Can’t get enough Sparrow & Crowe? While Issue #3 is still a ways away, David Accampo and Jeremy Rogers have put together another product to tide fans over in the meantime. Weird Winter Stories: A Sparrow & Crowe Yuletide Anthology is a collection of short stories told in the Sparrow & Crowe/Wormwood universe set during the holiday season.
Weird Winter Stories consists of nine tales that all feature Sparrow and Dr. Crowe in one way or another. The writers for these tales come from different perspectives, and it’s neat to see all these different takes on the characters and on aspects of the holidays. I’ve been spoiled by the audio drama and comic formats for the previous work set in this universe, which has always done a great job painting a picture (either literally or through sound) of the creatures and horrors that Sparrow and Crowe face. How well the writers did in inspiring my imagination was hit or miss depending on that particular author’s style, but this is largely a personal preference. Overall, the stories are well worth reading for fans of either the comic or audio drama. The nine stories come largely in three flavors.
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW
The Terrifying: Christmas is the time of good cheer and much happiness, right? Well, not if you’re an occult detective. “How to Kill Santa” by Joshua Alan Doetsch is a lengthy tale focused around an evil Santa Claus who has been accepting sacrifices. This tale really got under my skin, as it managed to tie in all the legends we associate with Santa in one creepy tale of loss that focuses around a group of children. Accampo’s tale, “Krampusnacht,” takes the idea of Saint Nicholas’ monster who kidnapped bad children and puts a horrifying, and more adult, spin on it as the beast comes after a couple during the holiday season. And, Christa Nahhas’ “Family Drage” is a multigenerational tale that’s told from numerous perspectives and features a monster I never would have thought to be terrifying of before, but is forever burned into my mind as a potential danger in the supernatural community.
The Funny: While a dark and dangerous place, Sparrow & Crowe has always been filled with a lot of humor, and, like the Halloween Special, Weird Stories delivers on this aspect as well. “Why the Long Face” by Jay Stringer focuses on a few of the monsters in the world and talks about the problems they face with all these plucky occult detectives getting in their way of having a tasty, mortal snack. Stringer’s story vastly entertained me. I’d forgotten how much I missed the more human aspects to the monsters inhabiting the Sparrow & Crowe world. “The Brimstone Chimney” does a wonderful job telling a drunken Crowe story focused around a different interpretation of Santa in a pretty amusing tale, if you don’t think about it too hard. While I take issue with the depictions and the language chosen to describe trans* people in her story, Teresa Tulipano’s “I Hold the Lock” makes for a great capstone on this anthology, as it tells a humorous tale of Crowe matching wits with a goddess.
And, the Downright Strange: Jeremy Rogers’ “Tragedy of the Greatest Dimension” makes for a rough first story focusing around a demonic ritual caught on videotape. Rogers delivers his trademark weirdness, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around this tale which is undoubtedly the most complicated and deserves a second read from me at some point. Paul Montgomery’s “What Child Is This?” is a messed up retelling of the nativity story where Crowe plays the part of the Virgin Mary. I applaud Montgomery on coming up with this twisted and fun concept, though part of me wishes it had stayed more humorous and less surreal. And, Caroline Pruett’s “Seasonal” is kind of a mixture of all three categories, as it focuses on Holiday Homunculi, because even monsters have sales quotas to meet. Pruett depicts the friendliest Sparrow and Crowe banter of the bunch and provides a nice contrast to all the times they’re at one another’s throats, but there’s darkness here, too, and a lesson about valuing what we have.
Weird Winter Stories is available digitally on Amazon.com for $2.99. All proceeds go to support 826LA, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills and to assist teachers in inspiring their students to write.
