The Evil Gazebo by Bernie Mojzes (with illustrations by Linda Saboe)

On a particularly dismal Thursday, two evil girls in an evil house by an evil lake are waiting for something–anything–to happen. Since nothing ever does happen in this evil environment, they are quite surprised when something does: a new thing arrives. It claims to be a boy, and it claims to be lost, but are they just to take it’s word for it?

Bernie Mojzes’s story could be called short–it’s less than 50 pages, including the illustrations–but I would call it exactly as long as it needs to be. There is a delicate balancing act going on, writing a fairy tale-type story dark enough to appeal to older fans of the macabre without being so dark as to lose the younger ones. The sly humor that leavens the story helps in this, without detracting from the subtly menacing atmosphere. Linda Saboe’s illustrations throughout the book add to this mix, blending strangeness and a touch of dark humor. I enjoyed my visit to this strange, dismal, evil land very much.