There's not much else better than Swedish horror.

This book follows Alena who besides suffering the loss of her best friend (and maybe something more?) she's being terribly bullied at her new school. Featuring an absolutely vile girl named Philippa, oblivious teachers at a snooty school, and a murderous specter this book is macabre, disturbing, and gripping. Bonus: A film adaptation was made and the backmatter (at least of the copy I borrowed) includes stills which look absolutely spot-on to the graphic novel. (You know I'm going to have to find it streaming online.)

Warning: Adult themes (including nudity) + gore so reader beware if that ain't your thing. ( )

In this badly done supernatural thriller imported from Sweden, Alena is a high school girl grieving the death of a friend and being haunted by her ghost. At her new school she is being bullied by a mean girl. (The homophobia is both blatant and internalized.) Eventually, bloody deaths start occurring. It's all very Carrie.

It just feels very exploitative, especially since the creator is male (despite his first name which I usually associate with females).

Somehow this was made into a movie (29% on Rotten Tomatoes, 5.5 stars on IMDb), and this edition contains a lot of stills from the movie and some behind-the-scenes commentary by the author. I cannot imagine trying to sit through that. ( )

Alena by Kim W. Andersson is an unexpected good psychological horror comic, beautifully drawn and painted. Andersson has a good pace for unveiling the mystery and the book ends in a hogh note. ( )

I received this from Edelweiss and Dark Horse comics in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so this one wasn't too bad. While the story was somewhat predicable, and it felt like a cross between [b:Carrie|10592|Carrie|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166254258s/10592.jpg|1552134] and the movie, "Mean Girls", it was actually an entertaining read. The artwork wasn't bad, not the best, but not bad. The one thing that bothered me was that to cover didn't really have anything to do with the actual story. ( )

Har man läst Kim W. Anderssons kortserier (det har man förhoppningsvis) vet man ungefär vad man skall vänta av Alena (som om inte omslaget vore nog): flicka i internatskola, enda vännen död sedan ett år (men inte mindre pratsam för det), söt pojke, avundsjuk rival som också är skolans populäraste. Ja, och så då en tidigare olycklig kärlekshistoria med vännen, som slutade med att hon föll från en bro, och så saxar. Blodiga saxar.

Teckningarna är lite kantigare än annars, med tjockare linjer, mer kontrast, och blod som verkligen står ut på sidorna. Det blir dock aldrig oklart vad som sker, även när rutorna är gjorda lika mycket för ren visuell effekt som historieberättande, eller när slutet kommer (ingen blir förvånad). Snyggt tecknat, snyggt berättat, läsvärt. ( )