Publishers destroy Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’s amazing artwork

[xg4bx]

"Alvin Schwartz's collection of haunting tales Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is an important gateway drug into the world of the supernatural. And as terrifying as the stories about brides locked forever in an attic trunk truly are, it's the artwork by Stephen Gammell that kept you up at night."

"The publishers have hired Brett Helquist (another talented artist) to replace the original illustrations. No disrespect to Helquist — but this is an atrocity. We totally understand what the publishers are trying to do here, and appeal to a younger demographic with these images. But if your child couldn't handle Gammell's paintings, they're certainly not going to be able to stomach a short story about a scarecrow who skins a farmer alive and dries out his skin sack trophy on the roof. Gammell's art is an integral part of this collection. The least they could do is release a special art book as a companion. This is just supernatural blasphemy."

http://io9.com/5881462/publishers-de...mazing-artwork



i'm a grown man and i still think the original artwork is incredibly creepy. this is just wrong.


heres a video of Gammell's artwork-

[Dulin's Books]

interesting. i had truly never heard of these works until recently. this school year I am volunteering in my son's elementary school library. because of cutbacks we have only 1 librarian to share between several schools so several other parents and I keep the doors open for regular library visits for the various classes/grades.

to the point , a couple of weeks ago when i arrived at the library there was a book on the counter with a note from the principal. he asked that it be checked in from the student who previously had it and then checked out to him so he might read it. later when i made a prank out of delivering it in person he explained that the student's parent had objected to her son having it because of the illustrations. he's a first or second grader. the principal wanted to familiarize himself with the work and with the process if the parent decided to actually challenge the book.

when i spoke with the librarian about it she discussed the idea of just blocking it through the check out system so only 3rd and above could check it out. we have that ability and it seems a rather more appropriate way to deal with "age appropriate" issues than having the book removed outright due to a challenge from a/some parent(s).

anyway I personally thought that the pictures were nothing next to the subject matter but thats through adult eyes. i imagine they could be quite a bit scarrier to a child than some of the stories. the style chosen to replace them is interesting. will they continue to offer both versions?

[RainingLemur]

Oh my... I loved those books. The artwork was so creepy when I read them. I think I still have 2 of the 3 books stored at Mom's.

This is sad.

[AnemicOak]

Are we sure the images aren't being replaced because of a rights issue? It's happened before with other books.

[banjobama]

Oh my gosh! I loved those books and was horrified by the pictures... in a thrilling, awesome way. Sad that they're being re-done.

But if your child couldn't handle Gammell's paintings, they're certainly not going to be able to stomach a short story about a scarecrow who skins a farmer alive and dries out his skin sack trophy on the roof.

Pretty much this.