Ghost Stories of an Antiquary: Vol. 1

Gr 8 Up—James was one of Britain's preeminent supernatural horror authors and redefined the genre. This is Moore and Reppion's adaptation of James's short story collection of the same name, featuring four pieces from the collection: "Canon Alberic's Scrap-book," "Lost Hearts," "The Mezzotint," and "The Ash-Tree." Largely, the effort to reenergize Jamesian horror for a new audience failed. The art is phenomenal, but the creeping, subtle horror of James's prose is eradicated and replaced with a more modern, more visible scariness, which is arguably less frightening. What made James terrifying was that he could make readers shiver with simple, uncomplicated sentences that forced one to imagine the horror within. In graphic novel form, all of that is laid bare; since the illustrations show the action, the horror is not gone, just different and not as effective. "Lost Hearts" stands out as the best adaptation, as the detailed and haunting visuals don't take away from the plot of a young orphan sent off to live with his eccentric cousin, around whose estate children start disappearing.