Tales Told in Technihorror Season One #1

Terror Told In Technihorror Season One #1

Black Caravan/Scout Comics 2021

Written & Lettered by Kiyarn Taghan

Illustrated by Christian Dibari

Coloured by Simon Gough

Tales Told In Techni-Horror is a biennial horror series that blends the best in horror sub genres (body shock to grindhouse and more). Each issue contains five short stories from the dark minds that brought you Provenance of Madness. Includes a mini pinup gallery of horrors.

I’m a sucker for a horror story but less so when it’s an anthology book like this one. What this does is wet my appetite for the story and then ends and for someone like me that’s frustrating though in all fairness what it does as well is allow the reader to use their own mind, creativity and imagination to finish the story as they see fit. So in that regard it works exceptionally well. One of the things that I really like about this book is the continuity in the writing and the artwork and while Christian does a phenomenal job of tweaking the art to match the story it’s unmistakably the same illustrator throughout the entire book. Though I really do want to see fuller versions of each of these small vignettes because they are too good to be this one and done.

Each one of these stories follows a similar pattern which makes it easy on a reviewer like myself. This has a great flow to the book we see a story in water, the a dry barren planet that could represent fire and then earth with the third I almost expected to see the next focus on air.though that fourth and fifth to me felt the most familiar and the first one captured my own creativity and imagination and is one that I really want to see more of. I like the way that this book is being structured and how the layers within the stories really manages to grab you in such a small amount of space is utterly incredible.

I also gotta give a shout out to for the lettering we see throughout because it really manages to tie the vignettes together beautifully. It is pretty even keel throughout and I have to admit that it’s what I want to see as a way to really keep the book and the flow going as tightly as it does.

I am a huge fan of the interiors here. The linework is phenomenal and the varying weights and techniques that are being utilised to create the detail work is stunning. There is something about the way we see the backgrounds and the composition within the panels that create the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story that is so mesmerising. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely divine. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work beautifully capturing the mood, tone and feel of each story.

I have to say I like the blend of science fiction, straight up horror and the different locations that these stories take place in are what contributes to how enjoyable the flow of the book is. That they are so different and set in such different locations feels not only strategic but extremely well thought out to deliver such a varied and unique set of circumstances that showcase the talent of these creators.

​

Normally I am not big on anthology series when there are so many different stories in one issue because I feel we simply get enough page count to tell the story in. This however, super impressed me with how much story was managed to put into such small page counts. Overall this is a killer book, pun intended, and it has this real gravitas to it that just grounds the book while it takes you through multiple scenarios meant to chill you to the bone.