More inspiring stuff from when I was a little ghoul:

How to Care For Your Monster by Norman Bridwell
Clifford the Big Red Dog creator Norman Bridwell also wrote and illustrated some cool books about living with monsters. These were some of my favorite books in primary school.


Monster Holidays by Norman Bridwell
Funny ideas for celebrating the holidays with Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolfman, and the Mummy.


Edgar Allan Poe Illustrated Classic Editions Tales of Mystery and Terror
Great cover by Al Leiner.....check out that neon-pink moon splitting the House of Usher in half! My dad had a 100-year-old leatherbound 3-set collection of Poe's work that was pretty fragile, so this fat little 4" x 5.5" book was better for me to smudge candy-sticky fingers on. These "Illustrated Classic Editions" for kids matched every page of text with a full page black and white illustration. Great idea! The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Gold-Bug are all here. A few October's earlier, my mom had given in to my begging at Zayre's and bought this album

for my sister and me. Aside from the horrible screaming and scary sound effects, a narrator read an edited version of the Tell-Tale Heart, so I already knew that one. Unfortunately, my mom thought the record was too scary for us after one listen and returned it! Luckily, I just found it on eBay. Score!


A. Conan Doyle Illustrated Classic Editions Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles
I got this for 69 cents at a great used bookstore called Annie's when I was little. The creepy cover illustration is by Al Leiner, and when I saw "THE OMEN" film in 7th grade, I got all excited that the Hound on this book cover was Damien's Rottweiler buddy. I like Leiner's cover art a lot more than the interior illustrations (by Pablo Marcos Studio)----it reminds me of the woodcut/ mixed media style of famous illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon.



Now Age Books Dracula
Now Age Books put out illustrated classics for middle school kids in the early 1970s. My dad taught middle school and brought home a bunch of these great books, published by Pendulum Press of West Haven, Connecticut, for my sister and me. My favorites were immediately Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The interior art is AMAZING. I prefer the interior illustrations to the cover art----most of the detail is lost in favor of color, and the color's not so good. Check out the Dracula frontispiece, compared to the above cover:


Dracula is illustrated by the great Nestor Redondo.


Now Age Books Frankenstein
I didn't bother to scan the cover of this one, as it's not so hot compared to the stunning interiors by Nardo Cruz. Check out the eerie frontispiece:




and the amazing "What have I done?!!!" scene:

I bring in these books to the black and white illustration class I teach at MassArt as examples of great pen and ink technique. These guys could draw it all, and made it look easy. If you see these in a used book store or online, jump on them!

The Patron Saint of Doomed Romance is on the wing! Beware the poisoned arrows of Santo Fiasco this Valentine's Day. New "Year of the Dead" 14" x 11" acrylic and fluorescent painting on 2-ply Bristol, $350. Same size signed matte heavywweight prints are $30.