This series bears some resemblances to the earliest issues of Grimm Fairy Tales, and this issue maintains that same link, but it is not to its benefit here.  Part of what made Grimm Fairy Tales so intriguing is that it took fairly common day to day occurrences and provided some karmic justice to those who had done wrong.  Where the early series went a little off the tracks and where it is lost here, is that it tries to hard to fit a fairy tale to a real life event, and this story ends up being an exercise of suspension of disbelief about the real world.

The story follows a young girl who is trying to deal with the death of her mother.  Furthermore her father is disinterested in her and her new mother-in-law is her biological aunt, as her father has married his dead wife’s sister.  This is not really the kind of setup which happens to people every day, and so instantly the relatability of this scenario gives the story more ground to make up, and it never really gets around to doing so.  The supernatural side of the story focuses on Bloody Mary  and how this ties into the story is probably the strongest thing going on here, as it does not unfold as would be expected from the urban legends.

This series is an unexpected gem, likely overlooked for a number of reasons, but in terms of consistent stories dealing with terror it has been above par.  That each story is told in a one-shot style format means that each has to stand on its own merits and can’t rest on what momentum was carried forward by previous issue.  Because of that certain issues are likely to not shine as bright and that is the case here, with a still readable though slightly forgettable story.

Story: Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco and Josh Gorfain Art: Joel Ojeda and Eleonora Carlini
Story: 7.2  Art: 7.2 Overall: 7.2 Recommendation: Pass

Zenescope provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review