Review: Chronicles of Terror 2016 Halloween Special

Chronicles of Terror 2016 Halloween Special

WP Comics Ltd

81 Pages

With 75 pages of storytelling, this horror anthology promised to be an excellent read for a dark, dreary night. The British publication features stories from horror writers and artists from around the world. There are a total of 15 stories and 2 artist spotlights (pin-ups), which make for an average page count of 4-5 pages per story, and they vary from color to black-and-white.. 

Despite Cthulhu being featured on the cover, unfortunately he doesn't make an appearance, and none of the stories are really of a cosmic horror quality. Many stories feature monsters, many feature demons, and a few focus on psychological horror and madness. It is a bit disappointing, though, in that some of the stories are not really well fleshed-out —pardon the pun!—) due to page constraints, and some are just bland and predictable. There are some true gems, like the opening story, "Candle Man", about a legendary creature that haunts a small town, a fun story with few words about two skeletons playing poker in a sunken submarine titled "The Deep", and a very strange tale about a demonic cult that takes a totally unexpected twist.

The rest of the stories are rather forgettable, and some variety in the subject matter would have been a benefit to the overall work. I give it 3 stars out of 5.

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