Eerie Tales From the School of Screams

Brother and sister duo, Davis and Emily, are having a difficult time with their latest assignment. Their teacher, Ms. Nomed, has tasked her class with telling the eeriest story they know. And so begins Eerie Tales from the School of Screams, a graphic novel anthology by Graham Annable that is composed of five short scary stories, each told by a different student in Ms. Nomed’s class.

In the first story, “The Village that Vanished”, readers are taken back in time when two tax collectors travel to the town of Wattersburg only to find that the town has vanished. In their search for Wattersburg, they meet a mysterious man who tells them a scary story about the original inhabitants of the town, fish-like people who struck an agreement with the original human settlers for food. Once the agreement was broken, however, and a fish person was killed, the fish people destroyed the town in retribution.

The second tale, “The Face in the Forest”, is a straight-up, old-fashioned revenge story. Here, a little girl named Luanne is raised by her abusive aunt and uncle who force her to take care of their home. One day, while chopping up wood in the forest, she meets a man’s decapitated head that has the eerie ability to talk. Luanne befriends the head and begins returning to the same spot in the forest every time she needs to chop up wood. After he remembers where the rest of his body is hidden in the woods, Luanne helps stitch him back up. As repayment, the man helps Luanne enact revenge on her abusive guardians.

The third tale, “The Ghastly Ghost Chase”, is a bit sillier, perfect for fans of less scary horror stories. Here, three children are playing with a drone in the park when they meet a ghost. After running away scared, they realize that the ghost has taken up playing with their drone and has now broken it. The children decide to chase it, and what ensues is a wild ghost chase through town. After leading them to a haunted house, the ghost turns the three friends into ghosts, themselves, who now haunt kids in the park as well.

In the penultimate story, “The Infinite Loop of Lunacy”, readers are treated to a scary science fiction tale about a space ship that gets damaged by alien beings who are trying to capture it. Once the aliens infiltrate the ship, they begin taking over the astronauts one by one, until finally the captain is also captured. The story ends just like it begins, suggesting the ship and its inhabitants, are stuck in an infinite loop.

Finally, Davis finds the courage to tell the fifth and final tale, “The Door to Demons”, about two children who are being babysat by their grandfather. While searching his house for candy, they discover a secret portal hidden behind a picture frame. Not surprisingly, the children are able to open the portal which unleashes a demon. After their grandfather helps them subdue the demon with candy, he explains that he and their grandmother used to travel to different dimensions for years. Sadly, their grandmother has been trapped inside that portal for 15 years so they never got to meet her. After deciding to help their grandfather find their long-lost grandmother, the children enter the portal only to unleash more demons.

And with that, the reader is now led to believe that the book is over, but it is not. After telling his story, Davis reveals that the story is, in fact, true, and he and his sister Emily are the children in “The Door to Demons.” Not only have they unleashed demons into this dimension, but their teacher, Ms. Nomed, is a demon, herself, who feeds on tales of fear. With the help of their classmates and their grandfather, Davis and Emily destroy their teacher with candy and escape into another dimension with the use of a portal that is hidden in their classroom.

Filled with spine-tingling stories, Eerie Tales from the School of Screams is the perfect graphic novel for fans of graphic horror. But let me be clear here – although classified as horror, the stories, themselves, are not gruesome and are age-appropriate, with just the right amount of humour and adventure to even out the tales. In fact, this would be a great introduction for younger readers to the genre.

Adding to the graphic novel’s appeal are the eerily sublime illustrations. Graham Annable has managed to create kid-friendly designs that are spooky but won’t give children nightmares. Plus, his choice of muted colour palette, including greys and dark purples, adds to the creepy nature of the tales being told.

Overall, a frightfully delicious read.