Review: Creepshow
Creepshow by Berni Wrightson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Just doing a little weekend comics reading … saw this on the shelf, felt like reading it again. Glad I did.
I’ve adored this book since I was a kid; decades later, it still brings a twisted smile to my face. I used to compulsively read the EC Comics that served as inspiration for this collection, and, while I love those too, I think King’s stories surpass the source material. I’ve read this comic collection more than I’ve seen the film version, and I think I prefer the book for whatever reason.
Standout lines for me: “It’s Father’s Day, and I want my cake!”; “I want to measure the bite marks.”; “I’ll shoot you dead!”
Also, kudos to the concept of a man listening to a television preacher talk about salvation while his own personal doom approaches. Very slick. And I like the monster in the crate as example of a man’s id, restrained, then broken free, then suppressed. King’s symbolism there is top notch.
A few problems: in “The Crate,” I don’t find the initial reactions to the monster at all believable. When you see a man pulled into a crate, I’m pretty sure I would at least open the lid and try to pull the guy out. And then I WOULD get the police. Or someone. RIGHT AWAY. And I would not leave the scene. That was all a bit clumsy, but overall still a great story.
Another problem I noticed this time around is that some of the really revelatory panels are not very well-placed in the book. Too easy to see the surprise event coming.
Of course, I know these stories so well it doesn’t really matter to me, but for the first-time reader, I imagine it wouldn’t be so great to see a panel of someone blowing their brains out before it was obvious that was going to happen.
But anyway, I’m being picky. Overall this collection is diabolical, memorable, campy fun.