John Bellairs and Edward Gorey

The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb by John Bellairs
Originally uploaded by Mom Smackley

sometimes in summer i just want to lie about and read kid's books. probably because that is how i spent so many happy summers during my childhood. i have one particular memory of drifting about in an inflatable raft reading The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey. John Bellairs was my introduction to horror -- i imagine he was for many kids -- and to this day it's as scary as i like my scary to be. which is, i say as an adult, not very scary. but as a kid i was scared. almost all of the John Bellairs books had covers and frontplates by Edward Gorey, and i think it should be illegal to publish new editions with covers by other people -- i mean if you HAVE a Gorey illustration for something, you should use it.

so Gorey and Bellairs are quite tangled up in my head. and i have been reading about Gorey lately -- he sounds like such a lovable old coot, holed up on cape cod with his cats, avoiding people and writing wonderfully creepy books for kids. his house, Elephant House, is a museum, and i would really love to go there someday -- or maybe even work there, maybe they need a registrar. then i could hang out with Soren, too. anyhow, this is my toast to Gorey and Bellairs, sometimes when i read the books i forget Gorey did not actually write them. i don't know too much about Bellairs but i do hope he was a lovable old coot as well.