Edward Gorey was an American artist that is best known for his depiction of the macabre. He’s most commonly referred to as an illustrator, whose style could be classified as surrealist. He wrote and illustrated more than 100 books, done in such a way that could be called, “gothic” — often pen and ink, limited color and have an impending doom to them.
Gorey extensively experimented with books — books that were wordless, books that were matchbox-sized, pop-up books, books populated by inanimate objects. He would often call his work “literary nonsense”.
I enjoyed learning more about Gorey because of his quirkiness. He published independent works under pen names, using anagrams (he also enjoyed puns). Ogdred Weary, Dogear Wryde, Ms. Regera Dowdy were just some of the names he came up with. In his later years, he moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts where he wrote and directed numerous evening-length entertainments, often featuring his own papier-mâché puppets. He was also a pop-culture junkie, following soap operas and comedies such as Petticoat Junction and Cheers, in addition to darker shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the X-Files.
First two images from Goreybooks, third image from Sotheby’s, and fourth and fifth images from It’s Dark in the Dark.


























































