This was a strange little comic full of folktales that I didn't know of before reading. The writing is very spare allowing the images to tell most of the story. I enjoyed the illustration style - rendered in black, white and grey they evoke a strong atmosphere - you can almost hear the wind whistling beneath doors and the shadows growing and shrinking outside your walls.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A collection of spooky tales set in Galicia, a part of Northern Spain, during the 1930s. The noses on the people can be look a bit strange at times, but otherwise the art is pretty, and its backgrounds and black-and-white pages do a great job at establishing the atmosphere. The stories are concise, the situations are interesting, and the characters fit well for the folk tale-esque stories they're in. The stories are quite short, though, so if you're looking for deep characters or plots you're better off looking elsewhere. It does its job well, and I'd be interested in seeing more tales like this. Worth the hour or so it takes to read through it.

The book is set in a small village in spain in the 1930's things were pretty dire and people were just living as best as they could. Each tale is very short, I found that they cut you off at the point where you want to delve into them a little more but that was ok as I was swiftly moved onto the next creepy tale, I found myself immersed in the artwork drawn to how well brought the story to life, it feels like a classic tale with the black and white illustrations that captivate your attention. 

Death is something that is very clear throughout these tales, it tackles it with such an interesting take and from a personal point of view from the author, I felt that it was a wise move keeping the book in black and white as it made it feel creepier and added to the sense of dread and hurt at times. The gothic style artwork gives it a unique look, I mostly read modern graphic novels so it was refreshing to try something new like this book, it gave me Tim Burton Vibes which is a good thing. Laura Suárez has a way with words, she is able to say very little yet still leave you with a sense of dread.

Fear is a huge part of the tales and they strike me to my core personally, in Laura' prologue she talks about this and how hard it can be to write and instal fear, she has managed to make this book so personal yet relatable to me in different ways. There was one tale in particular I found myself crying about due to losses I have been through myself, this tale is called The Air, it struck me as someone who has lost babies and suffered badly with depression and reading that a departed persons air would go into the weakest person spoke to me, it's like you're being haunted constantly. The explanation for this tale helped me understand that we all deal with this kind of thing differently and it's true that the air of the dead did not bring me comfort but the living did, what a beautiful way of understanding someone's grief.

The look of sorrow and evil smiles you come across throughout the pages embody Laura' words, it's made me want to explore more folktales and their take on life and death even if that sounds morbid, when a book is able to install inspiration like this you know it was worth the read. Poverty and superstition plagued villages in that time period and suffering went on for a long time so these kind of things even though they're said to be folklore did tend to happen. 

The layout of each comic strip works perfectly, from looking at Laura's instagram using black and white is not the norm for her and she usually uses lots of colour, she made the right choice to shy away from it this time and make use of monochrome tones, her style of art is easy to fall in love with, she is very expressive with it. There are 4 stories altogether, some I liked more than others but they were equally all as interesting as one another, you can tell that a lot of love, care and attention went into creating it! If you're a big fan of folklore I encourage you to give this book a read, it's not very long but it's interesting and is enriched with history.

4.5

Wow. This one was one of the best graphic novels I've read to date.

This book goes through several tales that show different horror stories stemming from Galician superstitions. The art style is perfect for this book and conveyed the horror well. I also very much appreciated the explanations after each tale. It didn't interrupt and gave context. These were placed after a story ended, but I liked it that way to give maximum creep effect. Even the explanations of the houses a bit were nice too. Essentially, it's an encyclopedia of sorts and I appreciated that as someone who doesn't know the folklore and superstitions.

I would say the pacing a bit lost the .5 stars for me. Sometimes I became confused about a story and for whatever reason thought it was a few characters of one family, not different ones. Other than that, just a perfect read. I recommend reading this at 1 am in the dark to really experience the book. Just so good!

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this super cool graphic novel!

Tales of the Mist is a graphic novel with a couple of stories from Laura's past. In a world before electricity and the internet, she describes a world where ghosts and devils were closer to home. Her art style is dark, and stylized in a creepy sort of way. The panels definitely portray the spookiness she is trying to give off when telling each of these tales.

This was a pretty quick read, and it made me want more! I enjoyed looking at each panel, seeing the fine details of each drawing. Even the word bubbles changed depending on the emotions a character had, and I appreciated these lovely facets, it really helped make the stories pop!

Tales of the Mist is a graphic novel, which includes several distinct stories based on folklore from Galicia, Spain. I really enjoyed these stories. While it's often easy to speed through a graphic novel because of the format, these stories really captured my attention. I've never read horror in this format and it really works! The black and white illustrations are stark but also include small details in the background like photos and household items that make you want to study each frame closely. The ghoulish shadows, close-ups on faces, and small snapshot frames during points of tension showing hands grasping each other, a mouth gasping, a foot running all work to create tension and keep you on the edge of your seat. I also really appreciated the short paragraphs on the background of each story. My absolute favorite detail is that dialogue from someone crying has teardrops falling from it. That's such a creative detail. I do wish that each story had been a little bit longer. I could definitely spend more time in each story because they were all so good! But overall, this was a really good graphic novel, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys graphic novels or horror/thriller books.

I was not familiar with the stories in this comic book. Those are folklore legends from Galicia. Tales of the Mist has good illustrations. They are not my preferred style, though. But this style is perfect for creating mood in these haunting and dark tales.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me this ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

“... I felt fear. It was only when I got back to grandma and sat on her trembling lap, that I stopped being scared. I still donʼt understand how that weak old woman, how that little girl could defeat fear so immense.”

It was initially the stunning cover that drew me in and convinced me into this reading graphic novel. I was also interested in reading about Galician folklore. I loved the unique art style and the illustrations were very clear and simple.

However, I mostly felt confused while reading this graphic novel because the stories were vague, hard to follow and seemed to end abruptly. The stories only made sense because of the short explanation by the author at the end of each story, which kind of defeats the purpose of the comic.

Wonderfully moody graphic novel set in Spain in the 1930’s. The book includes a short story collection which is reminiscent of the folklore tales grandparents told long ago. I loved the darkness of the art which reflected in the overall tone of the novel. I would definitely recommend this unique book during a cold, dark night with a cup of tea. Let your imagination run wild and the shadows creep in…

I want to thank NetGalley, the author and publisher for the e-ARC of this graphic novel. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

This spooky graphic novel is just what my students are looking for! These short stories bring together a fantastic, spooky story! Love that the stories are inspired by the author's family.

"Like any good story, it began on a dark and rainy afternoon in a small village in Galicia. There were my grandparents, my father and I, we were all quiet except for her who, sitting by the firewood kitchen, would tell us of a time before roads and electricity, a time when the dead walked among the living..."

This is a collection of five short comics that tell the stories of old Galician folktales (with the exception of the fifth which shows the author as a child with her grandmother). I was mainly drawn in by the cover and I was interested to read about folktales from a different culture, but unfortunately I didn't find this to be particularly impressive.

The art is fairly decent (with a few panels standing out as good and a few that aren't so great) but the storytelling leaves something to be desired. Each of the stories are quite vague and hard to follow/understand, they only really make sense when you get to the end of them and the author briefly describes the folklore behind the comic. These brief passages were actually the strongest part of the book in my opinion and I feel like I learned a little bit from them, but in my opinion, having to explain the comic you've just shown the reader for it to make sense kind of defeats the purpose of the comic itself. I would have got just as much out of this if the comics were absent and this was just the four paragraphs describing them.

The art/art style for this was amazing.
A lovely graphic short story collection of Galician folklore which seems to merge with Catholicism.
These are stories told to the author from her grandmother and that old superstition feel is present in all the stories. Superstition and Catholicism seem to go hand in hand in both these stories and stories my grandmother would tell me (in Ireland).

I don't think you need any knowledge about Galicia or their culture to enjoy this book, the art itselfs is reason enough to fall in love.

Yes yes yes yes!!!!!

Dark, dramatic, broody.
These are the folktales and timeless legends whispered in a tiny town in 1930s Spain. All of them have this creepy feeling to them and if you love mild horror in form of stories, then you might surely love this book. The art is definitely beautiful and it pulls you right in.

These stories were passed down to the author by her grandma and all of them are Spanish folklores. I had chills up my spine :D

This graphic novel tells five different stories that were passed down to the author by her grandmother, all Spanish folktales. They all have a very creepy feel to them, which is reflected in the novel's haunting art style that reminded me of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. All in all, a hauntingly beautiful graphic novel that gives an insight into Spanish folktales of the previous century that were passed down through generations.

This book was interesting, both in art style and overall content.

It is like spooky stories, to tell in the dark, but add an art style that even more firmly pulls you in.

I love that the stories are based around what would have been historical scary stories, urban legends, etc. It made me want to seek out more of these stories. Because as I was reading Suárez's work I had chills going up my spine.

this reminded me of a less creepy version of ‘through the woods’ by emily carrol. i liked the art a lot, but unfortunately the stories were to short for me to really enjoy them. bummed :(

This was a lovely little comic. The illustrations were beautiful, and the stories are super creepy. I can definitely imagine a grandmother telling these stories to her terrified grandchildren.

The art of this book was excellent and really matched the eerie tone of these stories. I really enjoyed that after each story, there was a short explanation of the original tale. Overall, I wish each story had a little more substance to them. They were so quick, it was difficult to be invested in them.

This little story is SUPER spooky. The author somehow gains your interest and terrifies you almost immediately, but the story is still compelling and very readable. I will definitely talk about this book at my store when it comes out!

Tales of the Mist is set in 1930s Spain and has several tales of mysterious folklore reminiscent of those tales handed down by your grandmother, the ones that really creeped you out as a child. They are framed through the eyes of a child who is trying to make sense of the darkness.

I read this one in the wee hours while suffering from insomnia last week. The art is unusual, not the beautiful, bright and bold prints of some of the modern comics. It’s very much a reflection of the time and tone of the stories. Lots of grays, browns, and blacks. The people aren’t beautiful, but they are distinct.

It really feels like sitting around the campfire, hearing stories from the elders in the village, and I really enjoyed the vibe. It’s out in the US now, so if you’re looking for something a little dark to balance out all the holly jolly of the holidays, check it out.