Monster Carnival: A Comics Anthology:Apologue Series: Volume 1

Primordial nightmares, things that go bump in the night, the fears that haunt our folklore . . . these are but descriptions of those beings which orchestrate our terror, quicken our blood and cause heroes to rise up in challenge against them. Monsters have been a part of the human condition since our ancient ancestors told stories around the vermillion glow of burning firelight. They are as much a part of who we are as we are a reflection of them. These creatures pervade our early myths, give credence to our legends and permeate modern pop culture. We both loathe and adore these abhorrent creatures that portend terrible omens of doom to those who hear their tales.

Splattered Press has gathered a dozen very talented comic book creators together to share their own stories about these things that so preoccupy our collective imaginations in the first volume of the Apologue Anthology Series. This collection boasts varying storytelling approaches and artistic styles, which the sequential medium can so elegantly bring to vivid life. The culmination of this effort has created a singular work that shares a theme which knits each creator's vision into a narrative whole -the result is the book you hold in your hands.

Monster Carnival tells the tale of a parade of abhorrent creatures who receive a tithe from the villages of a land that seeks to gaze upon their abhorrence with wide-eyed wonder and hear those tales of their abominable brethren from the dim memory of antiquity and unto the future days of mankind. What unfolds is a series of fables that explore the many facets of monsters and how they inform our own worst and most virtuous traits. For in the end there truly is no happy ending for a monster and we must always be cautious in our desire to learn about these darkest of creatures.