Tales From the Dark Tower

By Stefan Isaksson

Tales From the Dark Tower
Joseph Vargo & Christine Filipak et. al
Monolith Graphics
280 pages
ISBN: 0967575605

Tales From the Dark Tower is not a book.

Tales From the Dark Tower is a work of art.

Wow… I never thought I’d start a book review like that. But then again, I never quite expected to read something like Tales From the Dark Tower, either. Because it was truly a sweet experience; one of the best ones I’ve had so far in my career as a book reviewer.

Well, then, what’s so great about it? Let me put it this way: it’s hard something that is NOT great about it. Everything, from the beautiful artwork on the cover and throughout the book (all done by genius Joseph Vargo) to the quality of the paper to the stories themselves; it’s all top quality and I cannot think of a single thing that I don’t like about the whole thing. Not one.

And that makes writing a review quite difficult. Why? Because there’s simply not very much to say about the piece except that it’s a definite must-buy. I don’t usually say that; in fact I rarely say that at all, but this time I have no choice but to face the pleasant facts: I loved it. From the first page to the very last. Several different authors contribute with stories, and they’re all masters of their craft.

Sure, some people might think the stories are goth-cliché. After all, they are all very much alike, both in setting (in or around the Dark Tower) or in the way the different authors present their ideas (haunted cemeteries, pale and beautiful gothic beauties, forbidden love that forever haunts the unfortunate ones, dark and sinister clouds that blocks out the sun, scary gargoyles staring down at the mortals, and so on). But then again, Tales From the Dark Tower IS a gothic collection, the authors are goths, the readers are goths, it’s all a big gothic get-together and thus the stories should and could not be written any other way.

As I write this I have the book next to me on the desk. It looks beautiful. And I’m jealous on all the people out there who have still to discover it. I usually don’t read a book twice, but this time I think I have to reconsider.

And I hope a sequel one day will see the light of day. Or rather, the darkness of the night.