Bad Dreams in the Night by Adam Ellis

TL;DR: If you’re a fan or new to Adam Ellis’s work, these short horror comics are fun and unsettling. I really enjoyed these.
Source: Netgalley – Thank you so much to the publisher!

Plot: Each plot is quick and contained, I didn’t leave any of the stories feeling unresolved and enjoyed the structure of each.
Characters: These felt accurate to the story and appropriate to the era/age of the characters.
Setting: This varied from story to story but fit well for each, as mentioned below his use of composition and space made these settings come to life.
Horror: Each story was very creepy and unique in it’s own way. I loved these, even the ones I’ve seen before felt fun on a revisit.

Thoughts:

Longtime fans of Adam Ellis will probably need no pitch on this one but for new fans I really truly recommend this. The stories are short, bite-sized horror with inspiration in classic and modern horror.

This collection had two big strengths for me. The first was that each story had an author’s note telling about the inspiration and the root idea. I loved this as it added depth to the story and a perspective I might not have seen.

The second is that Adam Elli’s use of space and composition is fantastic. I love his panel layouts and designs and the angles of so many of his shots. This is a development I’ve seen over the years of following his work and this graphic novel really illustrated how he’s grown as an artist.

I loved this collection and can’t wait to have my own copy for the shelves to reread, as I’ll definitely do so in the future.

4.5 out of 5 Creepy Milk Doors