FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. When K. Westree arrives at Bellsong Academy, she thinks she's left her cat-burgling past behind her. But K. discovers the school has a mystery of its own, a hidden treasure left by its founder, and she's the only one who has a hope of finding it.

Cat Burglar Black (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Sala, Richard

Turtleback Books

From Publishers Weekly\nSala's stories combine all the key elements of classic crime fiction--down-at-the-heel detectives, strange murders, mad geniuses, beautiful women, sudden disappearances, psychotic murderers--in tongue-in-cheek yarns more likely to amuse than to disturb. The stories exude a cartoonish aura of menace and amiable dementia. In the first story, nebbish Avery Finch, author of How to Be Polite in an Impolite World , is offered $10,000 to find a kidnapped cat and becomes enmeshed with a murderous cult whose members stalk about in silly cat masks. In another tale, a successful painter and cartoonist is hypnotized and left without memory by an unscrupulous art dealer out to steal the rights to the artist's inane but potentially valuable comic strip. In a third story, a once successful detective tries to reclaim his former stature by tracking down a beautiful woman whose disappearance seems related to the notorious pillow killer, a strange urban menace who goes around suffocating unwary commuters at the bus stops. Sala's stylish black-and-white drawings are a stitch, serving as deft visual send-ups of his comically macabre plots. 
Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Black Cat Crossing

Arts & Photography

Kitchen Sink Pr

The Ghastly Ones and Other Fiendish Frolics follows in the grand and ghoulish tradition of Edward Gorey and Charles Addams in a delightfully gruesome and fanciful, tongue-in-cheek look at maniacs, monsters, and mayhem. Creeping through the pages are lurking beasties, axe-swinging psychos, and pouncing bloodsuckers - each one described in darkly witty verse and captured in Sala's fine, quirky drawing style.

The Ghastly Ones & Other Fiendish Frolics

Comics & Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels

Manic D Press, Inc.

The Chuckling Whatsit

A genre-defining masterpiece of graphic noir comes back into print. In The Chuckling Whatsit, Sala weaves the gothic cartooning traditions of Edward Gorey and Charles Addams with a densely constructed, melodramatic murder mystery involving astrology, ghouls, academia and outsider art. Part noir, part horror and part comedy, this labyrinthian tale of intrigue follows an unemployed writer named Broom who becomes unwittingly ensnared in a complex plot involving mysterious outsider artist Emile Jarnac, the shadowy machinations of the Ghoul Appreciation Society Headquarters (GASH), and the enigmatic Mr. Ixnay. Sala's deadpan delivery makes this ingeniously layered narrative a roller-coaster ride of darkly pure comic suspense. Sala's drawing style, while most often compared to Edward Gorey, also reveals the influence of everything from Hollywood monster movies and Dick Tracy to German expressionism and Grimm's fairy tales. It's a style that's perfectly suited to the narrative, constantly flirting with Sala's fascination for the grotesque and lending palpable tension to the gruesome riddle of The Chuckling Whatsit. Sala's eclectic career includes contributions to Art Spiegelman's RAW magazine, MTV's Liquid Television, The New York Times, Playboy and his ongoing Evil Eye comic book series from Fantagraphics, though The Chuckling Whatsit remains his most popular work.

Fantagraphics

by Richard Sala Sala has developed a distinctive narrative and visual style that can best be described as gothic humor. Peculia, the intrepid heroine, is a precocious and rebellious adventurer who fearlessly wanders through a world filled with zombies, monsters and more, assisted only by her trusty butler. The Peculia collection is an excellent introduction to Richard Sala's idiosyncratic universe of noir-ish mystery, suspense, and occasional whimsy.

Peculia

Fantagraphics Books

A collection of long out of print stories from the late '80s to the early 90s'. Maniac killer is full of deformed monsters and secret societies, of a mirderous clan of cat-masked villians and simple mad scientists. In the multi-chapter " Thirteen O'Clock" a serial killer bearing a corkscrew strikes repeatedly while a glowing , disembodied skull talks to the victims. But the enigmatic detective Mr.Murmur solves the crime and shares the motive, too riduculous to be explained here. It combines noir mystery with absurd humor. The native artwork is reminiscent of Lynda Berry and its simplicity helps to convey the tone of spooky delight.

MANIAC KILLER STRIKES AGAIN GN

Science Fiction & Fantasy

by Richard Sala The book follows five college students, survivors of the dark force of a powerful evil, when they are summoned by someone seven years after a dastardly event, to defeat the evil again. Sala has gained a devoted following over the years as a master of a unique brand of quirky horror and dark humor. This book features several characters from his Peculia tales - stories which revolve around a mysterious waif-like girl, her very strange acquaintances, and her tendency, through no fault of her own, to find herself facing a variety of awful creatures and ghastly goings-on. For years, Sala has promised his readers a full-length Peculia novel that would shed some light on the background of the intrepid young wanderer, and they won't be disappointed. No previous exposure to any of Sala's stories is necessary, however. In fact, anyone who likes a little chuckle with their chills, anyone who enjoys curling up with tales of vampires and other things that go bump in the night, will want to get their claws on this book.

Peculia and the Groon Grove Vampires

Mad Night

Grave Robber's Daughter

by Richard Sala In this original graphic novel, when the carnival comes to town, parents in the town of Obidiah's Glenn began to get sick, followed by the teachers, doctors, and the sheriff's department. The children of Obidiah's Glenn become suddenly wild, roaming about at night with crazed looks in their eyes. Sixteen-year-old Paisley Curtain realizes she has to do something to stop what she sees is happening - but there isn't anyone left in town that seems to be able to help. So she sends a letter to someone she hoped might listen, someone who would know what to do - a friend of her late sister's from college, a self-styled "girl detective" with a questionable reputation named Judy Drood. Her only hope is that Judy will arrive in time to save her town, and to prevent her from ending up as yet another exhibit in the dark carnival's Hall of Embalmed Abominations!

A mysterious traveler gets off the train in a small village surrounded by a thick sinister forest. He is searching for Delphine, who vanished with only a scrawled out address on a scrap of paper as a trace. In his newest mystery, Richard Sala takes the tale of Snow White and stands it on its head, retelling it from Prince Charming's perspective (the unnamed traveler). This twisted tale includes all the elements of terror from the original fairy tale with none of the insipid saccharine coating of the Disney animated adaptation. Be sure not to miss the first volume of what promises to be Sala's best work.

Delphine Vol. 1 (Ignatz)

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Books by Sala, Richard