Book Review: Then it Was Dark

Then it Was Dark: A Paranormal Anthology

Warnings: Suicide, animal abuse

Rating: 3/5 stars

“Then it was Dark” is an anthology of 21 short paranormal comics. The anthology focuses heavily on real life stories that happened to the creators, or friend of a friend stories related to the creators. It felt like a Reddit true-horror board in comic form. Many of the horror and paranormal elements were very subtle, and unsettling more in their realism than their actual scariness. These were, by and large, stories that you could see happening to you in everyday life, even if you don’t necessarily believe in the paranormal.

There was a variety of lovely styles throughout the book, some watercolory, some line heavy, and some a wonderful blend of multiple styles such as manga and noir. At the same time, there were a few styles I didn’t enjoy as much, usually because they made the story hard to follow and the art hard to decipher. One was very scribbling and messy, another blurry, another had a poor choice of font that distracted from the story.

The stories themselves ran much the same path as the art: some were great, some weren’t really remarkable. There were a couple stories based at summer camps, which as a former camp goer myself, I’m always a sucker for. Other stories were sweet, still others had lovely descriptions that sucked you in.

Overall this was a pretty good collection, and I would recommend it if you’re looking for some good, realistic paranormal stories.