The Dark Horse Book of Monsters [Hardcover]

Kurt Busiek (Author), Evan Dorkin (Author), Mike Mignola (Author, Artist), Others (Author, Artist), Keith Giffen (Author), Timothy Green II (Author), Jill Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dark Horse Book of | Publication Date: December 12, 2006

Mike Mignola takes Hellboy on a monster-crunching mission and Gary Gianni provides illustrations for a classic tale of South Seas horror by William Hope Hodgson in this fourth addition to Dark Horse's Eisner-nominated books of Hauntings, Witchcraft and The Dead. Along with Mignola and Gianni, Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson - who won Eisners in both 2004 and 2005 for their stories in Hauntings and Witchcraft - return to unveil a new painted story starring everyone's favorite evil-fighting strays. Also included is an homage to the great creature comics of Jack Kirby by Kurt Busiek and Keith Giffen, and many more terrifying yarns by some of the most talented folks in comics!

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The last of a set of horror anthologies (after The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, 2003; Witchcraft, 2004; and The Dead, 2005) whimpers more than it bangs. Except for another of Evan Durkin and Jill Thompson's marvelously painted (by Thompson) adventures of a clutch of pooches dogged by the supernatural (this time, a teenage werewolf), the stories aren't as good as they look, though with the likes of Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and Juan Ferreyra (Rex Mundi) contributing, they do look marvelous. As before, Gary Gianni's pen-and-ink illustrations for the volume's cover and customary pulp horror-story reprint take top artistic honors. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (December 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593076568
• ISBN-13: 978-1593076566
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hyras, lions, and...what the!!! O My!, May 7, 2007

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dark Horse Book of Monsters (Hardcover)

The Dark Horse "Book of..." series of books are nicely packaged and come with a variety of stories, some old and thankfully not forgotten by readers and some newer mintings by authors that everyone is familiar with, and the three I've picked up so far have been excellent reads. This is not to say they are for everyone - when you buy these you are basically picking up books that are more akin to older comic titles than something new and you are picking up something with a gimmick that could be viewed as campy if you are not into things like this. I originally picked it up because I wanted to see the offering by Mike Mignola, quickly noticed the Hodgson story added to the fray and Moore-Reppion-Green addition that seemed like a pulp comic from a time long forgotten, and was happy with the buy. Hardbacked, with a motif that showcases a beautifully designed interior that makes it look like a book of monsters, I was actually impressed with the fun read that was not terribly priced.

The Book of Monsters is basically seven stories that take up 82 pages, and the read is more like enjoying a stroll through comic horror than touching on anything serious. The best offering in the illustration department is, by far, the Mike Mignola piece, with a nice little story and the classic Hellboy catch. Also note that the Hodgson piece is a story and that it has pictures accompanying it; this really is a pulp piece that is like stepping back in time.
The pieces include:
(1) I Witnessed the End of the World! Busick, writer
(2) The Hydra and the Lion: A Hellboy Adventure Mignola, writer
(3) A Tropical Horror. Hodgson, writer Gianni -art (hopefully time will never lose Hodgson's place in horror history)
(4) To Weave a Lover: A Rex Mundi Story Nelson, writer
(5) The Horror Beneath Moore/Reppion, writers
(6) Hidden: A Devil's Footprints Story. Allie, writer
(7) A Dog and his Boy Dorkin/Dyer, writers

If you want a diversion this is a good book and, if you are a Hellboy collector, this is a piece of the puzzle. It is short - 6 pages total - and most of the stories are going to be the same. The appeal is not for everyone but, if this is your kind of climate, it is a good buy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Design and Artwork, Cliched Stories, December 9, 2007

By 

Andrew Shaffer "Author, Blogger" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Horse Book of Monsters (Hardcover)

The book design and artwork are beautiful. The stories, ranging from 6 to 8 pages mostly, are too short to really go anywhere. With more space, one hopes that the creators could have given us something more than Frankenstein and pulp horror retreads.

4.0 out of 5 stars A must have for horror fans, November 8, 2011

By 

Adam Hasser (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Horse Book Of Monsters (Hardcover)

I've read all 4 of the "Dark Horse Book of ..." books. I actually won all four of them from a Dark Horse Halloween giveaway. (Thanks Dark Horse!) However after reading all four books I can easily say that I would have gladly bought them.

I think any fan of horror, Hellboy or Beasts of Burden will enjoy these collections. I really liked that each book had a classic short story in it with great illustrations by Gary Gianni. His style matches the stories perfectly. I even enjoyed the 3 interviews. I don't remember there being a bad story in the bunch. What the books lack in page count they make up for in content and design. Check em out.