The Doubtful Guest

E494587

The Doubtful Guest is a darkly whimsical illustrated storybook by Edward Gorey about a mysterious, long-term houseguest whose bizarre behavior unsettles a Victorian family.

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Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf children's book
illustrated storybook
nonsense literature
picture book
audience adults
older children
author Edward Gorey NERFINISHED
centralCreatureDescription long-scarfed, beaked, otter-like being
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
featuresCharacter Victorian family
mysterious guest
format hardcover
genre absurdist fiction
dark humor
gothic fiction
hasCoverArtist Edward Gorey NERFINISHED
hasCultFollowing true
hasISBN 978-0-385-01876-3
hasMotiveOfGuest unknown
hasNarrativePerspective third-person
hasPageCountApprox 64
hasReprints multiple editions
hasSetting Victorian-style house
hasTargetMarket gift book market
illustrationStyle black-and-white drawings
illustrator Edward Gorey NERFINISHED
influenced later gothic picture books
isAssociatedWith Goreyesque aesthetic
language English
lengthOfStay indefinite
literaryMovement mid-20th-century American gothic
narrativeStyle rhyming couplets
notableFor deadpan narration
open-ended conclusion
surreal imagery
partOf Edward Gorey bibliography NERFINISHED
publicationYear 1957
publisher Doubleday
theme ambiguity
domestic disruption
intrusion
social discomfort
tone darkly whimsical
macabre

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Edward Gorey notableWork The Doubtful Guest