Monday, October 16, 2023

Junior High Horrors Halloween Special #1 (Halloween ComicFest Edition)

Imagine if you will all of your favorite slasher movie characters going to the same Junior High together. We're talking costumed killers and final girls all navigating the perils of becoming a teenager together. This 2019 parody sees Jason and Michael Myers as friends Mickey and JV along with Laurie Strode and Nancy. You know Nancy; the girl who lives over there on Elm Street.? Yes, Freddy is here too. Only now he's a stuffed animal cat that Nancy imagines as a kinda sadistic version of Hobbes the tiger. 

With only a few days left until Halloween, the gang are going to go costume shopping. Everyone has an idea what they want to be for trick or treating, except for Mickey. His past couple of costumes haven't had that wow factor and he's sworn off dressing up for good. Hopefully a trip to the mall will inspire him to reconsider and go out in disguise with his pals.

I thought that this was a fun concept. What life was like for some of film's greatest psycho killers when they were teens. In reality, Michael Myers was in a sanitarium. Jason was 'dead'. Freddy was probably abusing and murdering children. But here in this far-fetched parody from Keenspot, the big three stars of 80s horror are innocent teens trying to find their way in the world. 

One thing that I was struck by in this book was how different it looks from most comic books. That's because the fonts are designed especially for readers with dyslexia. Even the scenes themselves are bigger to keep the words from getting lost on the page. While I do not have the word and letters version of dyslexia, I've been diagnosed with the numerical version of dyslexia. I think if I had had math books designed like this, I might have done better in those classes. 

I really like the cover with the characters stylized as the Peanuts gang. I will admit, I was a little disappointed to learn that the characters inside don't look like they came from the mind of a demented Charles Schulz. But the story inside and especially the closing gag were great fun. When you need the icons of horror to be a little more family friendly, this is a read I suggest you pick up. It's just wicked enough to be creepy without having to look over your shoulder while you give it a read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

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