Imps, Demons, Hobgoblins, Witches, Fairies & Elves

by Leonard Baskin

An illustrated catalogue of imps, hobgoblins, demons, and witches taken from literature and the author's own imagination.

Genres: Fantasy, Art, Fairy Tales, Picture Books, Folklore, Fairies, Mythology

47 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 1984

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

The entries are all over the place: mythological and folkloric figures like the Black Dog and Bloody Bones, fairy tale denizens like the Billy Goats Gruff and the Tooth Fairy, characters from Shakespeare, notions such as the Imp of the Perverse, stuff that as far as I know Baskin just made up like the Demon of Energy.



The Demon of Energy picks on fat people, apparently.

A few more ideas that didn't get full pages are crammed in at the end.



The layout is unique, with different sizes and shapes of image and the text also different sizes and placed at varying angles.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

After enjoying Leonard Baskin's wonderful A Book of Dragons , written with his young son Hosie, I immediately began looking around for other children's books he had worked on, coming up with this fabulous catalogue of unusual creatures. Taken from traditional folklore, works of original fantasy, and the author's own imagination, the twenty-one beings profiled here, from The Imp of the Perverse to the Jack-o-Lantern, are all a little creepy.

Here the reader will encounter The Wicked Witch of the West, from L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ; Ariel and Caliban from Shakespeare's The Tempest ; and Oberon and Titania from his A Midsummer Night's Dream . Here too is the bridge troll from the Norwegian folktale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff ; the elves from the Grimms' The Elves and the Shoemaker ; and the diminutive villain of Rumpelstiltskin . The other creatures include Jack Frost, the bogeyman Bloody Bones, the Tooth Fairy, a gremlin, the Black Dog, the Little Gnome, the Witch of Dark Adventures, the Demon of Energy, Tinkerbell, the Sly Devil, the Witch of Secret Good Deeds, and the Guardian Angel. Finally, the giants that Jack killed - Cormoran, Blunderbore, Thunderbell, and Gargantua - also make an appearance.

Each creature profiled in Imps, Demons, Hobgoblins, Witches, Fairies & Elves is given a two-page spread, with text - ranging from simple sentence to complete fairy-tale - on one page, and painting on the other. Baskin's images are compelling, giving even those creatures more commonly held to be "cute" a sinister appearance. The palette is very dark here, and some of the illustrations disturbing, so I would say that this is one for those with a taste for the darker side of the supernatural. Leonard Baskin fans, naturally, will be delighted.

[Jan Tamayo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imps, Demons, Hobgoblins, Witches, Fairies & Elves by Leonart Baskin is an illustrated catalogue of fantasy creators taken from literature and designed by the author. The book is intended for reading ages 8-10 years old. Readers will encounter everything from bridge trolls, to Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to even the likes of Tinkerbell. With his use of dark, muted colors and heavily textured illustrations, Baskin’s interpretations of these creatures tend towards the creepier side. Even Tinkerbell, who’s known for being small and cute, despite her jealousy and fiery temper, is drawn as a thin, unsettling figure surrounded by a dark void. Each creature has a two-page spread, the left being text to describe them and the right having the illustration. An interesting thing that can keep the viewer interested is that the shape of the text usually corresponding with the shape of the illustration on the other side. For example, the “Imp of the Perverse” spot illustration is in the shape of the octagon, and the text on the other side is wrapped to be in the same shape. In the case of Tinkerbell, her figure takes up less than a quarter of the right page, while the text on the left is significantly smaller than the rest of the book. While I think the text formatting and darker takes on creatures are interesting ideas, I think the descriptions and illustrations aren’t that engaging and don’t tell much of a story. For example, the entry of “The Witch of Dark Adventures” reads: “I wait at windy corners with my birds. If you blink I am not there— but my birds circle over the spot. They will lead you to me. See my eyes? They tell you to follow me, but they do not urge you to trust me— I am the Witch of Dark Adventures.” And the illustration is the witch with two birds around her. I feel like there could have been more storytelling going on, like her origin, or what may happen if you did follow her. For Tinkerbell, the text reads: “Tinkerbell was a very tiny fairy. She was not very nice. She was jealous and tried to harm Wendy.” That text is something a kindergartener might say after watching Peter Pan...also, the tense isn’t even consistent between entries! For a book made for readers ages 8-10, I think the text is lacking. I don't think this book could be marketed to 6-8 year olds either because I think the illustrations may be too disturbing for younger children. Overall, I feel like the illustrations were the star of the show and the descriptions were an afterthought, and this book is best for someone who just wants to see scary illustrations and doesn't really care about the text.

[Persephone Skaggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book be cause it has horror and creativity to it. The way the words are placed makes it feel special, even more to that it is.

[Caramia Sami]

I am working on a project that involves reading a lot of books regarding fairies and creatures alike. While I came for that, I stayed for the good witches (a punch in the gut I must admit), and the gloriously horrifying descriptions and illustrations, such as the tooth fairy :)