Book Review: SKULLS: PORTRAITS OF THE DEAD AND THE STORIES THEY TELL

by | Jul 7, 2024 | Book Reviews, Reviews, The Horror Review News | 0 comments

Skulls: Portraits of the Dead and the Stories They Tell
Paul Gambino
Laurence King Publishing (October 12, 2021)
Reviewed by Nora B. Peevy

Prepare to cuddle up with a delectable book of skull photographs and their collectors’ stories. Paul Gambino is known as a Master of the Macabre, and Skulls is his third of five books. His passion for collecting oddities sent him down the writing path and we are so lucky it did. In this tome, Skulls: Portraits of the Dead and the Stories They Tell, there is a noggin for everyone’s taste. From medical specimens to the intricately carved skulls or ones with a unique discovery story, they are all photographed in this gorgeous book with their collectors, and I appreciate the inclusion of multiple photographers. Each artist has a different vision to their photography. Reading about the owners behind the collections and sharing their passion, reading the memories they have of purchasing their first or favorite skull is a wonderful treat.

Love cemeteries, the funeral customs of diverse cultures, skulls, oddities and curiosities, or art? This is your book. Jaw dropping, droolworthy, tasty page upon page of skulls! Almost two hundred pages of skulls printed on black and light green paper. Yummy, thick, paper a reader will appreciate and skulls, skulls, and more skulls. Be still my little skulls! The scent of the paper in your hand as you’re reading is to scream for. This hardback is worth every penny. I’d donate my own skull to be in this book. Eyeball this one, if you’re into the celebration of life or as some call it, the macabre. And if you ask me to loan it to you, you’ll have to pry it out of my dead, cold hands first.

About Nora B. Peevy

Nora B. Peevy is a cat trapped in a human’s body. Please send help or tuna. She toils away for JournalStone and Trepidatio Publishing as a submissions reader, is a co-editor for Alien Sun Press, the newest reviewer for Hellnotes, and has been published by Eighth Tower Press, Weird Fiction Quarterly, and other places. Usually, you can find her on Facebook asking for help escaping from her human body or to get tuna. Tuna is nice. Cats like tuna.

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