Fairy tales and horror go hand in hand. One of the main reasons that fairy tales were created was to create a system of scaring children into behaving properly by teaching some aspect of morality. In case they didn’t they would face against supernatural forces that would devour them for their small or big transgressions. Though they are not often linked, Halloween and fairy tales therefore have a fair amount in common, and so the connection between the franchise of Grimm Fairy Tales and Halloween would seem to be a natural one. Over the past six years Zenescope has put out a Halloween special every year and although these have been of mixed quality, the spooky horror aspect has been a common link between them, even if the actual scares were more light-hearted or just resorted to gore as a last resort. That being the case, this is the first of the series which somewhat abandons that concept for something else.

It is interesting to look upon the Grimm Fairy Tales stories as a representation of the direction of the company itself. The series started off with a fairly strong concept, but then transformed into something different as the stories behind the stories were told, as darker forces were made apparent that were pulling the strings. Heroes were added and the original stories were all but forgotten as a shared universe was sought after, incorporating among other things Greek legends and the fantastical worlds of Wonderland, Oz and Neverland. While along the way a lot of interesting work has been created, the main series has gone off track, getting too caught up in its own characters, and straying too far from the concept that made it popular to begin with. While there are evidently still a lot of fans of the series, it is nonetheless not what fans of the original run were familiar with.

I read the main series for a while, and found the first few years of issues to be pretty engaging, but as more of the shared universe creeped in, I left it behind. I still have enough of an interest to check out some of the specials though, but the newest special left me feeling somewhat disappointed. The specials have generally followed a template of introducing shorter stories, numerous of which can be told in one book, and the mechanic for telling these stories in the past has been clever enough.  In this year’s edition, this mechanic is more about exposure for newly-introduced characters which I am unfamiliar with and who are equally not engaging. The resulting focus on these characters and not the horror makes this issue fall somewhat flat.  There is very little actual horror here at all, only looking at some of the nightmares of the characters in passing. It is not even really clear who the protagonist of this is either.  The end result is an issue which loses any chance it had at success before it began.

Story: Dan Wickline Art: Butch Mapa
Story: 3.0 Art: 5.0 Overall: 3.25 Recommendation: Pass

Zenescope provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review