House of Mystery

from Vertigo

.

It's a Decameron sort of setup with the individual stories varying greatly in quality and ingenuity (which is a problem since inginuity is what's promised). It has a two-page prologue set in the Dreaming that is never returned to and seems pointless (particularly so if you're not familiar with the original HofM). It ends to easily, turning the entire book into a pointless prologue. It was a stupid place to end a first collection.

And yet ---

I liked it. When it worked, it worked. A bit of blood-and-guts horror and a might-well-get-interesting-someday framing story. (Not that I'm counting on the latter.)

But the talent the project is attracting is compelling on its own. Worth watching. The second collection's already out.