A Review of Kelly Everaert’s TRILOGY OF TERROR by Andrew Salmon
What’s in a name? Well, plenty. Permit me to elaborate. The title of Kelly Everaert’s homage to the great horror magazines and comics of yesteryear might lead the reader to conclude that there are only 3 tales in this beautiful 54-page, black and white, 10.5″ X 8″ stroll through nightmares. Not so, the title refers to the volume being a collection of the 3 issues of Everaert’s small; press comic. There are 6 tales in this gloriously beastly book – tales you don’t want to miss.
That is if you’re a fan of the EC horror comics, Eerie, Creepy and the like. If the style of the cover illustration alone doesn’t ring any bells, then you’re in troubled waters, hard about. However, for any fan of classic horror, and who isn’t, TRILOGY OF TERROR will fit your reading needs like your favorite easy chair fits your nether regions. Everaert has clearly done his homework with this volume. That he is a fan of this stuff shines through on every page.
“Retribution From The Deep” gets the bleeding started with a haunting tale of greed and revenge. “Awaiting Rescue” jumps ahead for a quick sci-fi tingler featuring a female astronaut stranded on an alien world who may, or may not, be alone. “The Curse” yanks us back to Victorian times for a journey into the occult for the book’s longest tale. The fast-paced “Open House”shows us that a lot can be revealed when showing a property to prospective buyers. Should one only be afraid of getting mugged while walking through New York’s Central Park? “A Walk Through the Park” answers that question. Here Everaert gets a helping hand with inks by Robin Thompson. Everaert brings the collection to a bloody close with “The Prize Catch”, a shocker Lovecraft would be proud of.
TRILOGY OF TERRORis a throwback in every sense of the word. Everaert is not trying to re-invent the wheel here. This is no updating or re-imagining of the classic horror comics. Rather the book stalks down this familiar territory with gusto and verve served up by an artist who knows the route to what scares us. The artwork is richly detailed, heavy blacks abound. The tales move quickly. The writing duties are shared between the writing tag-team of Kelly and his wife, Michelle and the tales move towards their grisly conclusions at a great clip. The variety of tales here also means that there’s something for everyone to scream at.
For those readers out there who can only look longingly at the original issues of the horror classics or shake one’s head in awe at the prices for the various collections of same, TRILOGY OF TERROR, coming in at $6 a throw over at IndyPlanet will seem like a steal. Don’t miss this one horror fans!
To find out more about the artist and his work check out: Kelly Everaert
