Awesome Tales #08: Frankenstein and Jekyll

Awesome Tales #8 (Summer 2018) is out from Bold Venture Press and Black Cat Media. This issue’s theme is horror. We get six short stories this time. The main story is “A Difference of Opinion” by R. Allen Leider. This is connected to the Sherlock Holmes story in the previous volume. Both of these stories are based on film scripts Leider wrote, with the intention the movies would star Peter Cushing, whom he had met and struck up a friendship with. It’s too bad these scripts were never made, but at least we can imagine what might have been. While the story in the last issue had Holmes (whom Cushing would play) in a story set in the Old West, this one has Dr. Frankenstein (played by Cushing) pretending to be the grandson of the original and with his latest, most perfect creation, whom he passes off as his nephew, meeting Dr. Jekyll. And if Jekyll is there, then Mr. Hyde will surely follow. Frankenstein and Jekyll exchange notes and ideas. I was actually a bit surprised by how quickly the 2 characters shared their secrets, but if not we wouldn’t get much of a story. But Jekyll takes things a bit further then Frankenstein realizes. I did like the scene at the end of the story, and wonder how it would have been handled in the movie. From the late C.J. Henderson and John L. French is “The Monster of Sheltonville.” This one has a group of scientists go “in search of” a legendary lake monster. And they will find them, even if they have to fake it. Which may not be a good idea if they are in fact real. It’s actually part of a series of stories by Henderson that has been collected by Bold Venture. “On the Way Home” by Sandra Lee Rauenzahn is about a woman who returns to her childhood home, and is faced with a horror from her childhood: lost love and attempted rape. “Beauty in the Beholder” by Kevin Fontan gives us a short tale about a man who sees beauty a little different than others. This is a bit of a creepy story. “Xan-Ti-Maca: The Pit of Hell” by Leider has an archaeological expedition looking for a previous, now missing, group, and instead unearthing an ancient evil that may doom the world. Alan Jaffe‘s “Nightwork” has a funeral parlor employee who is also a grave robber. He makes the mistake of robbing the wrong party, one who IS in a position to disagree. This story is set in London of the 1850s, so we get hints of other fictional characters of the time as well. Audrey Parente, who is one of the people behind Bold Venture, provides “Occurrence at Capri,” about two friends who let beauty get between them. Awesome Tales is coming out more frequently, which is nice. I think the aim is to be quarterly. I’m not sure what the theme of the next issue will be, but I’m sure it will be another winner. We will get future Domino Lady and Fantomas stories (a trilogy of stories are planned), which is great.

Mildly disappointed by the Frankenstein vs. Dr. Jekyll story. I suppose I expected too much out of it, expecting it to arouse awe in me. Dr. Frankenstein did not have enough to do in the story, reminded me of "Evil of Frankenstein" or "Frankenstein Created Woman" where Frankenstein was portrayed as a surgical pioneer.