Genre: Horror
Format: eBook (ARC)
Pages: 140
Rating: ★★★★
Synopsis:
From the creator of Hellboy, Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden is an illustrated novella that brings Twilight Zone originality to the written page
In the aftermath of a critical World War II battle, Father Gaetano is assigned as the sole priest at the Church of San Domenico in the small, seaside Sicilian village of Tringale. The previous pastor has died and there is a shortage of clergy at the moment, so until another can be spared, the young priest must say all of the masses himself.
Mass is not Father Gaetano's only responsibility, however. The war has created many orphans, and thus the San Domenico rectory has been converted into an orphanage which is also his domain. The children are a joy to him, but they have lost so much, and many have begun to question their faith and their God, and his attempts to teach them catechism are in vain . . . until he finds an old puppet theatre and an ornate box of puppets in the basement. Handcrafted by the building's former caretaker, now absent, the puppets seem the perfect tool to get the children to pay attention to their lessons. But after dark the puppets emerge from that ornate box, without their strings. While the children have been questioning their faith, the puppets believe Father Gaetano's Bible stories completely. But there is such a thing as too much faith. And the children's lives will never be the same again.
Review:
"Some of them are angry at
God", Sebastiano whispered to the puppet. "He took their families and
their houses, like he did mine. But I know He still loves me, that He did not
mean to hurt me."
As the end of World War II is on the horizon, many lives have been lost for all time leaving behind many children without families. The San Domenico rectory has been transformed into an orphanage for young boys. Imagine how the boys are feeling after losing everything they have known, having to adjust to a new way of life among strangers and the unknown. They begin to question why they should have faith in a God they feel have abandoned them.
Father Gaetano is trying his best to
restore the boys' faith and give them hope. He realizes that the boys are not
very receptive so in the hope of engaging them he begins to use an old puppet
theatre and puppets that were stored in the basement.
As for the puppets, they have much
more sinister ideas and plans.
This is a novella that some may find
creepy and there are some that may not. If you are of the mind that puppets are
terrifying, then this will send shivers down your spine, give you the chills,
and have you checking in corners for something that may be lurking there.
I hate puppets!! I refuse to even
watch movies with puppets, so this creeped me completely and those little
a-holes can just go back inside their box and stay there. Lock it and throw
away the key!
With that being said, I did enjoy the story and for obvious reasons, this is horror after all, and it
succeeded at giving me the chills!
I also really appreciated the
illustrations by Mike Mignola, even though...PUPPETS!
Thank you so much Bad Hand Books for the complimentary copy! Much appreciated!
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/
Amazon Author Links:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mike-Mignola/author
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Christopher-Golden/author
Author Website Links:
https://www.artofmikemignola.com/
https://www.christophergolden.com/