From Publishers Weekly
A spooky collaboration between novelist and comics writer Gaiman (Sandman; and see review of American Gods, above) and creepy shock rocker Cooper, this is the story of Steven, a boy with many fears: girls, ghost stories and growing up among them. On a dare, he steps into an odd theater and meets a mysterious, top-hatted showman, an Alice Cooper-like figure (complete with dark eye-circles) who offers him a way to avoid his fears by simply giving up his "potential" and staying forever in a dreamy netherworld of spirits and wraiths. And after encountering Mercy, a beautiful ticket-taker in the ghostly theater, Steven gives the offer serious consideration. Cooper is the inspiration for the Grand Guignol of this demonic theater, a chilling metaphor for the seductive allure of complacency and indolence. Gaiman's story is a whimsical horror tale about confronting the fears within, and Zulli's black-and-white illustrations have a dark, emotive line, presented in a brownish, bloodlike hue that makes even a mundane, autumnal street scene seem eerie and foreboding.
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Book Description
Steven is afraid. Afraid of ghost stories, afraid of growing up ... just afraid. That is, until he meets the mysterious Showman and his Theatre of the Real. Steven takes a ticket and watches the show on a dare, but getting out of the performance will be harder than he ever imagined. And Steven learns what it is to be truly afraid. Neil Gaiman, internationally acclaimed writer of both prose fiction (Neverwhere, Stardust) and graphic novels (The Sandman, Signal to Noise) and artist Michael Zulli (The Sandman, The Dreaming) team up to create this dark and brooding morality tale. Originally published as part of the short-lived Marvel Music line of the early `90s, this stunning trade paperback features sepia-colored ink on cream paper to better showcase the lush beauty of Zulli`s duoshade artwork in an affordable 6x9 format.
