Now, what made these stories stay in the brains of many, especially when alone at night, was the book didn't hold back on the macabre and creep factor. Each tale was either morbid, creepy, or down right frightening. It even had a song which describes what happens to your body as it rots in your grave! I am not joking when I say that these books were like a gateway drug to Stephen King and Clive Barker. Screw Goosebumps, Scary Stories was the real deal.
Now, what amped up the frights was the downright scary blotchy ink paintings by artist Stephen Gammell, who before these books, was a commercial artist. It was his artwork that made the books far more special.
As a kid I almost couldn't open the book without creeping the fuck out of myself. His surreal and haunting paintings of dead brides, hell hounds, ghosts, and the undead, were nothing but pure nightmare fuel for me during my youthful years.
Now, around October, I will pull out my original printings of the three books and will revisit them for a good scare. I also started to share them with my daughter when she got old enough to read them, the artwork and tales, also giving her the same frights and chills it did to me when I was her age.
In 2011 Harper-Collins had released a box set of the books, yet had taken out the original artwork and replaced them with something more kid friendly. I am not alone, when I say that this pissed me off. Many, who much like me, had read these books as children and to see something from their youth get altered in such a way pissed them off.
But there is some good news now. This week, the books have been re-issued and Stephen Gammell's paintings have been put back in. So now all is right in the land of horror and Halloween.
Here are the full details of the new reprints (via Bloody Disgusting).
Comments
Post a Comment