Nightmares and Fairy Tales: Beautiful Beasts TPB Review

Title:	Nightmares and Fairy Tales: Beautiful Beasts
Contributors:	Serena Valentino FSc
Publisher:	SLG Publishing
Issue #:	Collects #7 - #12
Year:	2008
Pages:	188 Pages
Age Rating:	12+ (Violence, Cartoon Horror, Adult Themes)
Story Grade:	B
Art Grade:	A

Nightmares and Fairy Tales: Beautiful Beasts collects five stories in 188 pages of beautiful black and white art about five girls/women as told through the eyes of their doll, Annabelle. Now don't go confusing this story as some tie-in to the movie, 'Annabelle', because it isn't. But, some of these stories have their own level of creep to them that makes them worth reading.

These stories are a mix of updated fairly tales and horror stories.The stories are as follows;

• The Ghost and the Doll Shop
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Gwen and the Magic Tree
• Beauty and the Beast
• A Woman Possessed, Parts I and II

In 'The Ghost and the Doll Shop', we meet a woman so needy of gaining possessions that she is willing to throw her life away to buy exactly what she wants when she wants it. She does this without regards to other responsibilities, like paying her rent, buying groceries, etc. 

In 'Little Red Riding Hood' we get an updated tale where the real wolf might actually be wearing sheep's clothing. It raises the question as to who the wolves truly are in our own lives.

In 'Gwen and the Magic Tree', a little girl finds herself gifted with a magical acorn that turns around and saves her life in a story that blends magical fantasy with horror.

In 'Beauty and the Beast', we get a re-imagining of the well known story. After a young girl is imprisoned by her father for falling in love with another girl, it takes a deal with the beast to rescue her in a love conquers all story.

In a 'A Woman Possessed' we get the story of a nursemaid, who after her patient dies, marries the patient's husband and goes insane as a result of a continuous haunting.

Valentino mixes fairy tales, horror and fantasy to tell the stories of beautiful people that are broken, mixed up, confused or just simply fragile. Valentino penned some great characters, but there is something lacking.

The fairy tales come across as re-writes of the originals with surprise endings to shock everyone. I didn't find too much originality in those tales. While I still enjoyed them, I was ultimately left, well, dissatisfied.

The artwork is simply amazing. With Gothic tones, whimsical lines and subtle shadows, FSc really made this book worth a look.

All in all I grade this book a B+. 

Until next time... If everyone around you looks like a sheep, it might be you that is the wolf.