The Dark Horse Book of the Dead & Hauntings

These two graphic novels are anthologies of stories written by different authors. Of course, the thing I love about short stories is that if one story doesn't appeal to me, I can skip it and go on to the next one. Each book has a story featuring Hell Boy, who helps humans by fighting demons from the underworld. Not all the stories are drawn, some are straight text but are terrific as well. The stories I liked the most were written by Evan Dorkin with art by Jill Thompson. They feature dogs and cats! My favorite, though, is the one featured in Hauntings called Stray. It opens with dogs howling to call "the wise one" to help them figure out how to fix a haunted dog house. One of the neighborhood cats gets involved and even becomes the main event in releasing the spirit haunting the house. This story was, at the same time, scary, funny, and a little sad.
These books will appeal to readers of scary stories as well as readers of graphic novels. If you have never read a graphic novel before, this might be your entry into a new world!
My rating for these books: ++++