Gorey has cast his readers as the villains knowing that we will draw the events of her demise within our own imaginations.īut akin to crouching behind the chair while peering out at a B-horror movie, the Tinies' reader can always close the book – and shut out the impending doom. The horror inside waits: the reader is left to complete the action, filling in the pieces leading to Prue's fateful conclusion. The masterful Gorey instead shows vulnerable Prue reaching to open the door of a saloon bar.
With “P is for Prue trampled flat in a brawl,” we see neither violence nor mayhem. However, the accompanying art only sets the stage for the tragedies. Robin Hoffman said it best: ".the most horrifying thing about The Gashlycrumb Tinies may be that which it declines to show." The text tells us that events have occurred. What is it about this masterwork that has kept our attention for a half-century despite condemnation that it is far too dark? Perhaps A. The Gashlycrumb Tinies has, in fact, been published in ten languages other than English. The Edward Gorey House Museum in Yarmouth Port, MA is honored this milestone with its 2013 annual exhibit devoted to The Vinegar Works and a focus on the Tinies alphabet treasured by Gorey readers the world over. The Gashlycrumb Tinies was included with two companion volumes – The Insect God and The West Wing – billed by Gorey as "Three Volumes of Moral Instruction." The doleful moppets made their initial appearance within Simon and Schuster's 1963 slip-cased publication of The Vinegar Works. Indeed, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, over its fifty-year history, has never, ever, been out of print. Its images have graced postcards and posters, magnets and mugs: for Gorey lovers and for novices, affection for the Tinies endures.
In 2013 we celebrated the golden anniversary of the publication of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Edward Gorey’s most iconic alphabet book and likely his best known work.
“A is for Amy who fell down the stairs B is for Basil assaulted by bears…” That initial couplet, announcing the untimely demise of twenty-six very unfortunate children, has amused and horrified readers – often concurrently – for fifty years.
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