'Two fisher-woman cousins, a grief-stricken woman, a young fortune-teller and a spineless man live in a town in the deep north of Spain during the 30’s. Together, they belong to a fantastic world where the paranormal clashes with prewar realism. Darkness and death are the links that make and unmake the short stories in this book, each inspired by the experiences of the author’s family. These tales ring true enough to be the legends and beliefs of any European coastal town: they speak of a difficult land in a time before electricity or roads, when people entertained each other with tales of mist and ghosts. This is the first work of a young designer, halfway between a collection of Grimm fairy tales and the magical terror of Pan’s Labyrinth.'
Tales of Mist is a new graphic novel written and drawn by Laura Suárez, filled with short stories handed down to her from her grandmother. The book takes the old folk tales that her grandmother grew up with and presents them as short horror stories, and it works so, so well.
The book has a few short stories in them, each of which seems to deal with various themes of Spanish folktales, tying into fears of the time they came from, and a lot of them connected strongly to the religious nature of the country.
'The Santa Compana' tells the story of a fisher-woman and her cousin, a young woman who was one of the most beautiful women in their village. One day the two of them are walking through the woods together when they see a strange procession of shadowy figures. The narrator runs away, leaving her cousin to face these figures alone. When her cousin returns changed, she has to face the prospect that the ghostly Santa Compana are real.
'The Devil' sees a young man travelling with a local priest to assist a priest with two young women who has been accused of being possessed. This dark story has some really unsettling visuals, particularly when the young women begin whispering things to the man from inside their locked boxes, their words snaking and dripping across the pages.
'The Vidoiro' follows a young man when he begins seeing strange visions and ghostly figures after his grandmother dies. The story unfolds slowly over a number of years, and it keeps you on your toes as you try to figure out what's going on and just what is haunting him.
Thanks to the dark black and white artwork from Suárez the book instantly feels creepy, and she's able to convey a lot of atmosphere in its relatively short number of pages. The stories on their own would certainly be creepy, but with this style of artwork they work in concert to really amp up the feeling of oppression and tension, making the stories shine.
If I have on criticism of the book, however, it's that its too short. We get several stories in this collection, and they're all great, but I found myself reading through the whole thing quite quickly, and was just left feeling like I'd not had enough. This is a good criticism to have of something though, as it's always better to end up wanting more of something than feeling like a books overstayed its welcome.
Fans of horror will really enjoy this book, and its unique look and stories that aren't as well known will definitely make it stand out from other horror graphic novels vying for your attention.
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