Originally published by Fractal Matter, written by John Davidson

Making Deals With Devils is a black and white horror anthology comic which contains four stories written by Chris Lynch. Art on three of the stories; Left Behind, The Exchange and Wrathbones, is by Stu.Art and on the fourth is by Dark Smith.

Stu.Art’s (presumably not a real name) work is reminiscent of Mike Mignola though with a much heavier line and Dark Smith’s (again a pseudonym) is reminiscent of John Hickleton (for those old enough to remember 2000Ad’s Nemesis The Warlock).

Only three of the stories contained in the book were available for preview, but none the less the quality of the storytelling was pretty high and the stories are genuinely interesting and unsettling.

In Left Behind a man sits in his flat contemplating why his girlfriend has suddenly and unexpectedly left him and her cat. When the cat also leaves, he follows it hoping it will lead him to wherever she has moved to and gets a nasty surprise. This is the best of the three stories reviewed and suggests that given the opportunity, Lynch and Stu.Art could go on to better things.

Thirty Pieces tells the twisted tale of a taxi driver who accidentally knocks down a man fleeing from mysterious and supernatural enemies.

The Exchange offers the most disturbing story as an old woman negotiates a new place to live with a family who have found themselves suddenly down on their luck.

The stories are a good once-off read, but as with many of the ultra short stories you get in a comic book anthology they have little depth beyond their surprise value or their sting in the tale so are not likely to end up on anyone’s must read again pile.

In fact, a second read of The Exchange reveals some narrative liberties which while useful to maintain the surprise, detract from the satisfaction of the story as you realise that you’ve been slightly cheated rather than misdirected by your own assumptions.

Overall, if you are a fan of horror anthologies this one offers some good stories and avoids the clichéd and obvious. Even if you aren’t, if it is a light week at your Local Comic Shop and you have a spare $4 on you, then you could do considerably worse than give a new imprint a chance.

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