First off, I’ve never heard of or thought about oil sands in Alberta, Canada. I thought this book would be about foreign oil, but that’s more of my world history teaching than anything. This book is very real. It would be considered a memoir. Which means it has its ups and downs. Overall, the story is very interesting. I learned things I didn’t know both about Canada, it’s providences, their school debt situation, etc. At the same time there were certain things you just knew were going to happen. Those certain things are trigger warning worthy the but the author has asked people not to give those trigger warning so I’ll just say some people could be triggered. Overall, this book was very slow: the art is great, it flows well, it is just the topic. It’s an interesting study that I am glad I have read. Am I likely to recommend it probably not because it wouldn’t be to the taste of most people that I know. However, I did learn something and I did think it was worth my time. 

 

This is a collection of short graphic stories that take place within the first five months of the Ukraine invasion. All the artists and all the authors are Ukrainian telling the stories as they or their friends and family have lived them. This compilation is fresh because each story is different, recognizable from the news. My favorite chapter is the one with the tractor. I remember the news telling of tractors pulling tanks, and in this you see the tractor as a character (similar to Cars movies) get really mad that these tanks are tearing up the land.  Tractor is going to go get them. This is set up to be a book not only to share what’s going on but to help raise funds for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.  For something that was put together in very little time it’s fantastic. 

 

I’m not sure if my copy of this book is the complete copy or just serial highlights. To strip the flesh is nothing like what I thought it would be based on the cover. I saw the meat hanging in the background, but I was somehow thinking this would about a serial killer, and it is not. It is about a character who has known their entire life they are a boy but was born biologically a girl. Mother has died, and their father cannot see the truth about his son. The story ties itself to hunting how to strip the flesh off the hunted animals.  It also relates to stripping the body of unwanted/necessary body parts.  Overall, I liked what I’ve read of this story, but there seems to be giant gaps. Especially since the story only takes up the first 89 or 90 pages. Then there is like nine other stories, and another five or 10 shorts that do not fit with Strip the Flesh. 

 

This book was so much fun. Prunella is a little girl who likes to garden, and while doing so she finds a special ring. Upon putting this ring on her finger, she goes from human to skeleton and becomes a monster. She gets kicked out of town, other monsters, and realizes that monsters are nothing more than other creatures. Most are good and willing to be your friend if you were willing to be friendly in return. This book was simply lovely. Between the message of acceptance and being pure at heart, to the fantastic and fun illustrations, this book was a joy to read from beginning to end.  I want to see more adventures from prunella. 

 

This story takes us to the land of monsters where everything we normally teach children is exactly the opposite. It’s good to be late for school. It’s good not to turn in your homework and it’s good to have lice. Flop however doesn’t believe any of that, and he’s a bit of an oddball among all the monsters. When given a chance to go into the forbidden forest, he does, and finds out that it’s the forest of kindness, full of bright colors, rainbows, and happiness. He loves it. However, the story ends abruptly and there is no closure, so it feels left up in the air which makes the whole thing a so-so read. 

 

War itself is horror. Abandoned children in an orphanage full of dead bodies is horror. Make one of these children kind of crazy and a cannibal, and the stakes are increased. But luckily, they are two children who don’t want to be cannibals and don’t want to live this life. However, it is World War II, and the children must find a way to survive. It turns out that the dead children of the orphanage aren’t really dead. Their spirits have been moved into the dolls with which they used to play. These dolls have empty eye sockets and once full the dolls come back to life. Their doll life is meant to help the children escape and punish the cannibal child whose parents owned the orphanage. This book is spooky, freaky, and horror laden. The illustrations are fantastic. They perfectly fit the mood. They range from being the gray browns that you would expect when speaking of World War II to the bright vivid colors of a children’s playroom overrun in blood. There are lots of trigger warnings in this book, the main one being cannibalism, but there’s also abandonment, death, destruction, a little bit of everything.  Wow, it’s sad to think about in broad terms (as I discovered while telling a friend about the story) but it’s a fantastic study in horror that I will be recommending for years to come. 

 

 

 

This is a dark volume. You feel Skottie‘s hand in it, because the story is both dark and has a bit of humor. In it, a young woman, an artist, is trying to find her inspiration. She has found success but keeping that success has been hard. She heads off to the country, finds herself a haunted house, decides it’s the perfect atmosphere in which to find her inspiration. But the house is a little more than just haunted. It’s possessed. By a spirit that seems fun but has a much darker side. This is a one-off story that’s perfect for the spooky times. It’s about looking at your inner demons finding them on the outside and finding ways to conquer them. I’d say I’d love to see where this is going, but I think it ends. It’s an ambiguous end but it is and end. As like most Sokie Young stuff, the stories are intriguing and keep you wanting more. If his name is on it. I’m going to read it, and I truly did like this one even if it didn’t have the humor he normally has. 

 

This is short and sweet, but oh so deadly. We start with a family who’s getting ready to run by following the underground railroad.  They need to get out of a life of slavery. However, some slave catchers are out to catch them however, even a gun isn’t going to save the runaways. The only person who can save the runaways is Harriet Tubman demon slayer. She knows what a vampire is, and she knows how to kill it. That’s everything in the first book and I’m glad I have the next two. 

 

This book, like the first is super short. The good thing about that is it leaves you wanting more. We are introduced to a new character that happens to be Harriet‘s son. And that creates way more questions than answers. I am thoroughly enjoying this and I am glad I have book 3.