John B.
Allen, Robert Venditti, and Andrea Mutti, with cover art by Rob Prior. MrBallen
Presents: Strange, Dark, & Mysterious: The Graphic Stories. Emeryville,
California: Ten Speed Graphic, 2024. 208 pages, $24.99 978-1984863423. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/742533/mrballen-presents-strange-dark-and-mysterious-by-stories-by-mrballen-illustrations-by-andrea-mutti/
Former Navy SEAL
and renowned storyteller John B. Allen, known as MrBallen online, has
entertained audiences with his unique and conversational narration style, with
a focus on the weird and unexplained on his YouTube channel. He also developed two
podcasts: MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious, and MrBallen's
Medical Mysteries. In MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious:
The Graphic Stories, Allen, adapter Venditti, and artist Mutti turn nine of
Allen's tales from his popular YouTube channel into a collection of tales of
the macabre.
While all of the stories leave
their mark, there are a few that stand out. Allen relates what tragedies befell
a number of people who ventured into "The Valley of Headless Men,"
located in the Nahanni Valley in the Northwest Territories. The allegedly
haunted valley is plagued by strange and horrifying events. Those who venture
in to search for and reclaim the dead often find grisly scenes, and headless
bodies. Nobody knows what is in the valley, but some whisper about white
demons, waheela, or something else. Allen shares various stories of
tragic events, such as accounts of gold prospectors who never make it out of
the valley, a group of hunters in 1926 where one of the party, Annie Laferte,
goes missing, and a strange creature is scene stalking the forest later; and
other tragedies that happened along the years.
"Thorns" tells of Elsa, who
became a camp counselor in 2012, and had fond memories of the camp as she
attended it herself as a child. The first night at the camp in her new role,
she is tormented by a horrific nightmare, expertly illustrated in a simple red,
black, and white color pallet by Mutti, where strange men are forcing a crown
of thorns over her head in front of an angry crowd. As she screams in pain,
vibrant blood drips rivulets down her face. When she wakes up, she finds her
head aching and her hands are covered in blood.
"What I Saw in My Room Still
Haunts Me" is a personal story of Allen as a teenager when he sees something
enter the room where he and his friends are staying in New Hampshire. It
happens three nights in a row, culminating in a message for his friend's
mother, a recent widow.
In "The Beast of Gévaudan," Jacques
is endlessly bullied by other children for being a sensitive soul. He dreams of
following in his uncle's footsteps and joining the clergy, but his village
earns a living by farming and tending livestock. Children had been found killed
in the pastures and fields, mangled viciously by what villagers initially
thought was a wild animal. However, with the pattern of killings, they
eventually come up with supernatural theories for the murders. From that point,
the children responsible for tending the sheep ventured out in groups, one such
being Jacques, his brother Jean, the ringleader of the former's bullying, and a
few others. One of the boys suggests that Jacques, an expert storyteller, relay
something to pass the time, which he does. Unfortunately, the focus is pulled
away from the flock as the story starts to get good. Jean is taken by the
beast. Now, Jacques must decide: face his fears or run away like the other
children.
"Make It Rain," set in 1983, follows
Don Decker who is on furlough from a jail sentence to attend his late
grandfather's funeral, not out of affection, but as a way to get out of his
cell for a short time. He hated the man, and his ire raises as he listens to
the well wishes and grief pouring from the other funeral goers. After he leaves
the services when he sees the corpse move and look in his direction, Don
becomes haunted, perhaps possessed, by the dead man.
Other stories included in this
collection are "La Mussara," in which some friends out on a hike
visit an abandoned Spanish town with a strange past; "Bells Canyon," where
a businessman spends what he hopes to be a relaxing stay in the woods away from
the bustling city turns into a few nights of terror; a group of Green Berets
face a sinister, legendary creature in "The Kandahar Giant," and a
Russian hunter becomes the hunted in "Cat and Mouse."
As mentioned, Allen has a conversational and
personal way of telling a story, something which New York Times bestselling
graphic novelist Venditti succeeds in conveying this adaptation. Mutti's inclusion
of Allen's likeness at points in the stories emphasizes the storyteller's intrusion,
albeit welcome, in the narrative.
Mutti's distinct and realistic artwork is
fitting for this collection.
The book includes a location map where the
stories take place, a section of recommendations for further reading for each
story, and short biographies of Allen and Mutti, as well as information on
Ballen Studios.
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