The Cleft and Other Odd Tales, by Gahan Wilson

The Cleft and Other Odd Tales, by Gahan Wilson. 1998 first edition hardcover. 333 pages, very nice condition.

Gahan Wilson is one of the masters of macabre cartooning, ranked with Charles Addams, Edward Gorey, and Gary Larson. He is also a masterful storyteller. From the horror of "blot" to the gentle unease of "Campfire Story," from the classic oral-horror style of "The Marble Boy" to the science fiction scares of "It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy," the collection in The Cleft and Other Odd Tales shows Wilson at his very best. Originally published in Playboy, Omni, and notable anthologies such as Again, Dangerous Visions, Wilson's short fiction is gathered here for the first time. The 24 stories are each accompanied by an original, full-page illustration done especially for this volume. For his work, Gahan Wilson has won two World Fantasy Awards and the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement.

Gahan Wilson (1930 – 2019) was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations. His cartoons and prose fiction appeared regularly in Playboy, Collier's and The New Yorker for nearly 50 years, and he published cartoons and film reviews for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. In 1975 he designed the small trophy, a bust of H. P. Lovecraft, which was given to winners of the World Fantasy Award (until it was retired in 2015 due to complaints about Lovecraft's history of racism). His name should be spoken along with his kindred souls, Charles Addams and Edward Gorey.