GRIMM TALES OF TERROR QUARTERLY: 2022 HOLIDAY SPECIAL, from Zenescope Entertainment on December 14th, 2022, spins four tales of horror to stuff into your Christmas stocking.
The Details
- Written by: Honor Vincent
- Art by: Dario Tallarico, Massimiliano La Manno, Alessandro Uezu, Juan Franciso Mota
- Colors by: Leonardo Paciarotti
- Letters by: Taylor Esposito
- Cover art by: Al Barrionuevo (cover A)
- Cover price: $8.99
- Release date: December 14, 2022
Is It Good?
Okay, now we’re cooking with Christmas goose fat (Don’t make that face. Goose is delicious.). GRIMM TALES OF TERROR QUARTERLY: 2022 HOLIDAY SPECIAL arrives just in time to turn every Christmas tradition on its head by giving everyone on the Naughty List a fate far worse than coal in their stocking.
Be advised. This anthology book contains four loosely-connected stories. However, casting Keres in the role of a Christmas shop manager in a Mall is the perfect connective tissue to join the leads of each short together. And thankfully, all the shorts meet the minimum bars of entertainment and quality. There isn’t a stinker in the bunch.
In terms of entertainment and appeal, the art is right in line with the writing, which is a wordy way of saying “the art looks great.” As you can see from the credits above, a squad of artists worked on the book, with different pencilers/inkers handling each short. From what we could tell, the art quality doesn’t drop one bit from artist to artist, and the entire quarterly has interesting-looking characters, action, and scares.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
For an anthology review, we describe each short separately and touch on what worked or didn’t.
Desk Buddies
Chris and Astrid are work colleagues, but Chris wants a more-than-work relationship. When Astrid finally breaks up with her boyfriend, Chris makes an aggressive move to win her over. Unfortunately, Astrid’s toxic relationship with her old boyfriend is far from over.
Playing off the problems of relationships in the modern world, this story feels uncomfortable in several right and wrong ways. However, that’s the point. You feel bad for Chris, but at the same time, Chris’s pushiness created his own nightmare. In other words, kudos to Vincent for hitting a sensitive nerve.
Blessed
Charlie and Liv feel truly blessed to have everything they want during the Holiday season, especially when they owe all they have to the human sacrifices they perform in service to a demon. Unfortunately, Liv and Charlie learn not all their past sacrifices will take the Holiday Season lying down.
Who doesn’t love a “bad guy gets his comeuppance” story? Charlie and Liv are despicable enough to make you feel good about every bad thing that happens to them, and this short will leave you with plenty to feel good about.
The Defender
Marie is scared. She’s sacred because a monster visits her in her room every night when the monster thinks she’s sleeping. Her mother and step-father don’t believe her, but the special nutcracker soldier Marie gets at the Mall is supposed to defend Marie, no matter what type of monster comes calling in the night.
If you read between the lines, you know exactly what kind of monster Marie is dealing with, so soak in the schadenfreude when a loathsome monster gets what’s coming to him.
Kallikantzaroi
A slimy politician running for Mayor is all smiles and handshakes when it comes to donating presents to the needy at Christmas time. When the politician’s secret robbery ring steals Christmas from young and old, the Kallikantzaroi pay a visit to set things right.
The Kallikantzaroi are a type of Christmas goblin from Greek mythology. It’s not clear if the version depicted here is true to the legend, but the toothsome little buggers truly are the stuff of Christmas nightmares. Get ready for more well-deserved comeuppance.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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GRIMM TALES OF TERROR QUARTERLY: 2022 HOLIDAY SPECIAL is an entertaining stalking stuffer to bring a little cheer into the life of your horror-loving loved ones. The art looks great all the way through, the scares are interesting, and the connective tissue that binds the stories together is every Christmas shopper’s worst nightmare.
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