Edward Gorey: To Die For
A Ghastly (but fashionable) Goth Life Well-Lived
American writer and artist, Edward Gorey was genuinely one of a kind when it came to putting pen to paper. The Chicago native was known for his wordless books that contained unique narratives taking place in the Victorian and Edwardian era. After serving in WWII, he enrolled as a French Literature major at Harvard where he found his passion for the arts.
The so-called Grandfather of Goth, channelled his energy to children’s books, collaborating with authors like John Bellairs and Brad Strickland. Gorey illustrated spooky pieces, even publishing a morbid, yet chilling alphabetical catalog of 26 children’s deaths.
Gorey believed that his work represented “literary nonsense,” a genre created by writers and artists such as Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. “If you’re doing nonsense it has to be rather awful because there’d be no point,” remarked Gorey. “I’m trying to think if there’s sunny nonsense. Sunny, funny nonsense for children – oh, how boring, boring, boring. As Schubert said, ‘there is no happy music,’ and that’s true, there really isn’t, and there’s probably no happy nonsense, either.” Therefore, the eccentric writer continued to create “dark” work.
In 1977 Gorey made a name for himself in the theater district as the creative mind behind a Broadway revival of Dracula. He won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design and was nominated for Best Scenic Design. Today, Gorey is probably best known to PBS viewers for his animated introduction of the Mystery series. He died in 2000 at the age of 75, but left behind a macabre collection of works that seem timeless.
Want to learn more about this man of mystery? But of course, there is a fantastic story behind the maker of these morbid images and concepts. In a new biography, Born to be Posthumous, The Eccentric Genius and Mysterious Life of Edward Gorey, author Mark Dery delves deeps into the origin story of this truly hair-raising genius. It’s the perfect gift for those strange friends and bizarre family members who are always lurking in the background of your holiday soirées. Or pick up a copy for yourself and have a simply horrific holiday!
