Nightmares in Oz (Viper – Mettam / Huddleston / Ryzowski)
Welcome to Osmann Grove, Kansas. The perfect place for college kids on Spring Break to go for a quiet camping vacation. But Osmann Grove has secrets that go back many generations; and for the campers, this will be a trip that none of them forget. At least the ones who survive the mysterious homicidal Scarecrow will never forget it.
For those of us that enjoy a good old fashioned “run for your life – there’s a supernatural monster on our tale and it’s going to gut us” horror story – Viper delivers like the UPS man!
Nightmares in Oz has it all! Supernatural revenge! An outrageously yummy monster that loves to kill! Silly college kids who don’t know when it is a good time to pack and go home! And a great final twist that puts the readers on their ear and makes this feel like the cream of the crop of a classic slasher horror tale!
The story is well-constructed and fantastically paced for what it is: a sprint-and-look-over-your-shoulder-whole-time tale of fear. A great telling and the art, while purposefully not realistic, feels just right in horror / fantasy book. I feel bad I missed this for Halloween, but it’s well worth the price any time of the year.
Grade: A
The Bottom Line: Enjoyable Monster Horror Fun!
Pullbox Warning: those who are going to buy this from a literary background, this well-told tale is “Oz”-themed, but is not a retelling or re-enactment of Baum’s mythology.