I remember the book 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' being a popular checkout at the library of my elementary school. How this book and its sequels wound up as reading material for children astounds me to this day. While the stories themselves were just okay, the horror lies with the grisly, graphic, and horrific illustrations running through the book. The books (or at least the first) were illustrated by Stephen Gammell, who rendered pure nightmare fuel with ink and washes. As creepy as the work is, it holds my morbid fascination. The works have a nicely surreal blend of realistic detail and more stylized/exaggerated attributes that really leave a lasting impact on the viewer. Each monster or figure drawn seems to come straight from the most twisted of nightmare worlds. I have no picked up the book in years and I still shudder at some of the imagery.
All the gross little details keep my eyes totally glued to these pieces! The roots, melty eyes, veiny skull, and spindly limbs of the floating thing give a vision of something truly unspeakable. I love the point of view chosen too... You're off at a safe distance, able to see the whole thing while having to look slightly upwards, yet with the slightest eye movement, the thing can look back at you.
ReplyDeleteI used to read these books when I was a kid and the illustrations were better than the stories! They are so detailed and stylized. They are great, I still have them solely for looking at the drawings. The work is so sick and twisted that it's weird that they are in a kids scary stories.
ReplyDeleteThose really were great illustrations. After a story I would find myself staring at them for quite a while. Sometimes they did not necessarily make sense with the story and then you had a whole new scary tangent happening. I would have preferred just a book of illustrations and that would have been good enough for me. His work is so intense and detailed.
ReplyDeleteI loved these illustrations as a kid. I think it was because they evoked such an eerie feeling that was so successful with scary story book. This is how scary stories should be illustrated. The figures are so bizarre and alluring, when placed with a scary story, it creates the perfect creepy tone.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw this post, I went to my books and pulled two that I have just to view the illustrations, which is what I did in elementary school as well. The stories were good, but the illustrations is what attracted me most to these books. The use of shadow and dark tones with no color definitely adds a sense of mystery and eeriness.
ReplyDeleteWow, this caught my eye immediately while I was scrolling through the entries. Oddly enough, I picked up a full set of these books at a garage sale, having misplaced my originals at some point. Gammell's work is so distinctive and "morbid fascination" is a great way of expressing how it made me feel as a kid as well.
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