Line #13 Literature/TheMysteriesOfHarrisBurdick

Context Literature / TheMysteriesOfHarrisBurdick

Go To


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/o149033276_2376.gif]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: If there was an answer, he’d find it there.]]
3
4	''The Mysteries of Harris Burdick'' is a 1984 picture book made by Chris Van Allsburg of ''Literature/ThePolarExpress'', ''Literature/{{Zathura}}'', and ''Literature/{{Jumanji}}'' fame.
5
6	An author and illustrator named Harris Burdick tells an editor that he has written fourteen stories and brings an illustration from each story with a caption, promising to deliver the full manuscript if the editor publishes his stories. Burdick, however, is never seen again. All that remains of him are the fourteen illustrations and their captions.
7
8	A collection of stories based on the illustrations written by well-known professional authors, ''The Chronicles of Harris Burdick'', was released in 2011.
9	----
10	!!The book provides examples of:
11	* AdaptationExpansion: Many authors have taken it to themselves to write adaptations of the illustrations. One of the more notable examples being Creator/StephenKing, who wrote a short story based on "The House on Maple Street" for ''Literature/NightmaresAndDreamscapes''.
12	%%* DeliberatelyMonochrome
13	* MindScrew: Many of the images are this, as they usually show weird, surreal things that couldn't happen in real life. Why is a house blasting into space? Why is a book sprouting vines? How is that pumpkin ''glowing?''
14	* NoEnding: All that remains of each story is a single sentence. Done with the intention that the reader will write their own story based off it.
15	* NothingIsScarier: ''Often.'' Quite a few of the pages allude to some unspecified danger or tragedy, and even Burdick's fate is hauntingly ambiguous. Actually a very handy tool for introducing the concept to budding horror enthusiasts.
16	* NoodleIncident: What stories could Harris Burdick have in mind for these pictures? The world may never know.
17	* RiddleForTheAges: Everything in this book is left a deliberate mystery for different writers to fill in the blanks.
18	* SpookyPhotographs: The illustrations themselves can be pretty scary, and their collective backstory is supposed to be unnerving. The [[DependingOnTheAuthor stories written by each individual author go all over the place]], however.
19	%%* TheUnsolvedMystery: The disappearance of Harris Burdick and his missing stories.
20	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The central mystery of each illustration is what the heck kind of story would make the caption work with the art. Of course, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this is the whole point]] for aspiring writers.

Context Literature / TheMysteriesOfHarrisBurdick