Ghoulia and the Doomed Manor, a loved and detailed graphic novel

Readers love seeing one of their favorite book series as they continue to improve upon its initial quality or enjoyment. Ghoulia, a graphic novel series from author/illustrator Barbara Cantini has maintained its very high level of quality and proved that a dead girl, and her also dead family, can bring life and excitement to ages eight and up. Ghoulia and the Doomed Manor is the fourth book in this series that really has that something special.

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t’s that aurora that’s around something that obviously had dedication, love and a lot of time go into its creation. The Muppets and anything that’s been filmed using stop-animation are two other forms of entertainment that immediately us of that.

In the case of Ghoulia it’s the detail that goes into each page that readers will notice. Every page has multiple layers in its focus, foreground, and background that make readers subconsciously want to look at them again without realizing that they’re enjoying it. The cover of Ghoulia and the Doomed Manor is a great example of Cantini’s colors and layers.

We see Ghoulia, her dog Tragedy, and her cousin Dilbert in a boat. Tragedy is in the front of the boat, steering it using a long stick as if they were in a gondola in Venice. There are spider webs, creepy crawlies, swamp grass and pine trees in the front and a derelict house that are for sale in the background. The sun is setting through the trees, creating a bleeding effect that obscures some of the pines and spreads out along the horizon.

The cover of the book sucks you in even if you don’t think you’d like a book about an undead girl. Our 11YO fits that bill. He’s not into scary comics or monsters in his books, yet he was intrigued by Doomed Manor. The detail from its cover and inside is such that it’s smarter than it originally seems. 9YO readers will be able to comprehend almost all of the words in the book. However, they’ll immediately dive back into Ghoulia and the Doomed Manor to look at the detailed art. They see funny zombie cowboys with black cats, real photographs, spiders on dresses and so many more hundreds of things. Also, just like the colors on the cover are intoxicating, the interior colors will leave your eyes gazing from corner to corner.

Similar to the other books in the Ghoulia series, it feels short. There are a couple of pages of filler at the end that most kids will breeze through. They might wish that the graphic novel were longer in content, but older readers will realize that it’s better to have a great graphic novel that leaves you wanting more, than one that wears out its welcome.

Ghoulia and the Doomed Manor is by artist/illustrator Barbara Cantini and available on Amulet Books an imprint of Abrams Books.

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