YMMV / The Gashlycrumb Tinies

• Adaptation Displacement: The book had a minor example of this. Some time ago, there was a song by the band Creature Feature called "A Gorey Demise", which was based off of this book. Just like the book it was based on, the song would also recount the deaths of 26 different children in rhyme. For a while, this song actually became more popular than the book it was based on, to the point where some people who first hear of the book say it reminds them of the song.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Practically every single character in this book is a potential subject to this, but the skull-faced figure on the front cover is especially prone to fan speculation. Is he supposed to be a personification of death, or is he supposed to be the afterlife caretaker for all of the children?
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Despite having no personalities to speak of, that hasn't stopped Gorey fans from loving many of the children in the book.
  • Neville is arguably the most popular of all of the children, primarily due to his absurd death of literally dying of boredom, something that many can relate to. It really says something when even Gorey found this character's death particularly funny.
  • Depending on who you ask, Amy in the original book arguably has the most personality of all of the children (On the front cover, she is the frontmost of all of the children in the gathering, and she doesn't look the least bit confident about it, at least compared to everyone else's stoic expressions). Along with that, she is also one of the most well-known of the bunch. It probably helps that she's the first child introduced in the book.
  • George is considered a fan favorite due to the mysterious nature of his death, crawling under a rug and suffocating under it. Not to mention how we only see him from the waist down, further adding to the mysteriousness of the scene. A replica of this scene, which was part of a scavenger hunt about finding all of the children (or things related to them), is considered a major attraction at the Edward Gorey House.
  • Hector is also a favorite to many, as he can be considered the most recognizable of all the kids given his design. Not to mention how easy it is to feel bad for his rather chilling death, getting kidnapped and then murdered.
  • Kate is also popular among the Gorey fanbase. The fact that her panel is the only one that depicts any kind of gore likely contributes to this.
  • Zillah is another fan favorite. Not only does she have one of the most over-the-top deaths in the book, drinking too much gin, but her panel depicts her having a sort of faux tea party with a skull-faced doll. Said doll is considered to be very iconic to Gorey fans.
• Fanfic Fuel: The book is an excellent source of this, as very little is pinned down in terms of who the characters are, or how they ended up in the scenarios depicted.
• Hard-to-Adapt Work: The book literally has no plot or fleshed out characters. This is also what makes it stand out among others. So making a proper adaptation to this book, while also staying true to it, would be an absolute nightmare, if such a thing is even possible. That hasn't stopped some from attempting it, though. Both can end with rather underwhelming results to some, due to how they deviate greatly from Gorey's unique style, and detract from the sense of mystery that is inherent to his writing and art.
• Moe: Most certainly unintentional, but part of the appeal of the book seems to come from how all of these adorable looking characters face such tragic deaths.
• Misaimed Fandom: Some fans of this book misinterpret the deaths of the children to mean that the author outright dislikes them. In actuality, Gorey had no such feelings towards children, or any feelings for that matter. Much like he did towards almost everyone else, he held no particular fondness for them, positive or negative. Though he has been known to get along pretty well with the kids of his friends.
• Nightmare Fuel: The very premise of the book, an alphabet book with creepy black and white etchings showing 26 ways for children to die. Not helping the horror is how in some cases, the exact cause of death is open to interpretation.
  • What exactly did the thug do to Hector?
  • What was Maud's experience out to sea like?
  • Who was the letter bomb that killed Titus directed towards?
• Toy Ship: More on the platonic side, but some Gashlycrumb Tinies related art tends to pair Hector and Amy together. A few instances of such art can even be found at the Edward Gorey House.

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