For those who hunger for small bites of horror sweetened with black humor, this collection of Grim Tales and Gothic Fancies offers a satisfying repast: morbidly playful riffs on the faerie tales of the Brothers Grimm, darkly exquisite Gothic fables in both prose and verse, and hell-raising evocations of beings both demonic and diabolic. A rich feast of horrors leavened with wit, Book of Shadows offers a delicious glimpse into the decadent heart and mordant mind of Manuel Arenas.


In "The Sanguinary Saga of Morbidezza Vespertilio, Vampiress, " Arenas inverts "Sleeping Beauty" with more than a touch of Gothicism in the style of Hammer horror. With "Rosaire, Master of Wolves, " he shows us the dark genesis and bloody destiny of a born werewolf. A lighter touch is used in "Gothilocks, " a playfully sardonic update on "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." The dread demon of Christmas makes an appearance in "Greetings from Krampus, " and in "Nativity in Black: An Anti-Christmas Story, " we are presented with a dark celebration featuring all creatures great and infernal in a pageant-quite literally-from Hell.


This volume is sumptuously illustrated by Dan Sauer, whose surreal images heighten the effect of the dark fantasies contained herein.