Change of medium
Richard Corben decided to translate the work of Edgar Allan Poe into the language of comics. To this end, he developed both his poems and short stories. And thanks to Mucha Comics , a collection titled Ghosts of the Dead has appeared . It consists of fifteen stories arranged chronologically with respect to the year of publication of Edgar Allan Poe’s works of the same title. So here we have, among others , the Raven , the destruction of the Usher house , the murder at Rue Morgue or the Conqueror of the Worm. I am not particularly familiar with the writer’s work, but I was nevertheless very curious what came out of this experiment. So what motives do we find in these fifteen stories? Rather, we should ask what is not here. Because there are threads related to obsessions, nightmares, burying people alive, unfulfilled love, and even a criminal investigation. It is worth noting that, with the exception of the Holocaust of the Usher house , we are dealing with very short stories, about ten pages long.
Scary stories
I liked the Spirits of the Dead in many ways. When it comes to the story, we have some strong stories. For example, the Red Moore Mask is extremely timely because it tells about an epidemic. A plague ravages the kingdom, and during this time the ruler feasts in a safe castle, but all are equal in the face of death … On the other hand, the Conqueror of Worm surprises with a performance woven into the main plot with puppets. The murder on Rue Morgu is a different story, because we have an investigation and heroes like Sherlock and Watson (although Dupin and Belucu were brought to life earlier), plus the original criminal who committed a double murder. However, after reading Bereniki and Barrels of AmontilladoI will probably remember those grinning faces of heroes for a long time. In fact, each of the fifteen stories featured here has something intriguing about it. In most cases, the main, and sometimes the only disadvantage is their length.
In my opinion, Encounter is the weakest comic in this collection, because there is no macabre, no horror – just another story about unhappy love and obsession. I will also mention an interesting procedure, which is to place a witch in almost all stories, who usually plays the role of the narrator, and sometimes also the hero. This is a really great idea because her comments are a brilliant summing up of a given story. However, I regret that the author was not consistent and did not place it, for example, in the City in the Sea .
A beautiful corpse and an ugly man
The visuals of the Ghosts of the Dead evoke mixed feelings. Richard Corben brilliantly portrays all horrors. The dead people who are in abundance on the pages of this comic book look extremely ugly. People, on the other hand, look terribly caricatured and grotesque. So far, I am not able to say whether I like this appearance of the characters. In addition, the author is obsessed with noses, because there are a lot of characters with large and shapeless noses. Certainly, Corben is also great at drawing details, such as the beard of a captain from the City of the Sea . It also gives a terrifying character to ordinary branches.
Moving on to the issue, I can fault a few small things. First of all, in the Meeting , the text in two balloons was changed. Second, the Introduction has a terrible composition, because some lines contain narrowed words, while others contain quite the opposite. It simply looks ugly in the world, and it is bad to read. In addition, this text would be more suitable for Members . The last disadvantage is the lack of page numbering, which raises the question of what the table of contents was for then! However, an undoubted advantage is the inclusion of a gallery of covers at the end of the volume.
Is it worth reaching for the Spirits of the Dead ?
Definitely yes, because it’s a remarkable, intriguing and original comic book. The very line of Richard Corben is specific, amazing and intriguing. Add to that stories filled with macabre, dead bodies, and deranged heroes, and we’re in the perfect position for fans of dark horror stories. I will not say whether we are dealing with a very good adaptation of Edgar Alan Poe ‘s stories and poems , but for sure the Ghosts of the Dead is a great comic book. My only regret is that there is only one longer story in this collection.
