The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories
 First edition US cover | |
| Author | Tim Burton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Tim Burton |
| Cover artist | Tim Burton |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's poetry |
| Publisher | William Morrow and Company |
Publication date | 1997 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 115 |
| ISBN | 0-688-15681-9 |
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories is a 1997 poetry book written and illustrated by film director Tim Burton. The poems, which are full of black humor, tell stories of hybrid kids, spontaneous transformers, and women who have babies to win over men.
Some characters of the book would later appear in the Flash series Stainboy, created, directed and written by Burton.
Table of contents
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Origin of title poem
According to American comics artist and publisher Stephen R. Bissette, the title poem "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" was originally conceived as a project for Bissette's comics anthology Taboo and was actually written by horror novelist Michael McDowell, who had previously worked with Burton on the screenplays for Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas. McDowell is thanked in the acknowledgements at the end of the book, but is not credited for writing the poem.
Reception
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories has been generally well received by both critics and reader. It received 4.7 out of 5 stars at Amazon.com and a B+ at EW.com.