The Gashlycrumb Tinies
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The Gashlycrumb Tinies is a book written by Edward Gorey. Described as a dark Dr. Seuss, Gorey tells the tale of 26 children whose names each start with a letter from the alphabet and are followed by a description of their death which tends to rhyme with the next or previous child's gruesome experience. The book takes the reader through the alphabet accompanied by Edward Gorey's macabre illustrations, colored in shades of gray, black, and white. The cover of the book shows all of the children huddled under an umbrella held up by Death whose wry smile connotes that although the children are safe from the rain, what awaits them is far worse. The back cover displays the end results as shown by 26 headstones.
The following is a list of the children and their fates:
| Letter | Child | Fate |
|---|---|---|
| A | Amy | Fell down a staircase (Who fell down the stairs) |
| B | Basil | Mauled by bears (Assaulted by bears) |
| C | Clara | Wasted away (presumably from disease) |
| D | Desmond | Pushed out of a moving sleigh (Thrown out of a sleigh) |
| E | Ernest | Choked on food (Who choked on a peach) |
| F | Fanny | Blood loss (Sucked dry by a leech) |
| G | George | Smothered under a rug |
| H | Hector | Murdered by garroting (Done in by a thug) |
| I | Ida | Drowning (Downed in a lake) |
| J | James | Accidental lye poisoning (took lye by mistake) |
| K | Kate | Murdered with an axe (Struck with an axe) |
| L | Leo | Ingested tacks (Swallowed some tacks) |
| M | Maud | Lost at sea (Swept out to sea) |
| N | Neville | Suicide based out of boredom (Died of Ennui) |
| O | Olive | Impaled on a scratch awl (Run through with an awl) |
| P | Prue | Trampled underneath adults fighting in a bar (Trampled flat in a brawl) |
| Q | Quentin | Drowned in a bog (Sank in a mire) |
| R | Rhoda | Died from fire injuries (Engulfed by a fire) |
| S | Susan | Grand mal (Perished of fits) |
| T | Titus | Caught in an explosion (Flew into bits) |
| U | Una | Lost in a sewer drain (Slipped down a drain) |
| V | Victor | Hit by a train (Squashed flat by a train) |
| W | Winnie | Frozen underneath a lake (Embedded in ice) |
| X | Xerxes | Eaten alive by rodents (Devoured by mice) |
| Y | Yorick | Head trauma (Head was knocked in) |
| Z | Zillah | Alcohol overdose (Drank too much gin) |
