Gargoyles: Fact and Fiction
Discover the best books about gargoyles, from medieval art history and architecture to thrilling fiction for adults and kids. Explore iconic titles like *The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame* and *Night of the Gargoyles* in this curated reading list.
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The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame
by Michael Camille
Most of the seven million people who visit the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris each year probably do not realize that the legendary gargoyles adorning this medieval masterpiece were not constructed until the nineteenth century. The first comprehensive history of these world-famous monsters, The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame argues that they transformed the iconic thirteenth-century cathedral into a modern monument. Michael Camille begins his long-awaited study by recounting architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s ambitious restoration of the structure from 1843 to 1864, when the gargoyles were designed, sculpted by the little-known Victor Pyanet, and installed. These gargoyles, Camille contends, were not mere avatars of the Middle Ages, but rather fresh creations—symbolizing an imagined past—whose modernity lay precisely in their nostalgia. He goes on to map the critical reception and many-layered afterlives of these chimeras, notably in the works of such artists and writers as Charles Méryon, Victor Hugo, and photographer Henri Le Secq. Tracing their eventual evolution into icons of high kitsch, Camille ultimately locates the gargoyles’ place in the twentieth-century imagination, exploring interpretations by everyone from Winslow Homer to the Walt Disney Company. Lavishly illustrated with more than three hundred images of its monumental yet whimsical subjects, The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame is a must-read for historians of art and architecture and anyone whose imagination has been sparked by the lovable monsters gazing out over Paris from one of the world’s most renowned vantage points.
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Night of the Gargoyles
by Eve Bunting
In the middle of the night, the gargoyles that adorn the walls of an art museum come to life and frighten the night watchman.
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American Gargoyles
by Darlene Trew Crist
American Gargoyles: Spirits in Stoneis the first pictorial essay on the many gargoyles found in the United States, featuring unique stories and breathtaking full-color photographs of these monstrous but delightful angels with a sense of humor. A number of books have showcased the medieval gargoyles of Europe, but never before has one been devoted to the thousands of gargoyles that peer down from American buildings. Lewd or ferocious, holy or humorous, these astonishing carvings are distinguished by fine artistry, vivid imagination, and spiritual mystery. American Gargoylesputs us face-to-face with the winged griffins, fallen angels, and damned souls of Washington's National Cathedral, as well as those adorning the Woolworth Building and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Tribune Tower in Chicago, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and many other buildings. Robert Llewellyn's glorious photographs reveal the craftsmanship of the artisans and sculptors who created these works. With Darlene Trew Crist's fascinating explanations of the varieties of gargoyles, stories about their history and creation, and extensive resource information, including websites,American Gargoylesmakes a convincing case for looking up as we walk down the streets of America's cities.
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A Gathering of Gargoyles
by Meredith Ann Pierce
Painfully aware that her husband Irrylath is still not free of the White Witch's spell, Aeriel sets out on a dangerous quest to gather the winged steeds that Irrylath and his brothers need to do battle against the powerful witch.
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Holy Terrors
by Janetta Rebold Benton
A fresh and irresistible history of gargoyles-a society of stone creatures perched high above the workaday world. Includes an invaluable guide to gargoyle sites throughout western Europe.
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God Bless the Gargoyles
by Dav Pilkey
This moving story of misunderstood gargoyles and the gentle angels who console them will touch the heart of anyone who has ever felt alone and unloved. With poetic words and lavish illustrations of stone creatures come to life, this unforgettable book will forever alter our perceptions of the once-frightening stone guardians of gothic architecture. "By using the popular gargoyles as his messengers, Pilkey will catch the attention of many children, who otherwise might be oblivious to the pain of the outcast."--Booklist
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Geis of the Gargoyle
by Piers Anthony
Seeking a spell that will restore the polluted river Swan Knee to a state of purity, guardian Gary Gargoyle finds himself face-to-face with the Good Magician Humphrey.
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Gargoyles
by Thomas Bernhard
The playwright and novelist Thomas Bernhard was one of the most widely translated and admired writers of his generation, winner of the three most coveted literary prizes in Germany. Gargoyles, one of his earliest novels, is a singular, surreal study of the nature of humanity. One morning a doctor and his son set out on daily rounds through the grim mountainous Austrian countryside. They observe the colorful characters they encounter—from an innkeeper whose wife has been murdered to a crippled musical prodigy kept in a cage—coping with physical misery, madness, and the brutality of the austere landscape. The parade of human grotesques culminates in a hundred-page monologue by an eccentric, paranoid prince, a relentlessly flowing cascade of words that is classic Bernhard.
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The Gargoyle on the Roof
by Jack Prelutsky
The terrifyingly talented Jack Prelutsky and Peter SĂs have captured some of the most unforgettable creatures between book covers (where, we hope, they will stay). So go ahead. Open the book. After all, it's not you they're after. Probably.
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Gargoyles
by Susan Pesznecker
Taking readers on a journey into a mysterious world, through bestiaries and traveling menageries, past grotesques and chimeras, through medieval cities and guilds and into huge stone buildings, this work explains how gargoyles not only served a clear architectural purpose but also were symbolically important.
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Curse of the Gargoyle
by Tara Nina
"Gavin has been entombed in stone for hundreds of years, waiting for the right person to break the curse that put him there. After the voice of an unknown woman speaks the special words to free him, he finds himself in a time that is no longer his own. Though this woman pleasures him in every imaginable way, he's still racked with anguish for all he's lost. Duty, honor and his deep-seated need for revenge consume him. Ericka thought flying to Scotland was the toughest feat of her life. That was until she met a ghost and freed a seventeenth-century Scottish hunk from stone. Ghosts aren't real and curses don't exist. Hot sex with Gavin fuels her imagination, but he can't possibly her soul mate, or can he ... The evil behind the curse lingers. Gavin is stone by day, man by night. Together they fight, determined to overcome the source behind the curse. But if they fail, their love could be lost for eternity"--Publisher description
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The Gargoyle Book
by Lester Burbank Bridaham
Originally published: Gargoyles, chimeres, and the grotesque in French Gothic sculpture. New York: Architectural Book Pub. Co., 1930.
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Carved in Stone
by Vickie Taylor
A new paranormal romance that breathes life into the ancient gargoyles. Sophia has worked her whole life to exact revenge on the demonic winged creatures who killed her parents. Then she crosses paths with handsome Nathan Cross. The attraction is mutual, but if he ever dares reveal himself to her, it would spell disaster.
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A Little Book of Gargoyles
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Gargoyles that grin and leer down from roofs and towers of medieval churches have stood for centuries warding off evil. They reached their flowering in the Middle Ages yet their story goes far beyond that time to the very beginnings of art, when man created demons to scare away demons. This book depicts the many fearsome faces of these monstrosities throughout history.
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Gargoyles Don't Drive School Buses
by Debbie Dadey
One of the gargoyles is missing from the Bailey City Library, and the new bus driver looks exactly like the missing one!
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The Haunted Gargoyle
by Marie Jacks
Ten spooky mini-mysteries feature Mr. Boddy, Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, and other characters from the classic board game.
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Gargoyles
by Alan Nayes
In the tradition of Robin Cook and Richard Preston, Alan Nayes has written an absorbing, terrifying novel about what happens when human beings have the ability to save their own lives – but only by changing the face of humanity. Brilliant pre-med student Amoreena Daniels needs money. Desperately. Her mother is dying of cancer and her medical insurance has run out. When a seemingly perfect women's clinic offers Amoreena a generous payment for service as a surrogate mother, Amoreena thinks her prayers have been answered. But then -- much too early -- her baby begins to move. The strange dreams, another surrogate's mysterious death, and a drug-addicted former medical intern confirm Amoreena's worst suspicions: there is something terribly wrong with her pregnancy. Amoreena embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth behind the endless battery of genetic tests, sonograms, and frightened patients, only to discover that she has unwittingly become a pawn in a high-stakes game of biomedical experimentation.
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American Gargoyles
by Anthony Di Renzo
Di Renzo compares the bizarre comedy in O'Connor's stories and novels to that of medieval narrative, art, folklore, and drama. Noting a strong kinship between her characters and the grotesqueries that adorn the margins of illuminated manuscripts and the facades of European cathedrals, he argues that O'Connor's Gothicism brings her tales closer in spirit to the English mystery cycles and the leering gargoyles of medieval architecture than to the Gothic fiction of Poe and Hawthorne. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
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Song of the Gargoyle
by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Thirteen-year-old Tymmon escapes to the forest after his father is kidnapped where he is taken care of by a gargoyle.
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Gargoyle
by Richard Peabody, Jr.
Dedicated to championing the work of new poets and fiction writers alongside the more established, this magazine is an eclectic mix of poetry, fiction, graphics, interviews and some reviews. This issue includes work from among others, John Hegley and Nick Cave.
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Guide to Gargoyles and Other Grotesques
by Wendy True Gasch
A complete illustrated guide to the 112 gargoyles and selected grotesques carved into the limestone facade of Washington National Cathedral.
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X Files YA #12 Grotesque
by Ellen Steiber
Stone Cold A serial killer is stalking the city, slashing his victims' faces before killing them. But when the murderer is caught, he claims to have been possessed by the spirit of an ancient, malicious gargoyle--one he fears will now possess someone else. When the brutal deaths continue, even after the alleged killer is safely jailed, Special Agent Mulder and Scully are called in. Is this the work of a copycat killer? Or could a demonic force somehow be responsible? Mulder can think of only one way to solve the case: In order to catch a monster, you've got to become one yourself...
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St. Patrick's Gargoyle
by Katherine Kurtz
In a novel based on the author's short story, "The Gargoyle's Shadow," at the turn of the millennium, the gargoyles assigned to guard the old buildings of Dublin join forces to take on an ancient evil that threatens the entire world. Reprint.
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Gothic Gargoyles
by Bill Yenne
As the sun sets over the great cities of Europe, the strange and mysterious gargoyles come into their hour. They sit as they have since the Middle Ages, peering down anonymously at the sleeping European cities. Art historian John Stocking once said that a Northern Gothic cathedral is like a cave -- rich in stalagmites and stalactites -- turned inside out. Gothic Gargoyles examines the little-known and little-understood creatures that inhabit those caves turned inside out, as well as the anonymous craftsmen who created them. Gothic Gargoyles is the ultimate book of gargoyles -- the largest full-color collection of gargoyle images ever published. It is filled with 200 original photographs of Medieval gargoyles from throughout Europe, including Notre Dame in Paris and London's Westminster Hall, as well as cathedrals and public buildings in cities such as Rouen, Chartres, Brussels, Brugge, Mons, Cologne, and 's Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, where Hieronymus Bosch was inspired by -- and possibly lent a hand to -- the gargoyle sculptors. This volume also includes important nineteenth-century Gothic Revival gargoyles perched on buildings in Europe, and in United States cities from New York to San Francisco.
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The Littlest Gargoyle
by T. S. Hays
A young nun hears about the grotesque gargoyle waterspouts that adorn the Cathedral of Notre Dame and decides to create her own adornment for the Cathedral. She travels to Paris, is thrust into a world of anger, jealousy and elevated egos, but discovers friendships that teach her the patience and love of God.
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Queen of the Gargoyles, The (BC 16)
by Betsy Haynes
The latest installment in a series that is the basis of a Saturday morning cartoon finds Isabella having second thoughts about her attraction to gargoyles after the kids in her building begin to disappear. Original.
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In the Shadow of the Gargoyle
by Nancy Kilpatrick
Chosen by Locus as one of the best anthologies of the year, this is the first and only collection of new and classic stories inspired by the gargoyle creatures. Includes new tales by Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Katherine Kurtz, Brian Lumley, Jane Yolen, and others.
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The Maker of Gargoyles
by Clark Ashton Smith
This fine collection of Clark Ashton Smith's work reprints eight of his classic fantasies, including two set in Hyperborea.
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Gargoyles
by Hayley Mitchell Haugen
The grotesque figures known as gargoyles have fueled imaginations for generations, and this book will fuel your reader's imagination too. First designed to drain water away from rooftops, these architectural features were thought to repel evil spirits. As figures of myth and legend, gargoyle stories have traveled down through the centuries and live today in movies and animation, computer games, and even lawn ornaments.
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The Ancient Warrior
by Pamela P. Conrad
The Ancient Warrior awakens from his long dreamless sleep to hear a child sobbing beside its mother's grave. Wu learns that the boy's father plans to rescue the chaotic, fragmented nation in the midst of violent civil war. The father plans to make his son a human sacrifice to the cause. Wu knows that the goddess has awakened him to save the child from this terrible fate. With the help of a beautiful lover and a former soldier, the Warrior embarks on a dangerous, action-filled quest to rescue the future leader of the free world and discredit and destroy the father.
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The Dedalus Book of Medieval Literature
by Brian Murdoch
Brian Murdoch provides an alternative view of the Middle Ages, showing the anarchy and decadence which lurked below the surface of a devout and conformist society. The grinning gargoyle, which mocked the solemnity of Gothic cathedrals, symbolises the violence, depravity and irreverence inherent in man which could not be suppressed by the church. Texts translated from the prose, chronicles and verse of the period, such as the Trial of Gilles de Rais, Boccaccio's Decameron, I Have a Gentil Cok,A Black Mass and Metrical Verses on the Subject of his Prick, reveal the wilder aspects of medieval man. Brian Murdoch has assembled and translated texts from Medieval Latin, Old French, Italian, Scots Gaelic, Cornish, Old and Middle English, Old Irish and Welsh which will redefine the Middle Ages for the modern reader.
