In the style of Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow, this certainly has the vibe of humor and horror delivered through art.
It will not be everyone's cup of tea but fans of Heavy Metal and aforementioned comics and vibe will enjoy adding this to the collection.

Stunning illustrations but with a little more sophomoric humor than I care for. Such a variety of illustrative styles it's a shame that I just couldn't get into the narratives.

I didn't really enjoy this one. The art is pretty good but wasn't a huge fan of the story overall. I don't want to speak poorly of it, so I won't be sharing it with my audiences or rating it on bookish social medias. Not every book is for every reader, and that's okay. I appreciate the work that went into this book, so I'll keep my opinions on it to myself.

2.5 stars. I hated two of these stories with a burning passion, but the others weren't so bad. This was a HOT MESS and is not a good representation of the horror genre. Review to come.

Due to being a high school teacher, I often fall behind on writing reviews. Here are my initial thoughts.

This was a rough one. Didn't connect with the stories but found some parts interesting. I did like the artwork though!

I really wish I can say something positive about this comic. I like Dan Fogler and have seen him on Broadway and some of his films. I had some high hopes to enjoy his next venture project into the world of comics. It seemed like he tried to make a Heavy Metal version for Horror but it did not stick the landing. Instead, I feel like it landed but with malfunctioning landing gears.

While the artwork of this comic was beautiful, the storyline was childish and disappointing. I'm not entirely sure if this is the author's style, but from what I can tell from other reviews, fans of Dan Fogler were also disappointed with this, so I would assume that he went a bit off script from his usual work. It's crude and vulgar for no reason at all.

2 STARS

A mysterious portal into the bizarre and demented. Zombie dinosaurs, a mass-murdering high school cheerleader, and an inter dimensional Sasquatch trying to save his species from extinction. All created by the lunar radiation in the small town of Moon Lake.

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Fabulous cover art that I wish reflected what was in the graphic novel! Just not for me.

Nope. That's all I have to say - this comic was definitely a no for me. I do not even know where to begin, but the story were not for me and the art wasn't either - and seeing how there are different stories and different artstyles for each story, to say it was not for me it is big. Honestly, I just couldn't make it past the first story.

So much nope. Didn't even make it through the first story. Tapped out at "rape monkey".
Digital review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

Moon Lake: Midnight Munchies is an anthology in the style of classics like Tales from the Crypt or Creepshow. The framing story surrounds a guy who lives inside the moon with his alien companion, telling the stories of various inhabitants of a creepy town called Moon Lake.

I enjoyed parts of Moon Lake and would read further volumes. Although it wasn't "groundbreaking" or phenomenal, it was campy fun. The art is really good and the style varies from story to story, so it doesn't feel redundant, although sometimes the "humor" is just gross-out humor that isn't real all that funny. "His Final Escape!" is my favorite story in this collection. I think if more of the stories were like that, "Black Bear Blues" and "Moon Wars," this collection would have been far better. Instead, it seemed like the author went for more fart jokes and sexualization than was necessary.

Note: I received a free copy from NetGalley to review. I was not compensated in any other way and all thoughts and opinions are my own. Special thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the free copy.

Amazing graphics. Creepy story.

A definite need for anyone who is into creepy, gory stories.

5/5.

Had very high hopes for this GN and must admit to being let down almost instantly. The art and inking is fantastic for the most part. The plot.... What plot? Yeah, the plot is somewhat missing in action, out on an orienteering expedition or was most likely never thought of. A real shame that such wonderful artwork has been wasted on a tale that heldso much promise.

( 4 Star for the artwork )
( 2 star overall rating )

Seldom do I feel that I cannot adequately describe a story, but Moon Lake has certainly achieved that. Moon Lake is a work that cannot be defined as either horror or gore. It reminds of an attempt at Tales from the Crypt with a much larger dose of violence and some attempt at humor I personally didn't enjoy. Might appeal to a part of the audience, but unfortunately, wasn't something I enjoyed.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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Moon Lake, by Dan Fogler
★☆☆☆☆
156 Pages


I chose this because of the cover and the blurb, but...dear God, WTF is this?
I'm sorry to say I read as far as the atrocious “Fuck Week” song which – shivers – precedes a kid's summer camp. That trash was then followed by *gag* monkey rape, gross indecency, dry heaving (me!) and running to DNF while gouging my eyes out.
And that was just the first 27 pages...of 107.

On top of all that – the story? Was there one? Maybe it got missed in the crass, juvenile attempt at humour. The art work? I was 100% all in when I saw the cover. I was expecting Shape of Water level creatures, with that stunning cover artwork throughout, and what I got was...some 1970 pre-teen's comic book with “pull-my-finger” and fart jokes that I'm supposed to...what? Roll over dying of laughter? At this? Nope. The artwork was a second-rate Archie comic, focusing on as much porn as they could fit into the pages.

If you can survive the Amazon Kindle sample without gagging or rolling your eyes, you deserve every page of what comes next. Enjoy.

If not, I suffered this, so now you don't have to. You're welcome.
And can you please pass the mind-disinfectant, so I forget I ever read this?

It's rare I give anything under 3 stars because I'm pretty easy to please. If I had a good time reading something, boom 3 stars. This...was not the case. I was drawn in by both the stellar cover art and Dan Fogler, should be a winning combination. I was really disappointed, I mean REALLY disappointed. The main issue is that the novel is all short stories, which would be fine, but in this case there's just not enough time to make the reader care about each tale. I can see where the effort was made to bring together classic 80's horror and humor but it just all felt rushed and crass. I'm all for horror and gore if there's a point to it, like making my skin crawl or adding to the horror of the scene. This all felt, like a 30-year-old man making a "pull my finger" joke, it was awkward and didn't hit the mark. That said, the idea for the graphic novel was good it just needed more polish to really be great.

This was like a bad, schlocky, 80's horror film. Fogler mistakes being gross with being funny. The stories are over the top with more attention paid to beastiality jokes and topless women more than anything else. I like Dan Fogler the actor when he's reined in in things like Fantastic Beasts. But this is grossout Dan Fogler at his most boorish.

Not what I was expecting at all. The plot felt lackluster and plain. The art style was ok, but I was expecting more visuals that resembled the front cover. The humor felt childish and immature. Overall, this graphic novel just didn't do it for me.

"Exits are at the front and the back of the book, anyone wishing to leave must do so now -- all others should call their mommies immediately, because the hysterically psychotic fun house ride is about to begin!" exclaims the author, Dan Fogler. This warning would be more appropriate if it stopped at "must do so now" as a last ditch attempt to deter any hopeful audience members.

The premise is an anthology of short comic stories tied together by a 'TV host' style appearance by a flatulent man on the moon. The art was really fun and exciting, but the stories were gross. I liked how the entire graphic novel had a 'camp' vibe but I didn't feel like I got much from this or that there were any stories I would be thinking about on the bus ride home a couple of months from now.

I won't lie, despite all of this I will probably read Vol. 2 when it comes to fruition out of curiosity for what Fogler et. al. cook up next.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and author for this advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest opinions. I respect your hard work and commitment to the reading community.

This book was not for me. It was over the top, unnecessarily crass, and just over all not well written. I'm sorry that I wasted my time reading it. 100% would not recommend this to anyone unless they're out of toilet paper.