Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, horror is having a moment.

While not generally considered a horror story per se, Dante’s Inferno is, in fact, one of the early masterpieces of the genre, right up there with the much older Greek myth of Oedipus Rex and the more recent Frankenstein and The Tell-Tale Heart. Yet there’s something about the original Inferno that has captured the imagination of generation after generation of writers and illustrators, for Inferno has been adapted numerous ways and in multiple genres. There’s even a Mickey Mouse Inferno parody.

Although the basic story is so famous as to scarcely need reprising, the skeleton sketch is that the ghost of ancient poet Virgil leads 14^th century writer Dante Alighieri through the nine circles of Hell to see his beloved Beatrice. After meeting sinners, mythological figures, rulers, and more during their downward odyssey into the depths of the underworld, the two encounter Satan at the center of their descent, emerging safely into the light at the end.

The Brizzi brothers’ reimagining of the Inferno puts it into a graphic novel format for upper YA readers. And it’s truly spectacular, with dark, brooding B&W pencil drawings, sweeping lines, and an intense, drama-filled style that pays homage to Gustave Dore’s 19^th century Inferno illustrations. So vivid are the drawings in this 21st century rendition, that the lack of color becomes a plus rather than a minus, a means of focusing the viewer’s eye on the details of the images. Not least among these details is the felicitous inclusion of that most famous Inferno quote, “Lasciate ogni speranza voi che entrate,” shown in the original Italian (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter.”). While the story has been artfully condensed, the bones of the allegory remain.

For young or timid readers, Dante’s Inferno: A Graphic Novel Adaptation may well be scary enough to prompt nightmares. For slightly older, more hardened, or less susceptible readers, this latest visit to the Inferno will serve as a marvelous introduction to the story—perhaps all they’ll ever need for cultural literacy. But for a small subset of fans of this marvelous adaptation, a close read may well open the gates to the fascinating world of Italian literature and to understanding the perennial appeal of Dante’s classic epic.

Dante’s Inferno: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
Written by Dante Alighieri
Illustrated by Paul Brizzi and Gaëtan Brizzi
Translated from the French by Montana Kane
ISBN: 9781419776755
2024, Abrams ComicArts

You can buy a copy here* or find a copy of it at a library.

*Book purchases made via our affiliate link may earn GLLI a small commission at no cost to you.

Award-winning opera singer Nanette McGuinness is the translator of over 140 books and graphic novels for children and adults from French, Italian, German and Spanish into English, including the much-loved Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels, as well as Tiki: A Very Ruff Year (nominated for the 2023 Eisner and Harvey Awards) and Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War (2023 GLLI YA Translated Book Prize Honor Book, 2023 Mosaic Prize winner, 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Finalist and 2023 Harvey Award nominee). Accolades have also gone to her translations of Up in the Blue Sky: Journey from the Earth’s Surface to Outer Space (2025 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection), Ellie in First Position (2024 ALA Top Ten Graphic Novels for Children; Texas Library Association’s Little Maverick graphic novel reading list), Magical History Tour: Vikings and Magical History Tour: Gandhi (both 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Finalists), Luisa: Now and Then (2019 Stonewall Honor Book; 2020 GLLI YA Translated Honor Book; YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2019) and California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas (2018 Harvey Award; YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2018).