The Problem of Susan and Other Stories

This latest adaptation of stories and poems from Neil Gaiman is mostly just alright.  P. Craig Russell, who has worked with Gaiman on multiple comics projects, handles the art and adaptation work for most of what’s featured here.  He’s also responsible for the superior “Neil Gaiman Library” entry “Murder Mysteries,” which is more worthy of a space on your shelf than this one is.  That’s because the title story is a rumination on age and morality as it relates to “The Chronicles of Narnia” that never really takes off. Rather than something the reader feels immersed in, I never stopped feeling like I was being told something at arm’s length by this tale.  “Locks,” which follows, amusingly relates the story of “Goldilocks” to parenthood while “The Day the Saucers Came,” is a fun end-of-volume chaser with great art from Paul Chadwick.

The one exception here is the Russell-adapted, Scott Hampton-illustrated “October in the Chair.”  It starts off with one of Gaiman’s favorite storytelling gimmicks: People telling stories to each other.  This time, the people are actually representations of the months of the year. While there are some nice lead-ins, October gets to tell the main story about the smallest of three sons.  He’s unaffectionately nicknamed “Runt” by his brothers and classmates, relentlessly teased by them as well, and apparently receives little affection from his parents as well. Which is why it should come as no surprise that he decides to run away one day.

Runt decides to go to the seaside because he’s never been there, but before he arrives he encounters a dead boy named Dearly.  They have a great time playing together. So much so that Runt decides he wants to stay here forever. If you think that sounds kind of dark then good luck trying to make it to the end of the story.  “October,” appropriately for the month, runs right up against horror at the end in a way that recalls “Closing Time” and wiped away my impressions of the stories which preceded it.  Is this collection worth picking up just for this story alone? Not for the $18 cover price, even if “October” stands among the very best that the “Neil Gaiman Library” has to offer.