Book Review: Nightmares and Fairy Tales Volume 3, 1140 Rue Royale

by Serena Valentino and Crab Scrambly.

Serena Valentino is the writer of Gloom Cookie (drawn by Ted Naifeh).

I don’t know.  I wanted to be happier with this graphic novel than I was.  I like the art, I generally like the writer.  But the book just wasn’t scary enough, and the plot twist just didn’t pay off.

The story starts out with an aunt returning to a home in New Orleans just before (I think) the turn of the century.  She’s bringing her niece with her.  So far, so good.  As the aunt gives the address to a cab driver, we find out the house is haunted and was the site of a horrible massacre involving slaves.

Ghost proceed to haunt the aunt but leave the niece alone.  The aunt turns to the women at the convent who raised her to provide help.  The ghosts finally start appearing to the niece, warning her not to trust the nuns.

I’m not sure why I didn’t find this story compelling.  Too straightforward?  Lots of conflict, not enough drama (that is, heart-rending choices)?  Too many mysteries revealed, too soon?  Foreshadowing so heavy that the twist didn’t really come as a surprise?  No sense that horrible things would continue to happen, even after the events of the story?

I don’t know.  I should have liked it, and I didn’t.

Ray read it, too.  Her review:  “Not very scary.”

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