Book Review: “Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World” by Cullen Bunn
Fans of Cullen Bunn's work all have their favorites. Every title you see will have references to Harrow County, Sixth Gun, and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe. My personal interest in Cullen's work started with a random pickup from my local shop where I saw a Subspecies trase paperback on a display, knowing nothing of the man, but being a massive Full Moon (capital H) Horror fan. I bought the book, words unheard, because of my love for the B movie greatness that Charles Band had put into the world. I loved the book, but as a person with a Puppet Master tattoo, I was definitely its target audience.
It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I connected some dots and read Harrow County, the comic that I still stand by as being easily my favorite and undoubtedly one of his best books. Not only is it a great story, but it solidifies Cullen as one of the greats in horror comics. It has a flair for folk horror that I think few in the medium get close to. Quite honestly, I dont believe I had ever heard the word HAINT until this book and when I watched Sinners earlier this year that may be the first time I had heard it spoken (after I read it at least) unless the book was being discussed. Not that it's bespoke, but it is definitely of a time or of an area. And I LOVE it.
At some point after this I became more familiar with Cullen directly and read his chapters on his Patreon, Goblinville, that I will always refer to as "The Sword Mama" world. This was my first dip into his prose (or what those that deal in "real books" as "book books." These stories are what people would classify as "dark fantasy" or what I would call "fantasy for those that deal in the macabre." You can tell Cullen has a love for fantasy, even if he's not as known for it. The world building is incredibly fun and you can see his love for Dungeons and Dragons, especially the darker modules, pouring through each page. It's this stair step that I think many will miss as they get into his new book, "Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World."
All that said, I think this is a great starting point to get into his work. Not only does it bypass the unfortunate general critical thought that does still exist dismissing comics as literature, but he is able to still build an incredibly lived in world, without a visual artist.
You are immediately introduced to characters, both big and small, that build out the small island town with which the story takes place. You get familiar landmarks, the supermarket, coffee shop, and the shoreline that the residents and tourists use daily. You know what life SHOULD BE, in a world that Cullen isn't there to stir up trouble, but that trouble is what we are here for.
The book is an absolute page turner. The initial killing of a local pest control agent turns into a manhunt for our would-be serial killer, and that world building comes into play as we see how it impacts the local residents and tourists alike. Without giving too much away, the push and pull about there being something more sinister behind the death at hand has an incredibly satisfying follow through that keeps pages turning over and over again.
The page turning of the book is one of the things that left me the most positive. We bounce between characters and events, but not so much as to be left confused. If you are like me, and I know I am, I love reading chunks at a time, and this book let's you get up, process, and get back in whenever you want. It's both a quick read but also a fun jaunt through the story. It respects your time, no matter what kind of reader you are.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World" and will put it up against my other favorites of this year, Grady Hendrix "Witchcraft for Wayward Girls" and Stephen Graham Jones "Buffalo Hunter Hunter" as the best horror books I've read this year. If you like those authors, but want a bit of a fantasy or cosmic flare, check in with Cullen and see what you think.
