A murder ballad, something I don't think I've ever read before. I think the translation of this book may have gotten in the way of my enjoyment as there were stilted moments, although this may just be how it was written. An interesting read, but I don't think I'll be going back to any other murder ballad's any time soon.

Tote's different to what I usually read but well worth it. Always good to step out of ya comfort zone methinks. Great ideas and lovely graphics.

Sounds like a great book, but I couldn't get the file to work unfortunately.

Erik Kriek has produced a beautifully drawn interpretations of some well-known murder ballads by Nick Cave, Gillian Welch and Steve Earle. Full of gore, blood-letting and retribution. What's not to like!

I love a good murder ballad! And these stories encapsulated that drama and melancholy very precisely.
Nice artwork, a very solid and well-drawn portrayal of each story.
I also liked the little history of murder ballads at the end of the book - very interesting.
Will look out for more in this vein and/or by this artist.

In the Pines by Erik Kriek is a graphic novel in which Kriek takes five well-known murder ballads and transforms them into haunting, macabre illustrated narratives. An accompanying album available via Apple Music, Amazon, Google Play, and Spotify allows you to listen to bluegrass takes on each of the songs for yourself. Some of the stories hint at supernatural elements, though it could be argued that guilt is responsible for the seemingly paranormal events. Interestingly, the murder ballad from which In the Pines takes its name is not one of the five adapted into graphic narratives (although it does appear on the album).

The first ballad/story included in In the Pines is “Pretty Polly and the Ship’s Carpenter,” the story of a young man who, after getting a young woman pregnant, lures her into the woods to kill her and bury her in a shallow grave, only for her ghost to follow him out to sea.

This tale is based a traditional folk song dating back to at least the mid-1700s, with the events in the song possibly based on a real incident in 1726. It is a popular banjo tune in the US and has been featured on both Deadwood and House of Cards. This was probably my favorite of the five stories in the book for the sense of foreboding it created in both the scenes set at sea and the flashbacks to land.

“The Long Black Veil” is a far more recent tale which originated in the 1950s and was originally recorded by Lefty Frizzel. This story is told from the perspective of a man who is falsely accused of murder. He does have an alibi. However, to reveal it would mean revealing that he was having an affair with his best friend’s wife, and so he remains silent to avoid ruining her name, leading him to the gallows. It’s a tragic tale and another of my favorites from the collection because of how intensely personal it feels over just a few short pages.

“Taneytown” (Steve Earle, 1997) and “Caleb Meyer” (Gillian Welch, 1998) both focus on difficult subjects and might be the two most uncomfortable stories included in In the Pines. The former focuses on race issues in the US when a young man of color visits the mostly white Taneytown where he is set upon by white men and ends up attacking one with a knife in self-defense. The protagonist escapes but later discovers that another young black man was lynched in his stead. In Caleb Meyer, a woman is approached by mountain man Meyer who attempts to rape her. She fights back, fatally injuring him and escaping.

The book version of “Caleb Meyer” adds much more backstory to the original song and introduces a recurrent miscarriages plot for the woman and her husband, leading to a disturbing possibility by the story’s end. Both are uncomfortable tales to read given the current climate and I found them by the far the most visceral of all the stories in In the Pines, but that discomfort serves to make such tales all the more important to tell.

The final song is another modern selection. “Where the Wild Roses Grow” was originally recorded by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds with Kylie Minogue in 1995. I was especially looking forward to reading this story, the last in the book, because I love the original song, but I found myself the least impressed with it. This was mostly due to the shift away from the songs original plot, adding in large amounts of backstory which I didn’t feel worked with the original lyrics, especially considering how much the ending is changed in this telling.

In the Pines ends with several pages that explore the origins of the murder ballad, and of the five songs included here. This helps to ground the book in history and offers some extra depth to the story-telling.

This is a dark, often difficult read covering a litany of uncomfortable themes beyond the obvious. It is disturbing, macabre, yet beautiful and is likely to appeal to fans of shows like Twin Peaks and Hannibal which are known for blending stunning visuals with twisted storylines. For those able to appreciate it, despite its morbid subject matter, it is a gorgeous and unusual addition to your bookshelf.

GeekMom received this book for review purposes.

I could not access this download, despite having the correct software installed. Apologies.

The artwork is so beautiful – Kriek's drawing style is lovely, and the use of a single colour in each story works so well. Although I did really enjoy this book, I was a little disappointed by the prose. As the stories are based on murder ballads, I'd hoped that a lyrical, rhythmic prose might be used. Of course the book is translated so I don't know how much that affected it, but I think the book would be so much stronger if repetition and allusion had been used in the prose, as in song lyrics. Still, it's a lovely book, and I wish it was twice the length.

A great selection of stories and great use of colour. I didn't like the second and third story very much but i completely adored the first one with the ghost ship. The almost mono chrome use of colour was like nothing i'd seen before and I must praise Kriek on that.

This isn't at all what I normally read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is an interesting premise with beautiful graphics and makes for a quick read. I particularly loved that the stories were taken from folklore.

I thought, what with this book being based on narrative songs, we would have illustrated lyrics. but no - this takes songs as the basis of five short stories, and presents them very well, using just one colour each time. Murder victims follow the guilty out to sea, someone hangs because he daren't say where he was and who he was doing what to when the crime was committed, and fully innocent people come croppers as well, before we find Nick Cave and Kylie doctored somewhat into a story of nasty people, contrasted nicely with the genteel landscape the artwork does so well. It was a real squint reading this on netgalley, but the book is most probably worth poring over in real life.

based on amazing stories ideas - I can see images effectively creating the right effects, and telling incisive narratives - since I cannot read the dialogues I can only guess the details - the female figures seem the most effectively lethal! and spooky - looks wonderful

I love folk music and folk art but I found the subject matter very grim. The illustrations were very dark like an old comic when the ink has bled into the paper. I know many folk ballads are about death, murder and betrayal but it was all a bit repetitive for me.

I thought I had my first reading month all planned out, but this one snuck in as my first read of the year, and I'm not too mad about it! I've really been trying to read more graphic novels, particularly lesser known ones on interesting topics. I don't know TOO much about murder ballads, a fairly popular music genre, but I know that they tell interesting stories, and Kriek's work made me want to look them up!

The stories were dark and that's what I liked most about them. What do you expect from a book about murder ballads I suppose? The illustrations that accompanied each story were suitably coloured and drawn, and while I didn't LOVE them, I liked them a lot. My favourite stories were probably 'Where The Wild Roses Go' or 'The Long Black Veil' thanks to the dramatic twist endings. I've since had a listen to the songs themselves and realised some of these additions were down to Kriek himself, so that impressed me a lot. Some of them FELT short though, and that's because there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue in parts. Stories like this are always about mood and atmosphere of course, but I guess I would have liked to have seen a little more padding out. Still, I'm glad I read this. It has introduced me to a new genre of music and type of legend that I haven't looked too deeply into in the past.

This is a collection of so-called murder ballads. That description alone called to the morbid human in me, I like something a little twisted, a little dark and you can't get much weirder (without wandering completely into the realms of fantasy) than these murder ballads. These are stories in which people die and then generally there's some kind of otherworldly element such as a haunting or similar. If you like a ghost story you're pretty much guaranteed to like these stories. 

I thought the illustrations were - for want of a better word - lovely. They definitely fit with the tone of the stories and they are certainly interesting to look at. This was the perfect medium in which to tell these stories. 

The thing that stopped me from liking these stories as much as I otherwise might have was the lack of women. I think out of all the stories there's one (maybe two?) in which a woman is the strong character. More often than not they are simply either murdered or cheating on their husbands with their best friends. I think this is representative of the source material as opposed to this particular author/illustrator but there were a good number of stories that could have been edited/adapted to reflect a more balanced world. Maybe that's straying too much from the core ideas of the book and these stories, I'm not sure, but personally that was what hindered my enjoyment. 

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.