In the Irish Midlands of 1859 an English nurse, Lib Wright, goes to a tiny village to observe what some see as a medical anomaly and others a miracle, that a girl has survived without food for months. Tourists flock to see 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell, and a journalist has come to cover the sensation as two strangers transform each other’s lives in a story of love pitted against evil.

Marc, in his 40s, is a professor of literature at the University of Lausanne. Still a bachelor — and still living with his sister Marianne in a huge, isolated chalet that they inherited when they were very young — he carries on one love affair after another with his students. Winter has almost ended when one of his most brilliant students, Barbara, suddenly disappears. Two days later, Marc meets Barbara’s mother, Anna, who wants to find out more about her vanished daughter.

A young man and his family encounter one of the many spirits that lurk throughout the Rio Grande Valley. He and his family must confront the evil head-on in effort to be freed from its grip.

An American man unwittingly gets involved with werewolves who have developed a serum allowing them to transform at will.

Kenny is an ice cream vendor in Chicago with a crisp white uniform and an apathetic heart. When he encounters Lolita, a sharp-tongued but despondent insurance actuary, their heated conversation, natural spark and mutual hopelessness lead to an unusual proposal for a meet-cute: to travel to San Francisco, where they will jump off the Golden Gate Bridge together.

An uplifting documentary about coping with inoperable cancer may sound unlikely, but here it is. Gordon was diagnosed eight years ago and began using the medium of queer comic books to confront his feelings and fears. He employs humour to get to the heart of taboos surrounding death and disease, weaving many of the wonderful carers and nurses he meets into his expressively illustrated world. Sage, sweet, and stimulating, it is also a long-distance love story between Edinburgh and Virginia, USA. We could all learn a thing or two about love, life – and death – from Gordon.