If you’re part of the Columbia College Chicago community, chances are you need to take a breather from all that work you do every day just to keep your head above water. Plus, it’s that time of year again — when all things dead (or undead) call out to us and, for some weird reason, we all actually want to get the creeps.
Why not stop by the library to pick up a spooky read? The graphic novel collection is packed with all things ghostly. Consider the following picks from Columbia’s collection to help you get into the spirit of All Hallows’ Eve (along with a new favorite of mine that can be found at one of Chicago’s many comic book shops, see below).
First: What can be found in Columbia’s graphic novel collection:
Oh, the horror:
- Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Endless Nights
- Stephen King’s The stand. Hardcases
- Ed Brubaker’s Fatale
- Mitch Schauer’s Rip, M.D.
Coming of age (or not):
- Ivan Velez’ Dead High Yearbook
- Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girls
A little humor never hurt anybody:
- Matt Groening’s The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror: Dead Man’s Jest
AND AS PROMISED: This favorite can be found elsewhere and is worth the cash: Harris, C., and Golden, C. (2014). Cemetery girl, book one: The pretenders. New York: InkLit.
Cemetery Girl, Book One: The Pretenders will get you thinking about the value of friendship, loyalty, and the power of kindness — all with a bit of mystery/crime-solving folded into a particularly haunting, otherworldly undercurrent that occasionally may raise the hair on the back of your neck.
I flew through this mystery compilation that follows a girl with amnesia who ends up making her home in a mausoleum after being left for dead by a mysterious would-be killer. I am now officially obsessed with the Cemetery Girl series of comics all wrapped up in a neat little package (er, graphic novel). Sadly, I have to wait for Book Two to get my fix.
Either way, the plot lines from one edition to another already have kept me guessing equally as much as the main story line has. I simply must know what happens next. I actually wake thinking about the narrative and the artwork, although I have to say that this is a case of falling for the illustrations but absolutely adoring the plot.
IMAGE CAPTION:
Sample image courtesy of The Slings and Arrows Graphic Novel Guide
No. 1 best-selling author Charlaine Harris, who typically has stuck to writing mystery novels with a decidedly paranormal bent, keeps her readers guessing with her first comic/graphic novel, Cemetery Girl, Book One: The Pretenders.
