In the dark spirit of the original Brothers Grimm tales, the gang at Omnibucket gives the children’s story a sly upheaval in the limited-edition GOD’S ACRE: BOOK ONE – THE RAVENS & THE RHYME. Recall your childhood immersed with your nose in cardstock-bound stories, only slightly aware that something sinister lurked beneath the shiny-happy surface; it’s now been brought to the forefront.
Norman and Isabel are a brother and sister who live in an isolated mansion run by their abusive grandmother. Part of their escape from this less-than-idyllic existence is to visit the nearby “cemetamy,” where the groundskeeper – a cloaked man in black named Cephus – entertains them with tales of the bodies buried underneath their tiny feet. This particular day entails the story of Norman Criddle, somewhat of a schlub who lived with ravens, which the apple of his eye simply could not stand. A broken heart for Norman leads, of course, to a tragic end.
GOD’S ACRE has the look of a children’s book that you wouldn’t want your children to get a hold of, partly because you wouldn’t want them to mar its beauty with their jam-sticky fingers and partly because your parental responsibilities include shielding them from potential nightmares. Lovingly crafted in words and pictures by Scott Lambridis, Angie Needels and Dave Senecal, its pages are a full-bleed mix of miniatures with the occasional hand drawing, painting and typographical trick.
The dolls serving as models for the kids and adults are inherently creepy, so throw in a little child abuse, a big axe, rats, birds and a strange man in the graveyard, and the effect is all the more disturbing. This fractured fairy tale plays out like a fever dream animated by Rankin-Bass, an episode of DAVEY AND GOLIATH guest-directed by Satan, or a Little Golden Book under the creative control of THE SANDMAN cover artist Dave McKean.
As with Omnibucket’s prior release – the zombie anthology BRAINCHILD – this book is exceedingly well-designed – each page has been assembled with such thought, care and skill that it’s flat-out impressive. This is a small-press marvel, but to be honest, it’d be a marvel even under the auspices of the big-boy publishers. The sprawling gravesite of GOD’S ACRE suggests there are many more stories to be told – the open end certainly suggests as much, with the worst yet to come – and one hopes a return visit isn’t far off. –Rod Lott
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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• BRAINCHILD
