The Cleft and Other Odd Tales

Sometimes amusing, sometimes frightening, Wilson's short fiction is as eclectic as his cartooning. "Campfire Story" mixes nostalgia with unease. "The Marble Boy" is a story in the oral tradition--a tale that might be told around a campfire or during a sleepover. These tales and the twenty-two others that fill out this collection are entertaining and unnerving.The Cleft and Other Odd Talescontains more than two dozen original Gahan Wilson illustrations.

Gahan Wilson's cartoons have appeared in Playboy, The New Yorker, Gourmet, Punch, Paris Match, and The National Lampoon. More than fifteen collections of his cartoons have been published, including Is Nothing Sacred?, Playboy's Gahan Wilson, and then we'll get him! and Still Weird. Wilson is widely considered to be the best living macabre cartoonist.

For children, Wilson has written and illustrated a series of adventures of Harry, the Fat Bear Spy. For adults, Wilson has written two mystery novels and a number of short stories, which have appeared in Playboy and Omni. Other graphic works for adults include adaptations of Ambrose Bierce and Edgar Allan Poe, and Gahan Wilson's Big Book of Freaks