Something at the Window is Scratching [Paperback]

Roman Dirge (Author, Artist)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The author of two other books; Something at the Window is Scratching and the Monsters in my Tummy, Roman Dirge has carved a niche for himself as one of the masters of dark humor. The Monsters in my Tummy comes straight from the heart and is Mr. Dirge's best work to date.

About the Author

Roman Dirge is the writer/artist of the cult hit Lenore - America's Favorite Dead Girl from the publishers that brought you Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: SLG Publishing (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0943151090
• ISBN-13: 978-0943151090
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,184,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY touched by this book, June 20, 2000

By 

AngelDust (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Something at the Window is Scratching (Paperback)

Well, it sounds really dumb, but I love this book more than anything else. There's one picture in the book that is just so adorable, and I loved the one story so much that I got it tattooed on me. Yes, you read that right. The little sandman's son is tattooed about 6 inches big on my back right shoulder blade. Now, if that isn't explaining how good something is, I don't know what could.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just when you thought it was safe to read poems again!, August 5, 1999

By 

Josh Weibley ([e-mail]) (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Something at the Window is Scratching (Paperback)

I love this book. It has the greatest art work, and the poems are the funniest yet. Very good for people who have a dark type of humor (and admit it, everyone does deep down.) 5 stars aren't enough to describe the zanny poems and illustrations. Also good, is his comic series 'Lenore', which I highly suggest for anyone who liked this book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "This stuff just comes to you, huh?" - quoting Roman's Dad, February 4, 2003

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Something at the Window is Scratching (Paperback)

Roman Dirge's take on the childhood aspects are wonderful, especially when you filter into that account the entirety of his body of work. From Lenore, Monsters in My Tummy, and The Cat with a Really Big Head, and One Other Story that Isn't that Good, there is a scope that hits on what many of the imaginative creators in the past had sculpted while adding in his own thoughts and perspectives. Some range in the realms of the silly, some are smothered in darker aspects, and some are just plain twisted. In a sense that pleases this reader, it makes them all worthwhile reading.

Within Something at the Window is Scratching, forwarded by Jhonen Vasquez, we find twenty pieces of poetry forming "Children's tales fro disturbed children," as the front of the book calls them. Some are just that, too, dealing with everything from the silliest of notions in "Devil bunny" to more darkened aspects of demise in "the coo coo lady." While the continuity isn't always there and some of the pieces didn't interest me, the ones that did with their slightly disturbed Shel Silversteinesque rhyming methodology made me laugh and made the buy worthwhile. Also included in the book is a little game that Dirge wants you to play called find the piggies, where Dirge has drawn, you guessed it, little piggies into the backgrounds of some of his illustrations. Why would he do this? As he say, "I don't know." Still, it was fun for some reason that I cannot put my finger on.

If you've yet to check out Roman's work, perhaps you should start with Lenore and then work you way in. You can begin here if you wish because it is good stuff, but there are a few pieces that might make a lasting impression in one of Lenore's two Trade Paperbacks. Still, for even the casual fan of childhood madness, this is a nice piece to take home to your mother.