(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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