storybook favorites: gnomes, wolves, and cannibals

Tales of Garden Creatures
This storybook’s topic is not familiar to me, and probably would not have attracted my attention if it weren’t for the introduction. Pekingese puppies? On top of being way too cute to resist, this ends up being a good technique with which to mix the three stories about pixies, trolls, and gnomes. Additionally, the blog’s introduction goes beyond setting up the story’s main characters and narrators, and introduces a conflict, which gives the reader to keep scrolling. Not many other introductions did this. The title vague, if apt, and could be more eye-catching.
The blog’s design is simple, but pleasing, with a pretty color palette and design elements. There aren’t enough design elements to make it busy, but what is there serves its purpose to draw or move the eye. The text is easily readable. Pictures are well-placed and have frames, which helps each page to look clean. I will also try to use frames in my own project.

Monster Hunter
Legendary monsters are a familiar topic, and I know about many different cultures’ stories of vampires, dragons, wolves, etc. This story doesn’t do anything novel with the creatures themselves. Instead, its appeal is the common narrator for each story that strings them together and provides a common voice—and a strong character’s voice—that makes the old stories fresh. The introduction is the strongest example of this voice. I’m not familiar with the specific stories this blog visits, but I would bet they don’t have the same impact without this character’s narration.
However, the design of this blog is not good. The text itself is hard to read because the background is busy and the font is rounded. These are mistakes I will make sure to avoid by keeping my blog design simple.

Man-Eaters
The introduction for this storybook, on top of being practically cinematic, aims to establish mood more than character, and does so to great effect. I’m familiar with a few legendary creatures who are also cannibals, but the creatures visited by this blog are unfamiliar. The title is particularly eye-catching: Man-Eaters: Lilith’s Lair of Lascivious Ladies.
My favorite story is the first, which is told through a series of blog posts narrating the main character’s descent into insanity and his eventual disappearance. It’s almost creepypasta-like, chilling, and much more effective for the topic than a conventional narrative style. Since the reader is reading what seems to be a relic of a supernatural event and can’t know everything that has happened, there is a real creep factor that matches the blog’s stories and theme.
The blog’s design is simple, and not unique to the blog’s story themes, but it works because it’s readable. It’s a good, dark theme. Also, that introduction image.

 She's coming to get you! Web source.