Review - Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Edition 2016 (@zenescope)

"Feels great to just unwind for once."

Halloween is a holiday that begs people to scare one another. Whether those scares come from something physical or something mental is up to the scarers. Zenescope is big on fostering a universe full of terror and they're tapping into that for Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Edition 2016. "Stories From The Stoop" is written by, penciled by Wilton Santos, inked by Emanuel Braga and colored Erick Arciniega. "Ghost Story" is writyen Lou Iovino, penciled by Moy R. and colors Fran Gamboa & J.C. Ruiz. "Werewolf Story" is written by Troy Brownfield and illustrated by Marcelo Costa. "Vampire Story" is written by Meredith Finch, penciled by Alessandro Miracolo and colored Robby Bevard. "Witch Story" is written by Dan Wickline, penciled by Julius Abrera, colored by Jorge Cortes and lettered by Matt Krotzer.

It's that time of the year again when everyone dresses up as their favorite monster and people gather together to frighten each other with scary stories. And your favorite heroes from Grimm Fairy Tales love to enjoy Halloween as much as anyone else. Join, Robyn, Avril, Brittany and Liesel as they gather together to see who can tell the scariest tale.

The concept of a holiday anthology special is certainly nothing new, but it fits pretty well for the heroines of the Zenescope universe. Each of the four stories told by their respective storytellers fit their characters' personalities. Santos tells of a NY stoop haunting as told by Robyn and Santos' story is probably the truest ghost story of the bunch (both figuratively and literally). Brownfield allows Britney Waters to rely on her knowledge of werewolves in a pretty savage tale in "Werewolf Story." Finch gets to be pretty creative in "Vampire Story" as Van Helsing tells a tale with an unconventional (and slightly surprising ending). And Wickline's work in "Witch Story" feels the most like a Zenescope story, emphasizing a little bit of witchcraft mixed with demons in a tale of justice.

The artwork throughout Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Edition 2016 is pretty consistent despite the different artists. The rendering of the ghosts in "Ghost Story" by Santos and Braga is pretty terrifying and infuses the story with sufficient haunt appeal. Costa's werewolf in "Werewolf Story" is fierce and violent. Miracolo and Bevard illustrate a contorted, disgusting vampire in "Vampire Story" that eschews the traditional elegance associated with the being. And Abrera's pencils in "Witch Story" are simple, yet the colors of Cortes supplements the book with a sufficient levels of gore.

Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Edition 2016 is a pretty solid Halloween edition featuring some of Zenescope's more popular characters. The four stories included are pretty simplistic in their narrative approach, but the inclusion of characters to tell each one from their "personal" experiences is a nice touch. All of the writers have a good grasp of their character's unique point of view and that carries over to the stories themselves. The artwork is remarkably consistent from story to story as each artist presents artwork that is strong. Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Edition 2016 has some standalone appeal for fans not very familiar with the Zenescope universe and there might be a larger storyline at play based on more current events in the issue.

Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Edition 2016 is in stores October 12.