Isis: A Tale of the Supernatural by Douglas Clegg, illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne
Vanguard, $14.95, 128pp, hc, 9781593155407. Horror.
Douglas Clegg’s new novella (it’s a very short book) is a wonderfully spooky, and gorgeously illustrated, tale of a 19th century girl who moves to the mysterious family estate in the English countryside. Old Marsh, the gardener, knows tales of the estate’s dark past, and it is he who tells young Iris and her twin brother, Harvey and Spence, about the ancient tomb overlooking the sea, and the stories of those who tried to return to the land of the living from it.
Clegg sets the atmosphere perfectly: you can feel the dark, cool foreboding as the youngsters adapt to their new situation in this alien place. The children try to lead a happy, normal life, and one of their great joys is staging plays, including an Egyptian tale in which young Iris plays Isis. Life is, if not exactly happy, at least satisfying.
Until a terrible accident takes the life of one of Iris’s beloved brothers. Then comes the grief, the pain, and the sorrow. Was Iris the cause of his death? Can she live with the pain? And more importantly, can she bring him back from the dead?
Old Marsh’s stories were warnings: warnings to never attempt to bring back the dead. But in grief, and in youth, we sometimes hear only the parts we want to, ignoring the dire warnings that inevitably follow. Iris—who is become Isis, the sister-wife of Osiris, god of the afterlife—remembers only that a certain ritual may bring her brother back, but she forgets the reasons why she should not.
It is a dark, well-told tale; a good, fast read. But complementing the story are the wonderful line illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne. They are wonderful. Evocative, moody, brilliantly executed. Indeed, according to Publishers Weekly, the publisher was so taken with the art that they designed a game around them. Sure, the jaded among us will note that the game exists as a marketing tool for the book (and it does), but it also gives the wonderful illustrations even more life, presenting many of the scenes depicted in black-and-white in the book as colorful “find the difference” illustrations in the game. To play the game, or to read more about the book before deciding to buy it, see this page. The moody music provided as an accompanying background only adds to the experience.
Buy the book for the story, but keep it for the art.
Douglas Clegg’s web site: douglasclegg.com
Glenn Chadbourne’s web site: glennchadbourne.com