Amphigorey, Amphigorey Also, and Amphigorey Again by Edward Gorey (try saying that three times fast), 5/5

With a grim gaiety and chilling charm, every dark line in these three anthologies oozes originality and style.  Gorey’s authenticity and consistency lend a strange sense of the inevitable to his oeuvre; at our first encounter, I thought, of course, this had to exist.  Several of the stories are a little too disturbing for my taste, but I love the overall aesthetic and vocabulary.  Any author who can make me run crying to a dictionary, two pages in a row (not to mention introducing me to what is perhaps the greatest sounds-like-a-swear-but-isn’t word of all time: subfuscous), is all right in my blog.