The Ghastly Ones & Other Fiendish Frolics [Paperback]

Richard Sala (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Manic D Press, Inc. (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916397408
• ISBN-13: 978-0916397401
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,246,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Sala grew up with a fascination for musty old museums, dusty old libraries, cluttered antique shops, narrow alleyways, hidden truths, double meanings, sinister secrets and spooky old houses. He has written and drawn a number of unusual graphic novels which often combine elements of classic mystery and horror stories and which have been known to cause readers to emit chuckles as well as gasps. Although most of his books are written with teens and older readers in mind, his most recent book, CAT BURGLAR BLACK, can be enjoyed by younger readers as well. He has also collaborated with Lemony Snicket and Art Spiegelman, and his illustrations and artwork have won awards and been published all over the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Injustice, June 13, 2001

By 

Jonathan Schaper (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ghastly Ones & Other Fiendish Frolics (Paperback)

Out of all of Sala's works I have read so far, this is the most clearly inspired by Edward Gorey. Although Sala's art has a style all its own, this book copies the usual Gorey format with a series of illustrations (one on each double-page spread) accompanied by rhyming text telling short, humourous nasty stories (the same sort of tongue-in-cheek horror fun for all ages of a Vincent Price movie). I personally prefer Sala's short stories aimed at an older audience in traditional comic book format, but this book is still a howl.

In this collection are four stories:

"The Ghastly Ones" is about a bragging master detective detailing the modus operandi of a rogues gallery of fiends he has locked to the lascivious delight of a boy obsessed with crime. "The Morbid Musings of Malcolm de Mulch" is about a young man obsessively contemplating the many ways he might unfortunately meet an untimely demise. "The Skulkers" is a series of portraits of various fiends not unlike the first story, but the mini-poems are each told from the fiends' own points of view. Lastly "Beware, Beware" is about an old woman warning her young grandson that they best keep themsleves locked indoors because of all the dangers that face them in the city at night. All but "The Skulkers" (which isn't really a story) has a twisted twist ending.

My one complaint is that it takes only minutes to read through the whole book, but it is still one that will be treasured by fans of Sala or dark humour, and I'm sure most young readers would get perverse delight from it as well. This is the type of fun book that encouraged me to read books when I was young because it is so "cool".