forest because of the opinion of the GdM team member who called it ‘a powerhouse debut’ and grabbed Upon a Starlit Tide for the same reason. Woods writes complex characters and deals with some tough themes in a skilled and nuanced way. I already thought she was a standout author after reading After the Forest, and Upon a Starlit Tide has cemented that opinion for me.

Upon a Starlit Tide takes place in Saint-Malo, Brittany, in 1758, and focuses on Lucinde Leon, the youngest and most treasured daughter of a wealthy former captain turned ship owner. Lucinde is not like her sisters, she doesn’t yearn for a good marriage or care for fashionable dresses and the latest gossip. Luce has always thought there is something more out there, just out of reach. The closest she gets to catching that feeling is being taught to sail by her best friend Samuel, a smuggler. The waves have always called to Luce, and the sea feels like a comforting companion to her. Unsurprising then that one morning after a storm, she doesn’t hesitate to dive into the rough waters to rescue a drowning man heedless of the risk to herself or the consequences of taking something that the sea has laid claim to.

As I said, Upon a Starlit Tide is a very easy to read novel. There are a lot of similarities to the classic fairy tales that I love, so this novel will appeal enormously to others who enjoy this style. Woods has brought in the darker psychological elements from this type of tale, of things that lurk beneath or are just out of sight in the dark, and blended them up with some of the dark parts of humanity, the casual cruelty of some men and their greedy, sadistic, brutality. There are a lot of folktale retellings and fairy tale-inspired stories out there, but Woods’ original Upon a Starlit Tide is one of the better ones I have read. Although it feels familiar, the plot is never predictable, and I immensely enjoyed Woods’ mix of history and fantasy. The two genres are balanced throughout the novel, making Upon a Starlit Tide feel utterly immersive.

Upon a Starlit Tide was a compelling and fascinating novel. The darker parts of the story are mixed with lighter moments – with Luce’s joy, her friendships, and her changing relationships with those around her. Some of these are bittersweet, and the reader will grieve Luce’s losses and celebrate her successes. Woods’ vivid writing will sweep you off on an adventure you will never forget, it is a magical story of self discovery in the best way. Thank you to Kell Woods and the team at Titan Books for sending Grimdark Magazine an ARC of Upon a Starlit Tide to be able to provide this review.

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REVIEW: The Path of Pain and Ruin by Joel Glover

I came across Joel Glover’s The Path of Pain and Ruin somewhat by chance in the post-Christmas haze of sales and discounts everywhere. Marketed as “fast paced, brutal dark fantasy” and at a slim total of 94 pages, I thought ‘why not?’ and clicked to buy it. I do not regret that decision. The Path of Pain and Ruin is proof that, sometimes, a gut feeling and an impulse purchase are all you need for a great bit of grimdark entertainment.

The action kicks off immediately as Glover throws the reader into a dark, bleak world, endlessly scarred with violence. The protagonist, nameless, is forced to undertake a journey across the ruins of an empire seeking answers and revenge. The word that springs to mind most readily to describe The Path of Pain and Ruin is unrelenting. Everything about this story is all-go and it doesn’t let up.

Our protagonist, known to some as The Last General, to others as our Lady of Flames, is one of the Hundred Blessed; a devastating force that were gifted superhuman abilities by forging themselves together with angels. Each angel has a different power, and so each of the Hundred Blessed has different abilities. This joining of mortals with angels offers some interesting exploration of destiny, belief and faith – in amongst all the smouldering bodies left in the wake of the MC.

With one angel that lets her see moments into the future and another that allows her to control fire, alongside a long history of violence, tragedy and survival, the Lady of Flames is a ruthless and effective killer. Her tendency is to take the offensive; burn first, talk later. She meets up with old allies from the Hundred cohort to establish who is behind the order to end her life. In following the trail across the continent, they throw themselves into hopeless fight after hopeless fight until an epic, fiery conclusion.

Splitting the timeline between past and present, The Path of Pain and Ruin gives you a lot of world-building and backstory, which is tantalisingly dark and brutal. If you’re looking for a short but explosive novella to squeeze in between chunkier tomes without sacrificing on the grimness levels, The Path of Pain and Ruin is ideal. If you find yourself in need of more from this world, Glover also has Paths to Empires’ Ruins released, and the two novellas seem to be building up to something bigger in ‘The Gods’ Paths’ series.

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REVIEW: Dead Men’s Laughter #1

Old and vengeful ghosts come to haunt two ex-criminals in the noir-fueled murder spree that is Dead Men’s Laughter. A creator-owned horror/crime one-shot comic written by Will O’Mullane with art/colors by Marco Perugini and letters by Jonathan Stevenson, Dead Men’s Laughter follows Russell and Harry, two jewel thieves who took part in a heist that went very wrong years ago. Now, as the two men have aged and their crime is far off in the past, they reminisce about what they’ve done, only to discover that some of their old wounds haven’t been healed yet. What follows is a story about mistakes, regret, and payback.

Dead Men’s Laughter certainly oozes that dark and drippy noir flavor, and really draws you into this dark world. Marco Perugini’s art and moody color choice are wonderfully bleak and tonally appropriate in some areas, while bright and violent as the action ramps up. It makes this story feel alive and viscerally distinct. Blood splatters the page in buckets, adding to the story’s wire-tight tension. Each page hits you hard, dragging you headfirst into the conflict between these doomed, fallen men.

The story of thieves with a not-so-thought-out plan certainly isn’t new, but what I enjoyed most out of Dead Men’s Laughter was the impact that plan has on the two thieves, even many years after the theft takes place. It’s refreshing to see a story that examines a crime that isn’t over, even after they’ve gotten away with it: it’s something that has stayed with them and affects them for a long time.

There’s also a level of horror to Dead Men’s Laughter that I appreciated. Every punch, every crunch of a broken bone, every swing of a knife feels as though it’s frightening. Characters who were friends and coconspirators for many years turn against each other, showing their violent, darker sides. It’s impressive to see how much mileage that the creative team could get out of one, compelling idea that really plays with the genre.

Packed with so many different things I think any reader could enjoy, Dead Men’s Laughter is a horrific feast for the eyes. It’s a pulse-pounding, short thriller that is exciting as it is violent. It’s short, punchy, and full of characters with questionable morality.

As if this writing, Dead Men’s Laughter can be found on Kickstarter.

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