Gorey Games (1979)

Gorey Games (1979), a collection of puzzles, mazes, cyphers and games themed to the works of Edward Gorey, designed by Larry Evans.

I was first exposed to the dreary, dreamy drawings of Gorey as a youngster thanks to my mother's fondness for the show "Mystery!" on PBS. The animated opening titles were based on Gorey's work.





The animation was so unlike anything I had seen before. It was dark, mysterious, and seemingly intended for adults, not kids! I often held out hope that when the opening sequence ended and the story proper began, we would delve right back into that animated world, instead of another live-action chapter of Miss Marple, et al.

A few years later I would notice a similar style of illustration in the occasional library book, like this edition of "The House With A Clock In Its Walls" (1973, John Bellairs), which I was turned on to by the television special "Once Upon a Midnight Scary" (covered in a previous post here.)




Or this book of poems, "You Read To Me, I'll Read To You" (1962, John Ciardi).


It was much later, in college, that I found my way to books authored by Gorey as well. Collections like Amphigorey and Amphigorey Too.

The games in "Gorey Games" range from simple time-wasters to fairly frustrating logic puzzles. Here's a small sampling of the 68 games found here. Enjoy.