Massimo Ranzato Ranzato itibaren 30627 Campotéjar Alta, Murcia, 西班牙
First of all, the physical book is absolutely gorgeous. Pick it up and leaf through it, even if you don't intend to read it. The story is not a sinister horror as the cover suggests. Creepy old photos (culled from real collections, credited at the end) are incorporated throughout the story, however, adding a surreal feel to the fantastic tales told by a grandfather to his grandson. Unfortunately, the mysteries that make the first half so appealing are revealed and the events that occur afterward are not quite as compelling. The ending could be the setup for a series but the world Ransom Riggs creates may not be full enough to carry forward. His writing is clever and entertaining, though, and the effectiveness of the photos - "...formal portraits taken in front of backdrops, their subjects clutching dead-eyed dolls, like they'd gone to Glamour Shots in some creepy turn-of-the-century shopping mall..." - deserves credit.