In the mood for something “Gorey”? John J. Burns Library is featuring a special collection of the works of American author/ illustrator Edward Gorey (1925—2000) during this Halloween season. The collection will be on display in the Burns Reading Room through November 7.

The Gorey Greene Halloween Books are the second in a series of seasonal features in Burns Library presenting collections coinciding with holidays. The first “holiday show-and-tell” included books from the Nicholas M. Williams Ethnological Collection that were highlighted in celebration of “International Talk Like a Pirate Day,” which took place on September 19.

The books’ illustrations have frequently been called macabre because many of them are quite odd and unsettling. Skeletons, murderers, and other frightening figures contribute to a dark series of illustrations that accompany the often-eerie text.

However, much of Gorey’s work is intended for children, including The Bug Book. Another such work, Dancing Cats and Neglected Murderesses, includes a series of illustrations showing felines engaging in a number of surprising activities, such as reading tarot cards and “juggling raisin cookies on the back porch.”

The collection includes fifteen books illustrated by Gorey, including a pop-up book, The Dwindling Party. Why We Have Day and Night and The Vinegar Works: Three Volumes of Moral Instruction, are also part of the collection. These works and many others were written, as well as illustrated, by Gorey. Several compilations of Gorey’s work are also available in Burns Library: Amphigorey, Amphigorey Too, and Amphigorey Also.

Gorey is known not only for his illustrations, but also for his fondness for pseudonyms. One of the books in the Edward Gorey collection at Burns Library was written under the pen name Hyacinthe Phypps, for example. Many of Gorey’s pseudonyms were anagrams of his own name. Among these were Raddory Gewe and E. G. Deadworry.

Edward St. John Gorey is also well-known for designing the animated opening sequence in the PBS Mystery! series. He published more than 100 works during his lifetime and provided illustrations for the work of many other writers and poets. Gorey had a great admiration of ballet, and he received the Tony Award for Costume Design for his work on the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula. His home on Cape Cod is now a museum, the Edward Gorey House.

The 15 books of the Edward Gorey collection come to Boston College from the library of Graham Greene, a distinguished English author, playwright, and critic. Burns Library has many other collections of letters and documents from Graham Greene’s library. While the Gorey special collection is available in the Burns Reading Room for Halloween, the books may be used in the library for research all year.

Gorey’s style might be characterized as vivid, evocative, graceful, and witty. The irony and strangeness in his writings offer fascinating insight into this author and illustrator. Visit Burns Library for a look inside the world of Edward Gorey. The library is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9 am – 5 pm, Wednesday 9 am – 8 pm, and Saturday 10 am – 2 pm. Visitors are welcome.

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