Edward Gorey

**Edward St. John Gorey** (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American artist and writer of little illustrated stories and experimental plays.

He was known for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. He designed sets and costumes for _Edward Gorey’s Dracula_ in 1977. That play won two Tony Awards in 1978. One was for Best Costumes.

Gorey was born in Chicago, Illinois. From grade 9, he was a successful student at the Francis Parker School. He was drafted into the U. S. Army when he was 18. In 1946 he went to college at Harvard University. He was the roommate there of poet Frank O'Hara. They both worked in the Poets Theater in Cambridge.

Gorey's first book was _The Unstrung Harp_ in 1953. Different from comic books, it was an early kind of graphic novel. It used both words and pictures to tell the story.

From the 1950s on, Gorey was well-liked as an illustrator and designer of other people's books. Many people know his work by watching the animated opening for public telelvision's _Mystery_ series.

In 2000 he died of a heart attack at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

## Books

- _The Unstrung Harp_ 1953
- _The Listing Attic_ 1954
- _The Doubtful Guest_ 1957
- _The Object-Lesson_ 1958
- _The Bug Book_ 1959
- _The Fatal Lozenge: An Alphabet_ 1960
- _The Curious Sofa: A Pornographic Tale by Ogdred Weary_ 1961
- _The Hapless Child_ 1961
- _The Willowdale Handcar: Or, the Return of the Black Doll_ 1962
- _The Beastly Baby_ 1962
- _The Vinegar Works: Three Volumes of Moral Instruction_ 1963
    - _The Gashlycrumb Tinies_
    - _The Insect God_
    - _The West Wing_
- _The Wuggly Ump_1963
- _The Nursery Frieze_1964
- _The Sinking Spell_ 1964
- _The Remembered Visit: A Story Taken from Life_ 1965
- _Three Books from Fantod Press (1)_ 1966
    - _The Evil Garden_
    - _The Inanimate Tragedy_
    - _The Pious Infant_
- _The Gilded Bat_ 1967
- _The Utter Zoo_ 1967
- _The Other Statue_ 1968
- _The Blue Aspic_ 1968
- _The Epiplectic Bicycle_ 1969
- _The Iron Tonic: Or, A Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley_ 1969
- _Three Books from the Fantod Press (2)_ 1970
    - _The Chinese Obelisks: Fourth Alphabet_
    - _Donald Has a Difficulty_
    - _The Osbick Bird_
- _The Sopping Thursday_ 1970
- _Three Books from the Fantod Press (3)_ 1971
    - _The Deranged Cousins_
    - _The Eleventh Episode_
    - _The Untitled Book_
- _The Awdrey-Gore Legacy_ 1972
- _Leaves from a Mislaid Album_ 1972
- _The Abandoned Sock_ 1972
- _A Limerick_ 1973
- _The Lavender Leotard_ 1973
- _CatEgorY_ 1973.
- _The Lost Lions_ 1973
- _The Green Beads_ 1978
- _The Glorious Nosebleed: Fifth Alphabet_ 1975
- _The Grand Passion: A Novel_ 1976
- _The Broken Spoke_ 1976
- _The Loathsome Couple_ 1977
- _Gorey Games_ 1979
- _Dancing Cats and Neglected Murderesses_ 1980
- _The Water Flowers_ 1982
- _The Dwindling Party_ 1982
- _Gorey Cats_ 1982
- _The Prune People_ 1983
- _Gorey Stories_ 1983
- _The Tunnel Calamity_ 1984
- _The Eclectic Abecedarium_ 1985
- _The Prune People II_ 1985
- _The Improvable Landscape_ 1986
- _The Raging Tide: Or, The Black Doll's Imbroglio_ 1987
- _Q. R. V._ (later retitled _The Universal Solvent_) 1989
- _The Stupid Joke_ 1990
- _The Fraught Settee_ 1990
- _The Doleful Domesticity; Another Novel_ 1991
- _La Balade Troublante_ 1991
- _The Retrieved Locket_ 1994
- _The Unknown Vegetable_ 1995
- _The Just Dessert: Thoughtful Alphabet XI_ 1997
- _Deadly Blotter: Thoughtful Alphabet XVII_ 1997
- _The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas_ 1998
- _The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation on the False Millennium_ 1999

Some of Gorey's books are very hard to find. These four books collect many of them. Because his books are very short, these collections may contain 15 or more in each volume.

- _Amphigorey_, 1972 () contains _The Unstrung Harp_, _The Listing Attic_, _The Doubtful Guest_, _The Object-Lesson_, _The Bug Book_, _The Fatal Lozenge_, _The Hapless Child_, _The Curious Sofa_, _The Willowdale Handcar_, _The Gashlycrumb Tinies_, _The Insect God_, _The West Wing_, _The Wuggly Ump_, _The Sinking Spell_, and _The Remembered Visit_
- _Amphigorey Too_, 1975 () contains _The Beastly Baby_, _The Nursery Frieze_, _The Pious Infant_, _The Evil Garden_, _The Inanimate Tragedy_, _The Gilded Bat_, _The Iron Tonic_, _The Osbick Bird_, _The Chinese Obelisks (bis)_, _The Deranged Cousins_, _The Eleventh Episode_, _[The Untitled Book]_, _The Lavender Leotard_, _The Disrespectful Summons_, _The Abandoned Sock_, _The Lost Lions_, _Story for Sara_ [by Alphonse Allais], _The Salt Herring_ [by Charles Cros], _Leaves from a Mislaid Album_, and _A Limerick_
- _Amphigorey Also_, 1983 () contains _The Utter Zoo_, _The Blue Aspic_, _The Epiplectic Bicycle_, _The Sopping Thursday_, _The Grand Passion_, _Les Passementeries Horribles_, _The Eclectic Abecedarium_, _L'Heure bleue_, _The Broken Spoke_, _The Awdrey-Gore Legacy_, _The Glorious Nosebleed_, _The Loathsome Couple_, _The Green Beads_, _Les Urnes Utiles_, _The Stupid Joke_, _The Prune People_, and _The Tuning Fork_
- _Amphigorey Again_, 2006 () contains _The Galoshes of Remorse_, _Signs of Spring_, _Seasonal Confusion_, _Random Walk_, _Category_, _The Other Statue_, _10 Impossible Objects (abridged)_, _The Universal Solvent (abridged)_, _Scenes de Ballet_, _Verse Advice_, _The Deadly Blotter_, _Creativity_, _The Retrieved Locket_, _The Water Flowers_, _The Haunted Tea-Cosy_, _Christmas Wrap-Up_, _The Headless Bust_, _The Just Dessert_, _The Admonitory Hippopotamus_, _Neglected Murderesses_, _Tragedies Topiares_, _The Raging Tide_, _The Unknown Vegetable_, _Another Random Walk_, _Serious Life: A Cruise_, _Figbash Acrobate_, _La Malle Saignante_, and _The Izzard Book_

## Infobox (artist)

- **name**: Edward Gorey
- **image**: Edward Gorey takes on Henri Bendel's window.jpg
- **caption**: Gorey setting up mannequins in Henri Bendel's window, 1978
- **birth name**: Edward St. John Gorey
- **birth place**: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- **death place**: Hyannis, Massachusetts, U.S.
- **nationality**: American
- **field**: Writer, illustrator, poet, costume designer
- **training**: Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard University
- **movement**: Literary nonsense, surrealism
- **works**: _The Gashlycrumb Tinies_, _The Doubtful Guest_, _Mystery!_
- **awards**: Tony Award for Best Costume Design
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis