BOOM! Studios’ Hello Darkness anthology series is expanding this year, first with a body-horror edition, and this week with Good Bones, an anthology with stories all by one writer: Steve Orlando. Four tales of frights that mix queer narratives, clever ideas, and body horror as you’ve never seen before.
It’s not often you see an anthology like this one, all written by the same person, which sets it apart from most. That said, this anthology isn’t new per se, as these stories all appeared in Hello Darkness before, but now you get to read four from Orlando all in one place. What better way to see a creator’s vision than in four different tales and four different art teams?
Kicking things off is “Kill Screen” with art by Federico Sorressa and colors by Lauren Affe. The story opens in first person as a warrior takes on zombie centaurs. The captions are a bit poetic, and soon we learn we’re in a video game. The one playing it is a warrior, complete with a large sword and a skull belt buckle. Fans of fantasy RPGs will get the lingo, and before long, a twist on the twist occurs, revealing what kind of game system this kid is using.
It’s from this game system that the story features intense gore, complete with a tragic ending. Affe is a great artist, with plenty of detail in every panel and great dynamic range.
Next up is “The Foster” with art by A.L. Kaplan and colors by Marissa Louise. It’s a story about a person who is fostering an arm on his stomach. A bit weird, we soon learn it’s a normal occurrence to foster body parts, although our main character wants kudos for doing a good deed. His slightly selfish reasoning leads a lover to fiddle with the new hand, resulting in a somewhat quick but deadly twist.
Gaming can be deadly.
Credit: BOOM!
The holiday spirit mixes with bullies getting their just deserts in “The Christmas Log,” featuring art by Adam Gorham and colors by Francesco Segala. Once again, the story takes a gory turn, although the real horror is how far the once-bullied main character goes to get his revenge. In a flashback, we see just how awful our main character’s life was in high school, although his cheery grin and love of beating his bully to death are probably the most disturbing things about this story. That said, Gorham does a great job making the force-feeding sickening.
Last up is the book’s title in story form, “Good Bones,” which mixes history with an opportunistic jerk who gets punished for being so callous. In this tale, Orlando and artist Dillon Snook follow a real estate flipper who comes upon a historic house. Always up for a good narrative to sell places, the main character discovers a notebook that details how the building was a safe haven for gay men to be themselves in the ’50s.
This story does two things well. Firstly, it shows gay men trying to live their lives and be happy, while captions detail the horror of living in secret. The second is how uncaring and fake our main character is, making him monstrous yet putting on a smile for those paying attention. One weakness of this tale, however, is how quickly the big twist and death come into play, making it less satisfying with all the buildup.
Good Bones and Other Sordid Tales stands out as a compelling experiment that highlights a single creator’s voice across multiple horror styles. Orlando balances emotional storytelling with visceral imagery, working with artists who bring a strong visual identity to each tale. The anthology format naturally creates peaks and valleys in pacing and impact, yet the issue maintains a clear creative through line. Several stories leave a lasting impression through strong concepts and striking visuals. Readers interested in horror that explores identity, transformation, and consequences will find plenty to appreciate here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.