Edward St. John Gorey

Edward St. John Gorey (1925–2000) was an American writer, illustrator, and Tony Award-winning costume designer renowned for his distinctive black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings depicting unsettling, darkly humorous scenes in Victorian and Edwardian settings.[1][2] He authored and illustrated over 100 books, including 'The Unstrung Harp' and 'The Gashlycrumb Tinies,' and contributed illustrations for authors like Samuel Beckett and Edward Lear, as well as the animated openings for PBS's 'Mystery!' series.[2][6] A child prodigy who self-taught reading by age three, he studied at Harvard and worked in Doubleday's art department before launching his own imprint, Fantod Press.[3][7]