Weird Wednesday

OK, this is the last time I'm going to do this, I promise, but I just love these two illustrators so much, I couldn't resist. The Poe tale this time, of course, is The Premature Burial. Harry Clarke's version (above) is as strikingly, creepily gothic as always but Rackham's more abstract take on the subject (top) is more imaginative and perhaps even more striking - and would look good on a T-shirt, too.

Monstrous Monday

I enjoyed my Rackham-Clarke face-off so much on Weird Wednesday that I've decided to do it again on Monstrous Monday. Here we have pretty much the same scene from Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue, with the killer ape on a razor-wielding rampage. Personally, I think Clarke (above) wins out here - Rackham's (top) is a bit too straightforward, but I do like the fact his ape looks like King Louie on a crazed cocaine binge. 'Oo oo oo - I just wanna slice into you you you!'

Weird Wednesday

Interesting to see how two highly regarded illustrators both approached the same subject. In this case we have Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) and Harry Clarke (1889-1931) both illustrating the moment when The Red Death arrives at the ball in Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. Rackham (top) is the more famous illustrator but has Clarke tackled the subject with more elan? Does his version have more of a suitably Gothic atmosphere? But does Rackham's have more impact? Which is the most effective? There's only one way to find out... you decide!