Have you ever had absurd but frightening fears that you can’t stop thinking about? If so, then this book is for you!

The Creeps written by Fran Krause is actually the second volume, following Deep Dark Fears, a  comic based on people’s quirky fears. The author takes user-submitted fears on his Tumblr website and illustrates them into this compilations.

These fears might seem laughable to others, but nevertheless result in anxiety and feel legitimate to the person worrying. As a person who sleepwalks and nightmares on a semi-regular basis, I know all about dreams feeling incredibly real, even though others around you try to convince you otherwise. Our deep dark fears are often connected to our sleep, when we are seemingly not in control of our bodies.

My irrational fear was when I was pregnant with my oldest son and my husband and I were camping with some friends and I had to use the outhouse, I worried excessively that the baby would drop out of me and fall into the abyss. I knew this was not probable, and a few months later when I did give birth and it took hours and was excruciatingly painful, it was proven to me that no babies just fall out. But I was in no mood to be laughing at my fear in those moments.

The artwork in this collection of ninety-seven comic strips is clean and reminds me of Noelle Stevenson’s artwork. While drawn to capture the essence of the situation, and not be hyper realistic, I sometimes felt distracted by the too simplistic rendering of details such as noses. The coloring is done with watercolors, so the pictures have an appealing lightly hued washed out look. The strips are often in a four panel configuration, but a nice bonus was two longer multi-page ghost stories that were done in black and white to great effect.

This was a charming book, and while it will make you laugh out loud several times, it will also make you feel better about your own idiosyncratic fears. Go ahead and share your own fears in the comments section!

-Nancy

Now who hasn’t worried that they have eaten a spider while sleeping?

 

 

Creeper alert!

 

This is why nightlights are necessary!

 

Ok, blogging friends…no one better die on me!

* I received this book from Blogging For Books, in exchange for an honest review.