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The Cleft and Other Odd Tales
Twenty-four fantasy and horror stories include "Campfire Story," "The Marble Boy," and "It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy"
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 1998
12 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Gahan Wilson
283 books49 followersGahan Wilson was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations.
Wilson's cartoons and illustrations are drawn in a playfully grotesque style, and have a dark humor that is often compared to the work of The New Yorker cartoonist and Addams Family creator Charles Addams. But while both men sometimes feature vampires, graveyards and other traditional horror elements in their work, Addams's cartoons tended to be more gothic, reserved and old-fashioned, while Wilson's work is more contemporary, gross, and confrontational, featuring atomic mutants, subway monsters, and serial killers. It could be argued that Addams's work was probably meant to be funny without a lot of satirical intent, while Wilson often has a very specific point to make.
His cartoons and prose fiction have appeared regularly in Playboy, Collier's Weekly, The New Yorker and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. For the last he also wrote some movie and book reviews. He has been a movie review columnist for The Twilight Zone Magazine and a book critic for Realms of Fantasy magazine.
His comic strip Nuts, which appeared in National Lampoon, was a reaction against what he saw as the saccharine view of childhood in strips like Peanuts. His hero The Kid sees the world as a dark, dangerous and unfair place, but just occasionally a fun one too.
Wilson also wrote and illustrated a short story for Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. The "title" is a black blob, and the story is about an ominous black blob that appears on the page, growing at an alarming rate, until... He has contributed short stories to other publications as well; "M1" and "The Zombie Butler" both appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and were reprinted in Gahan Wilson's Cracked Cosmos.
Additionally, Gahan Wilson created a computer game titled Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House, in conjunction with Byron Preiss. The goal is to collect 13 keys in 13 hours from the 13 rooms of a house, by interacting in various ways with characters (such as a two-headed monster, a mad scientist, and a vampiress), objects, and the house itself.
He received the World Fantasy Convention Award in 1981, and the National Cartoonist Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Gahan Wilson is the subject of a feature length documentary film, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe.
Wilson's cartoons and illustrations are drawn in a playfully grotesque style, and have a dark humor that is often compared to the work of The New Yorker cartoonist and Addams Family creator Charles Addams. But while both men sometimes feature vampires, graveyards and other traditional horror elements in their work, Addams's cartoons tended to be more gothic, reserved and old-fashioned, while Wilson's work is more contemporary, gross, and confrontational, featuring atomic mutants, subway monsters, and serial killers. It could be argued that Addams's work was probably meant to be funny without a lot of satirical intent, while Wilson often has a very specific point to make.
His cartoons and prose fiction have appeared regularly in Playboy, Collier's Weekly, The New Yorker and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. For the last he also wrote some movie and book reviews. He has been a movie review columnist for The Twilight Zone Magazine and a book critic for Realms of Fantasy magazine.
His comic strip Nuts, which appeared in National Lampoon, was a reaction against what he saw as the saccharine view of childhood in strips like Peanuts. His hero The Kid sees the world as a dark, dangerous and unfair place, but just occasionally a fun one too.
Wilson also wrote and illustrated a short story for Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. The "title" is a black blob, and the story is about an ominous black blob that appears on the page, growing at an alarming rate, until... He has contributed short stories to other publications as well; "M1" and "The Zombie Butler" both appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and were reprinted in Gahan Wilson's Cracked Cosmos.
Additionally, Gahan Wilson created a computer game titled Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House, in conjunction with Byron Preiss. The goal is to collect 13 keys in 13 hours from the 13 rooms of a house, by interacting in various ways with characters (such as a two-headed monster, a mad scientist, and a vampiress), objects, and the house itself.
He received the World Fantasy Convention Award in 1981, and the National Cartoonist Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Gahan Wilson is the subject of a feature length documentary film, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 9, 2021
This is a collection of two-dozen short stories by Gahan Wilson, the famous cartoonist, who proves that his artistry extends to prose as well. The stories span his infrequent forays into fiction over three decades, and each is accompanied by an illustration. By turns wry, eerie, creepy, chilling, and just plain odd, it's a fine and fun macabre celebration. If Hitchcock had done Twilight Zone...
February 20, 2012
I remember reading a sort of Lovecraftian story by Gahan Wilson that involved pigeons? That seems right. Anyway, it was the first story I'd ever read by him, and it rather impressed me, so I put this on my queue. Sadly, that story's not in here, but most of these stories were quite fun, too.
Basically, all these stories are light (in spite of the murders and so on that often goes on) and usually short and they frequently involve a "twist in the tail." They're not many of them game-changers or anything, and not all of them are even macabre. Most are as much like a gallows humor schoolyard joke as anything, but they're fun, and well-executed, and a few are pretty great. Wilson may not be in quite the same league as Ray Bradbury, but most of these stories have an almost Bradbury-ish quality, with a more sardonic sense of satire, and I'd definitely put them both on the same shelf, whatever shelf that is.
There were several stories I particularly liked. "blot" (or whatever you'd call it), "The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be" (which I think is kind of regarded as a classic, and was the only one of these I'd read before), "Them Bleaks," "The Marble Boy," and a few others. I think the book mostly got better as it went along. Either that, or I got more caught up in its spell.
Basically, all these stories are light (in spite of the murders and so on that often goes on) and usually short and they frequently involve a "twist in the tail." They're not many of them game-changers or anything, and not all of them are even macabre. Most are as much like a gallows humor schoolyard joke as anything, but they're fun, and well-executed, and a few are pretty great. Wilson may not be in quite the same league as Ray Bradbury, but most of these stories have an almost Bradbury-ish quality, with a more sardonic sense of satire, and I'd definitely put them both on the same shelf, whatever shelf that is.
There were several stories I particularly liked. "blot" (or whatever you'd call it), "The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be" (which I think is kind of regarded as a classic, and was the only one of these I'd read before), "Them Bleaks," "The Marble Boy," and a few others. I think the book mostly got better as it went along. Either that, or I got more caught up in its spell.
January 2, 2015
Loved these weird dark snippets of stories. Perfect little gems to please the palette.
June 19, 2010
Wilson is known primarily for his work over the years in the pages of Playboy, providing gruesomely humorous vignettes - a daffy and dark blend of Gary Larson and Charles Addams.
His website: http://www.gahanwilson.com/
My starring procedure will be based - unfairly - neither on the content as a whole package nor on each individual story's own merits. I'm looking for that particular Gahanian flair:
Poe writes "The Tell-Tale Heart", he gets five stars as-is, right? But if Wilson, not Poe, had written "The Tell-Tale Heart", it would only get four stars, as-is. Maybe three.
Five stars for Gahan would require, say, the floorboards ripped up to reveal not the Old Man's dismembered body but an untenanted shallow pit and a Thank You note from something...
----
The Cleft: *
Phyllis: *****
Leavings: *
(untitled): *****
Sea Gulls: *****
The Casino Mirago: ****
The Frog Prince: ***
The Manuscript of Dr. Arness: *****
Hansel and Grettel: **
The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be: ****
Mister Ice Cold: *****
Traps: ***
Yesterday's Witch: ***
Them Bleaks: *****
The Marble Boy: ****
End Game: *****
A Gift of the Gods: ****
It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy: ****
The Book: *****
M-1: ****
Come One, Come All: ****
Best Friends: ****
Campfire Story: **
The Power of the Mandarin: *****
Note: (Untitled) is Gahan's most famous (relative term) prose work: the "black blob" story from Harlan Ellison's anthology, Again, Dangerous Visions.
By averaging the stars, it's a 3.8333333333333333333333 book, which doesn't jibe with my actual overall gut-pleasure with this collection: It's a 5-starrer. But rules are rules.
His website: http://www.gahanwilson.com/
My starring procedure will be based - unfairly - neither on the content as a whole package nor on each individual story's own merits. I'm looking for that particular Gahanian flair:
Poe writes "The Tell-Tale Heart", he gets five stars as-is, right? But if Wilson, not Poe, had written "The Tell-Tale Heart", it would only get four stars, as-is. Maybe three.
Five stars for Gahan would require, say, the floorboards ripped up to reveal not the Old Man's dismembered body but an untenanted shallow pit and a Thank You note from something...
----
The Cleft: *
Phyllis: *****
Leavings: *
(untitled): *****
Sea Gulls: *****
The Casino Mirago: ****
The Frog Prince: ***
The Manuscript of Dr. Arness: *****
Hansel and Grettel: **
The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be: ****
Mister Ice Cold: *****
Traps: ***
Yesterday's Witch: ***
Them Bleaks: *****
The Marble Boy: ****
End Game: *****
A Gift of the Gods: ****
It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy: ****
The Book: *****
M-1: ****
Come One, Come All: ****
Best Friends: ****
Campfire Story: **
The Power of the Mandarin: *****
Note: (Untitled) is Gahan's most famous (relative term) prose work: the "black blob" story from Harlan Ellison's anthology, Again, Dangerous Visions.
By averaging the stars, it's a 3.8333333333333333333333 book, which doesn't jibe with my actual overall gut-pleasure with this collection: It's a 5-starrer. But rules are rules.
October 25, 2012
While reading this incredible collection of Wilson's best short fiction, the tag line from the film Creepshow kept running through my head: "The most fun you'll ever have being scared..." and it's true. There's not a clunker here, every tale perfect in its own way, whether scary or funny, or hilariously scary, or just downright weird and imaginative, it's hard to find another consistent collection from one particular author with this much clever wit and originality. If you are a fan of his illustrated gags, then yes by all means you should read this book without haste.
September 23, 2008
Weird, wild stuff. I'm not sure if I'd be able to read a full novel by Gahan Wilson, but these stories were definitely a unique reading experience. A little Hitchcock, mixed in with some Night Gallery, served up with a twist of Twilight Zone. I especially liked the one where a young boy steals the finger from a kid's corpse, and the kid comes back looking for it!
February 2, 2011
Wilson is as good a writer as he is a cartoonist.
February 18, 2020
"The Cleft"- Of all the stories in here, why is the collection named after this one? What was the point of this "humour" story mixed in with all these other horror stories? It suffers from some real gross Orientalism. Just skip it.
⭐
"Phyllis"- Tired femme fatale trope. Possibly more original when it was first published in 1962.
⭐⭐
"Leavings"- People experiencing homelessness are people too.
⭐
"
"- I'd read this one before in Unnatural Creatures. It was still excellent. Would love to read the case of the Mewing Nun that was noodle incident-ed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Sea Gulls"- When bad things happen to bad people. Good, if you're into that kind of thing.
⭐⭐
"The Casino Mirago"- Interesting concept with immersive description.
⭐⭐⭐
"Frog Prince" - I personally find the descriptions of the main character revolting, but that's surely the point.
⭐⭐
"The Manuscript of Dr. Arness" - Very interesting concept. The first time that one of the illustrations at the beginning of the story added something to the story for me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Hansel and Grettel" - The narrator of this one is just *chef's kiss*.
⭐⭐⭐
"The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be" - Actually felt some compassion for one of the characters in this one. A nice change of pace.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Mister Ice Cold" - Maybe my favorite story in this collection. Very, very good.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Traps" - This is just "Sea Gulls" but with rats.
⭐⭐
"Yesterday's Witch" -
⭐⭐
"Them Bleaks" - Another amazing concept and fantastic execuation.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The Marble Boy" - This type of story is an oral tradition staple for a reason.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"End Game" - I watch and read too much Caitlin Doughty for this to be shocking.
⭐⭐
"A Gift of the Gods" - The profanity in this one really spoiled the fun for me.
⭐⭐⭐
"It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy" - The book jacket is correct, this could have "appeared in the science fiction pulps of the thirties".
⭐⭐⭐
"The Book" - This one gets an extra star because it's got books and cats.
⭐⭐⭐
"M-1" - Another funny one thrown in.
⭐⭐⭐
"Come One, Come All" - Possibly the best short story I've ever read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Best Friends" - I don't think the female characters in this one were meant to be complimentary. I'm going to choose to believe otherwise.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Campfire Story" - It's meta. If that kind of thing still impresses you, you will like it.
⭐⭐
"The Power of the Mandarin" - More super problematic depictions of Asian people, but I think Wilson was actually trying to comment on it? Maybe? In a very 1977 way? But hey, at least .
⭐⭐⭐
Mean: 2.875
Median: 3
Mode: 4
⭐
"Phyllis"- Tired femme fatale trope. Possibly more original when it was first published in 1962.
⭐⭐
"Leavings"- People experiencing homelessness are people too.
⭐
"
"- I'd read this one before in Unnatural Creatures. It was still excellent. Would love to read the case of the Mewing Nun that was noodle incident-ed. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Sea Gulls"- When bad things happen to bad people. Good, if you're into that kind of thing.
⭐⭐
"The Casino Mirago"- Interesting concept with immersive description.
⭐⭐⭐
"Frog Prince" - I personally find the descriptions of the main character revolting, but that's surely the point.
⭐⭐
"The Manuscript of Dr. Arness" - Very interesting concept. The first time that one of the illustrations at the beginning of the story added something to the story for me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Hansel and Grettel" - The narrator of this one is just *chef's kiss*.
⭐⭐⭐
"The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be" - Actually felt some compassion for one of the characters in this one. A nice change of pace.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Mister Ice Cold" - Maybe my favorite story in this collection. Very, very good.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Traps" - This is just "Sea Gulls" but with rats.
⭐⭐
"Yesterday's Witch" -
⭐⭐
"Them Bleaks" - Another amazing concept and fantastic execuation.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"The Marble Boy" - This type of story is an oral tradition staple for a reason.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"End Game" - I watch and read too much Caitlin Doughty for this to be shocking.
⭐⭐
"A Gift of the Gods" - The profanity in this one really spoiled the fun for me.
⭐⭐⭐
"It Twineth Round Thee in Thy Joy" - The book jacket is correct, this could have "appeared in the science fiction pulps of the thirties".
⭐⭐⭐
"The Book" - This one gets an extra star because it's got books and cats.
⭐⭐⭐
"M-1" - Another funny one thrown in.
⭐⭐⭐
"Come One, Come All" - Possibly the best short story I've ever read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Best Friends" - I don't think the female characters in this one were meant to be complimentary. I'm going to choose to believe otherwise.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Campfire Story" - It's meta. If that kind of thing still impresses you, you will like it.
⭐⭐
"The Power of the Mandarin" - More super problematic depictions of Asian people, but I think Wilson was actually trying to comment on it? Maybe? In a very 1977 way? But hey, at least .
⭐⭐⭐
Mean: 2.875
Median: 3
Mode: 4
December 3, 2007
One of the greatest cartoonists ever writes....and writes very well too. Off-beat and shadowy.
January 6, 2009
A few of the stories truly are desturbing and oddball; however, some are stupid copycats of Stephen King's "IT", or predicable things.
January 18, 2016
This is a book so wonderful that after you read it, you not only re-read, but buy more copies and send them to your friends. Written and illustrated by Gahan Wilson. Each story is a precious jewel.
September 29, 2023
Overall the stories were okay, there were problems with the flow of the writing, and that could get in the way of some readers. My favorite story had to have been "The Sea Was Wet As Wet Can Be" which had a unique spin to it, and a bitter ending to a sweet start. My least favorite story had to have been "Endgame" as a chess player the outdated notation was an interesting choice, and the made up endgame name while realistic, could've just been replaced by an existing endgame. Not to mention some of the player's moves don't make sense like purposefully pinning oneself.
September 2, 2021
If you're ready for an overt and exciting left turn into the weird and wacky, this is the best option you got.
Fun. Weird. Gross. Insane. Hilarious. Groovy. Seductive. Confusing. Sweet. Odd. Earnest. These stories are straight up out there, and I loved every minute of it.
Fun. Weird. Gross. Insane. Hilarious. Groovy. Seductive. Confusing. Sweet. Odd. Earnest. These stories are straight up out there, and I loved every minute of it.
April 9, 2025
Winner, winner, chicken dinner. The Blurb on the front cover by Stephen King sums up my experience with Gahan Wilson. King states “Genuine weirdness combined with wit and intelligence". Twenty-three excellent short stories.
November 6, 2019
Quirky, weird little stories. I don't think there were any clunkers in the bunch. Sort of horrific, but in a lighthearted, humorous way. An enjoyable collection.
April 28, 2021
Nice collection of stories. Most you'll see where he's going with them early on, but they're still enjoyable. The best ones are the lightly humorous ones, rather than the usual twilight zone stuff.
May 27, 2021
"Gahan? He's the man."
May 2, 2017
A droll series of stories collection from various submissions to magazines over the years.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews