Book Review: Courtney Crumrin Vol 1 by Ted Naifeh

In keeping with today's theme of Comic Day. I am going to share a fun title. If you like stories about things that go bump in the night with an amusing twist, I would suggest any of the Courtney Crumrin books by Ted Naifeh. They are available in comic format, trade graphic novels and hard cover graphic novels, depending on your preference. I have for you today Courtney Crumrin Vol 1 - The Night Things.

Book Description:
Courtney's parents have dragged her out to a high-to-do suburb to live with her creepy Great Uncle Aloysius in his spooky old house. She's not only the new kid in school, but she also discovers strange things lurking under her bed.


My Review:
Courtney's parents are down on their luck. They've maxed out all their credit cards. Uncle Aloysius is old and nearly infirm, so they move in with him under the pretense of taking care of him. What really motivates them to move is the wealthy suburb they're going to be moving into, rent-free, of course. There they can hob nob with all the wealthy suburbanites and live in a style they always wanted to become accustomed to.
Courtney seems to have a bit of an attitude. She seems to be a bit of a loner and and feels even more isolated in her new school where all the kids stay away from Old Man Crumrin and creepy Crumrin House. The rumors fly about the old mane and the house. One of Courtney's fellow students actually asks if Old Man Crumrin really does have a bunch of deformed kids in the basement. She's not really fitting in and on the way home from school on her first day encounters the local gang of bullies who beat her up and take all the money she has. To make matters worse, she keeps thinking she's seeing things in her room at night and actually gets chased by a goblin on her way home from school one day.
Uncle Aloysius is a bit of a hermit. He's scary and tells his relatives straight away that they are welcome to go anywhere in the house, but his private chambers are off limits. Not very welcoming.
Courtney goes wandering in the house one night because she can't sleep with all the shadows she keeps seeing. She eventually finds herself in Uncle Aloysius' study, which seems a very interesting place. Here uncle is in the room unfortunately, so he takes her back to bed, but the next night, she sees a monster in her room and runs back to Uncle Aloysius who is not in his study. She does find a very interesting book written by A. Crumrin. It is a book called The Bestiary of Night Things Great and Small. She reads the book and finds out all about the things she's been seeing in her room and the thing that chased her home. With it, she learns how to control the night things and even figures out how to exact revenge on those who have pissed her off. And whoever said reading a book is a waste of time?