Monday, November 29, 2021

Skin Crawl magazine (issue 1) written and illustrated by Skinner

 

(pb; October 2021: first issue in the Skin Crawl illustrated magazine, created by artist/writer Skinner)

Overall review

This EC/Creepy-inspired horror magazine has entertaining illustrated tales whose art straddles the line between Old School horror-mag artwork and modern-technology glory and storylines that, familiarly moralistic, sport solid twists within their sometimes-rigid frameworks. This is a promising genre magazine, whose first issue is above average and worth owning. 

 

Review, story by story

The untitled origin of Rotten Rollie, Skin Crawl’s tale telling and face-in-its-hand-palm mascot, is up first: in 1692, a witch’s hand used in magickal cursing is severed and locked away. 300 years later, it is discovered, and free to tell the following moralistic and phantasmagoric microstories. . .

 

Mother Earth”: Life-sucking aliens create an alien goddess to better harvest subjugated humans, without fully considering the consequences of their intentions.

 

Homecoming”: A carnival appears in a dreary little town late one night, dramatically altering the fate of its inhabitants.

 

Sight Unseen”: A town derelict (Meighan O’Connor) sees something not meant to be observed, and is perhaps driven made because of it.

 

The Shed”: A cry-wolf tween boy (Danny) and his dog (Duke) encounter a terrifying, tentacular monster on the outskirts of their small town and try to destroy it.

 

The Familiar”: A wizard’s black cat sets out to bring down a hellish kingdom run by an equally hellish monarch. (I especially enjoyed “Familiar.”)




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