Bowling with Corpses & Other Strange Tales from Lands Unknown

3.25 out of 5

While I love Mike Mignola's art style, it is also often hard for me to follow what is being depicted. Still, the creepy mystical haunted vibe is everything. Even though this is not set in the Hellboy universe, it feels remarkably similar (which is a good thing), and the quasi-Lovecraftian world-building, and the slavic folklore callbacks are always welcome. Unfortunately the stories mostly didn't work for me. There was a bit more humour than usual, and more 4th-wall breaking, that threw me off. Plus a number of the stories seemed to end in a way where I could feel like there was some kind of punchline that just eluded me. Still, didn't hate it, but wanted to love this book and didn't do that either.

You can tell right away that Mike Mignola is having so much fun creating this all-new world. He's always been inspired by folklore and mythology. This new book is filled with all new short stories that he's either adapted from old tales or created himself. By the end of the book, I really felt the world come together through the threads of the stories. If you're a Mignola fan, this is a must by and immediately. Here's hoping we get to see Mignola return to this new world soon. In the meantime, I look forward to reading these tales again and again. I want to add that Dave Stewart brings a lot to the storytelling through his color work. Mignola and Stewart are a dynamic duo.