Review by Ian Keogh

Be warned going in that Fresh Blood has a bargain cover price, but it’s because a third of the book is process material and teaser pages for another of writer R.L. Stine’s projects.

Revenge Game introduced Parker West, teenage resident of Graves End. It’s a town surrounded by graveyards, and growing up, the local teens have lost all fear of hanging out there at night. However, the town has mysteries, and the disappearance of Parker’s father is one of them. He’s only just learned that his friend Rhonda’s father vanished on the same night as his. A further issue he didn’t know he had was solved in the previous book, but the downside was due to circumstances revealed there, his friend group is down one.

An interesting element is Parker and his friends not being squeaky clean, even beyond a mutually antagonistic relationship with the local police officer, continued by his son at school. There Billy receives preferential treatment, but that’s not the major theme of Fresh Blood. The previous book just hinted at supernatural activity without really showing any, but artist Carola Borelli gets to deliver a full dose of terrors here. As before, she gives the cast personalities, tells the story well and creates the right spooky atmosphere even before Francesco Segala adds the moody colour. Here, though she also impresses with the extra designs as secrets are revealed.

Adults may find some elements a little too easily contrived, but the young adult audience at whom The Graveyard Club is aimed should find it another efficient slab of young adult horror. One day it will read better as a complete collection.

As was the case with the previous book, this is a halfway stage between a comic and a graphic novel. It has the bulk of the latter, but the thinner covers of the former, in this case along with alternative covers other than Miguel Mercado’s regular version. He also supplies a second, and look hard enough and you’ll find covers by Tula Lotay, Dan Mora and Zu Orzu also, both with and without logos.