It is hard to separate Gorey’s writing from his art, but why should we? A story like ‘The Doubtful Guest’ is the perfect fusion of words and pictures; the tragic, comedic tale of an unspecified creature that comes to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting family.
The havoc is also, for lack of a better word: marginal. Yes, it eats all of the syrup and part of a plate, and then breaks the gramophone. But it is never actually menacing or a threat. Gorey’s art depicts the guest or as small and fuzzy (wearing what looks suspiciously like Converse). The family are, at worst, annoyed: their trinkets are lost and pictures are askew. The net sum of its disruption is no worse than that of your average Tortoiseshell cat.
Perhaps, dare I say it, they’re better off?
That’s the beauty of Gorey’s world. Even when he’s outright macabre (such as ‘The Gashlycrumb Tinies’), he’s somehow making it seem gosh darned cute. And when he’s adorable (like ‘The Bug Book’), it is masking the grotesque. ‘The Doubtful Guest’ is perfectly spun in-between the two, leaving the reader to wrestle with their own indecision.
First published by Doubleday, 1957
A Personal Anthology 