Re/Read is an occasional column by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid examining backlist books you may have missed or are worth another read. As Halloween approaches, we’ll look at Ben Catmull’s haunting classic, Ghosts and Ruins. In Ghosts and Ruins, Catmull fashions fascinating tales of ominous architecture in the tradition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. His exquisite renderings are accompanied by clever captions chronicling the sinister spirits that occupy these structures. Stories like “The Sculptor,” “Labyrinth of Junk,” and “The Order of the Shadowy Finger,” playfully illuminate the apparitions and occult phenomenon in his enchanting illustrations, providing a perfect gift for…
Re/Read: Ghosts and Ruins by Ben Catmull
Re/Read is a regular feature by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid focusing on books worthy of closer scrutiny. With Halloween season fast approaching, we’ll look again at the exquisitely spooky opus Ghosts and Ruins by Ben Catmull. Ghosts and Ruins contains meticulously rendered drawings of haunted dwellings and the otherworldly creatures that inhabit them. An atmospheric narrative accompanies each image, revealing the mysterious circumstances of the illustrations. In this attractive hardcover volume, Catmull mines similar territory to his acclaimed comic book Monster Parade. Freed from the conventions of sequential comix, this work evokes the sinister charm of Edward Gorey,…
