Edward Gorey

These playful verses by a celebrated poet have delighted readers and cat lovers around the world ever since they were gathered for publication in 1939. As Valerie Eliot has pointed out, there are a number of references to cats in T.S. Eliot's work, but it was to his godchildren, particularly Tom Faber and Alison Tandy, in the 1930s, that he first revealed himself as "Old Possum" and for whom he composed his poems; later inspired Andrew Lloyd Webber's...

Living with his grandparents gives Johnny Dixon a lot of time to find trouble. Or adventure. Or is it both? In this, the first Johnny Dixon mystery, our young hero hears the spinetingling story of Father Baart, a madman who haunts the town's church. At first, Johnny does not believe in ghosts, but when he takes a scroll and a small Egyptian figurine from the church basement, all that changes. Soon, a mysterious stranger gives him a ring, and Johnny...

When Johnny Dixon takes a tiny skull from a haunted dollhouse, demonic forces are released, capturing Professor Childermass and leading Johnny on a harrowing chase to a deserted island off the coast of Maine.

One of Hilaire Belloc's most famous works, "Cautionary Tales for Children" satirizes a genre of admonitory children's literature popular in England in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The seven stories contained in this work are macabre parodies of childhood lessons, and will entertain more sophisticated readers who can appreciate these tales of disproportionate punishment. Presented in a classic picture book style, illustrators have captured the...

While spending the summer in an old house on a desolate Canadian island, Anthony Monday and Miss Eells discover a chest that can transport them to another world and a maniacal group who are plotting the destruction of people on Earth.

Somber drawings illustrate short, enigmatic, and macabre tales and rhymes about murders, unusual animals, and mysterious events.

Profiles of 16 decisive struggles from ancient and modern times. Gripping accounts range from Alexander the Great's overthrow of the Persian empire in the 4th century BC to World War II's Battle of Midway. Pratt depicts the circumstances leading up to the decisive clashes, the personalities involved, and the historically important aftermath. 27 maps.

One summer night, a falling star crosses the sky, describing a line of flame high in the atmosphere and leaving a glowing greenish streak in its wake. Early next morning, a huge cylinder is found half-buried on Horsell Common, hot from its journey through space. Under the eyes of a curious crowd, the cylinder's end begins to unscrew itself - and the tentacular creature within emerges... Earth is being invaded by Mars. Against the human tide of panic...