Grimm Tales of Terror is an unexpected hidden gem on the Zenescope brand.  While the main stories of Grimm Fairy Tales have long since given up the format which made it so popular to begin with, this series harnesses a bit of what made that special and puts a bit of a twist on it.  In place of Sela and Belinda is Keres, a far less sympathetic arbiter than even Belinda was.  In place of fairy tales there are horror stories, usually not all that terrifying, but also somewhat on-point when it comes to their relevance to the story at hand.

In this particular story, a small girl is introduced, one that is afraid of the dark and the things that lurk there.  As she grows up she is subjected to a variety of problems, she is orphaned and then bullied, and the headmaster at her orphanage seems to think it is ok to take advantage sexually of the underage girls, her roommate being one of his favorite targets.  This being a horror story it does not end well for those that torment her, but it also wraps up well with a little bit of a morality tale thrown in for balance, making the lessons that she learned have a deeper meaning. The cover’s image indicates something more Lovecraftian in nature, and while the tentacles are missing within, there is definitely something to this as well, as it is more what remains unseen as opposed to what is visible.

It is not so much as a horror that this story succeeds, because the comic format is really not as well suited for the genre, but rather in the combination of horror with some other aspects where the story comes together.  The previous issue was a bit more of a surprise in terms of its quality, and really the writing on it was better than what is seen here.  Nonetheless, the story here does invoke some of the earlier days of this publisher and it is nice to see that the format still works, even when the story is not as much of a standout.

Story: Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco and Shane McKenzie Art: Claudia Balboni
Story: 7.7  Art: 7.7 Overall: 7.7 Recommendation: Read