The Chuckling Whatsit

by Richard Sala

The 1997 magnum opus of the late Richard Sala, master of graphic noir, has been out of print for years and is now available in hardcover for the very first time. Sala weaves the gothic cartooning traditions of Edward Gorey and Charles Addams with a melodramatic murder mystery involving astrology, ghouls, academia, and outsider art. Part noir, part horror, and part comedy, this labyrinthine tale of intrigue follows an unemployed writer named Broom who becomes ensnared unwittingly 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 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 . Black-and-white illustrations throughout

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Gothic

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Richard Sala grew up with a fascination for musty old museums, dusty old libraries, cluttered antique shops, narrow alleyways, hidden truths, double meanings, sinister secrets and spooky old houses. He has written and drawn a number of unusual graphic novels which often combine elements of classic mystery and horror stories and which have been known to cause readers to emit chuckles as well as gasps. Although most of his books are written with teens and older readers in mind, his book, CAT BURGLAR BLACK, can be enjoyed by younger readers as well.

To view current art and activity, please visit: http://richardsala.tumblr.com

Note: I am new to GoodReads ~ and I am happy to have a place dedicated to sharing my love of books with other book lovers. Please be patient with me if I seem rather slow and clumsy! Thanks to all my readers over the years!

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's the cover of the 1997 Fantagraphics paperback I have (182 pages, plus 18 pages of additional art/character list). Really digging the artwork in this one so far. Take a gander:

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was... something.

Quite well done, on some levels, but on the other hand rather failing to engage my interest in the solution of the mystery or the fate of the characters. By the way, almost all of them die.



Why/how did the Whatsit chuckle, anyway? I don't think that was ever explained.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years after a series of gruesome murders happened, the murderer seems to have resurfaced and begun killing again - this time, his target is inexplicably astrologers. Meanwhile, creepy dolls made of human skin appear, a mysterious masked assassin prowls the shadows, a secret society of murder appreciators aren't who they seem, and an avant garde artiste who hung himself holds the key to the killings down in the bowels of an old abandoned windmill...

Chilling stuff no? Richard Sala does a brilliant job of bringing together many gothic elements so memorably into a mystery story. Sala's noir drawings are excellent and it's this that make the comic book stand out from others in the indie comics world. I found the mystery story well written but, as sometimes happens when you try to outfox the reader, a bit convoluted. I appreciate that it's hard to keep the tension up in stories like this but the trouble is that it can sometimes all be explained in a rushed, overly verbose manner in the end, which happens here.

I enjoyed "The Chuckling Whatsit", and Sala is definitely carving out a style of his own while paying homage to a number of artists and works, and in this sense he ought to be celebrated for being an original. But as a standalone comic book? Not perfect, but an interesting enough read.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A journalist gets caught up in a murder mystery when he takes over a horoscope column. It wants to be all Twin Peaks with oddball characters and secret societies and paranoia and weirdness, but I found the journey dull and the destination pointless -- sort of like Twin Peaks.

[Pelle "sometimes here" Parrafin]

The masculine "weird" can never be truly weird; for despite the abundance of weirdness attributable to horoscope serial killers, woodcut visuals, entities in bags being carried around by some guy, old men waiting in towers for strange dolls, dead crow collections, and eccentric crime museum owners, a woman's (usually dead) body must always be cut in half by the edges of the panels, the lower half in sight, the top half of her body (including her face and mythical brain) floating in the abyss. She must also be sexy-murdered, not merely creepily- or funnily-murdered.

Women are not weird. They are either sexy, mysterious or they are mad (not in the attic this time, but the "madwoman in the basement" can hardly be considered a step up for the male writer of disturbing fiction) - ideally, they possess all three qualities. If they are none of the above, they are mute. I would invite these writers of the weird inside my head for a cup of tea so that they could perhaps do some research into the many (I am sure) dead crow exhibits that actually do exist inside women's heads (the "feminine" D.C. exhibits even have live crows as the museum attendants and they are plotting revenge. all this to say, they are weirder and more layered - in contrast to the clothing of the female characters in male "weird" fiction, sharply contrasted by the very thick suits worn by the heterogenously-built male characters). However I do think it is a bit too crowded in here already. To summarize, I will leave my crows to plot in peace as to hopefully guard them from the male writer's so-called imagination - I, for one, harbour no desires to one day pick up a graphic novel in a dusty bookstore only to find it is filled to the brim with impressive drawings of sexy crows with slim waists and mysterious pasts. Great, now I'm lying to myself in broad daylight! Who wouldn't want to see that! I guess the only option is to continue to enjoy things through "the gritted teeth of constant casual - not dehumanization, but a word better suited to describe this maddening sense of exclusion from the world's weirdness and creepiness that has plagued women since the dawn of time - why did you burn my foremothers on the stake if we "aren't weird"!?"

Let's end this by quoting a statement that is sadly not a banal variation on Sylvia Plath poem, but a quote from a boob-woman straddling a guy while holding a knife in "The Chuckling Whatsit":

Daddy Doctor says, "Don't kill him, pet. He calls me "pet". I say "Daddy Doctor, can I cut him? I like to cut.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Richard Sala's best - his ink art has the dark, resonant tones of the best woodcuts and his tale features:

A covert group of sinister intellectuals
Mr. Warm, a gentleman werewolf
Miss Limbo, the beautiful turbaned fortune teller
Mandrill, the powerful and silent giant who carries his master in a burlap sack
Celeste, the beautiful mystery woman
Mia Moray the spy
Phoebe Duprey, the psychotic masked killer
Mr. Ixnay, and a thousand crows

The chuckling whatsit is a little gewgaw doll crafted from leather, hair and twine that makes a rasping laughing sound. A deranged killer dresses up like the Whatsit and hacks everyone to death. This book will give you nightmares and you won't soon forget it. Sala beats goth-king Edward Gorey and leaves images in your mind you'll take to your cold grave.

[Bob Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

His whole oeuvre, inspired by classic fairy tales and pulp, is really amazing !

https://youtu.be/OHUeJEfLl-U

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit I have not been the greatest fan of Richard Sala's work, but this hardcover edition of his most "important work," The Chuckling Whatsis, is a gorgeous artifact, a real honoring of his legacy. And I learned in this process that he died in 2020, may he RIP. Someone blurbed that his style was like a combination of Charles Addams (The Addams family!) and Edward Gorey, which seems right. He likes classic horror comics and films, pulpy fifties and sixties work, colorful and a bit garish, not without humor.

The very title indicates his more light-hearted approach, though I read that Sala thought this was his break-through work, when he felt he was finding levels of darkness he hadn't found in previous works. It is slashier, for sure, and this seems to me the best and darkest work I have read from him, but it still feels pulpy and a little silly (which is part of the pulp tradition, I know) compared to some other horror comics. Worth checking out, for sure. Thanks, Fantagraphics, for another great contribution to comics history.

[no elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

richard 💔

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creepy as heck and not entirely the most cogent plot, but entertaining nonetheless.

[Marius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein wunderbar skurriler Mystery-Thriller mit Horrorelementen. Meisterhaft in Szene gesetzt. Seit dem Lesen dieser Graphic Novel bin ich ein Richard Sala-Fan.

[Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first saw this book at the store, I was initially intrigued by Richard Sala's odd yet eye catching art style. The blurb at the back was also quite interesting. For one reason or another, I didn't get it at the end of the day.

However, a week later, I was compelled to returned to that store as soon as possible to buy it due to an egging feeling that it might just sell out if I didn't get it. I was lucky enough to snag the last book available there at a pretty sweet price too. After reading this book, I was pretty happy with the decision I made.

This book was my introduction to the work of Richard Sala and I can easily say I've been colored a fan after reading The Chuckling Whatsit. Filled with twists and turns at every corner, I was unable to keep my mind off it completely until I finished the book. This was probably the reason I got a C in my last Chemistry test too!

The wide range of characters with completely inverse personalities were also a great addition to the of the storyline and the ending left me completely satisfied though some questions linger. I was so immersed in the book that the pages fell off the spine (which is gonna be a pain to deal with soon)!

The art style was also great. I was stopped multiple times from reading to admire the art in every page. It isn't anything complicated but Sala's art style definitely bodes well with me.

All in all, this book was pretty great. This definitely won't be my last Richard Sala book. 8/10, 8/10 yo!

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite of Richard Sala's longer works. The story is complicated and bizarre and honestly it might not even all add up in the end, but I didn't really care. The plot is positively labrynthian. Psychics and Astrologers are being murdered. An out of work writer inadvertently begins investigating the case after finding an alluring photograph of a young woman, and becomes drawn into the deadly world of outsider art collection. A secret society of serial killers begins tracking down one of their own who mysteriously disappeared many years ago, but who may be making a comeback. Sala uses comic art to get at some aspects of mystery novels that have been largely forgotten these days; the art of misdirection for one. This is definitely worth a read for any comics buff as well as mystery or horror fans wanting to get into comics.

[Sean Kottke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a thoroughly hideous delight! Imagine a noir mystery told by David Lynch, in a distinctly 1920's German Expressionist style, soundtrack by The Residents, and you'd have a pretty good mindset for engaging with this trippy graphic novel. It kept reminding me of The Residents' computer game Bad Day on the Midway, which freaked me out a bit too much to play through to the end. This book, however, was a ghoulish pleasure to follow all the way through. Why this hadn't crossed my radar until now is beyond me, but I have a new author to obsess over :)

[Sara Norja · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very strange story. I quite liked the art style, but I was really irritated by the fact that all the women basically had the same face and body (even the same eye shape and noses mostly), even though the men were pretty diversely drawn. And naturally, the women were all conventionally beautiful and slim... siiiigh.

I was a bit confused by the lack of scene transitions (visual or verbal), which made it a bit hard to follow where things were taking place sometimes, and whether people were in the same place or not.

All in all, this was OK but also a bit too gruesome for me.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has all the Sala hallmarks, a secret society, assassins, serial killers, beautiful women, and people getting shot in the face. It wasn't as creepy and weird as some of his other stories, but it wasn't boring either.

At first you are overwhelmed by characters that seem random and unconnected but Sala pulls the story tighter and tighter the deeper you get. He constructs a nice morbid mystery, even if it feels a little convoluted at times.

[Jesse Bullington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting Sala's work and really, really digging it. When I was younger I appreciated the great art, obviously, but failed to appreciate just how great everything else about it really is. Recommended.

[Dana Jerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sala never disappoints, this is such fun. It’s Lemony Snicket for young teenagers who you know are going goth but not hardcore quite yet. The art and wit are as genuine and nourishing as they are intense.

[Amanda B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tintin meets P. G. Wodehouse meets John Bellairs.

[Sardonyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic artwork, rapid pace story.. glad to see that even male characters do stupid things in horror stories! "stay right here!" "no, fuck that!"

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read by Richard Sala, and he is satisfying a craving I haven't been able to curb since becoming an adult and not having any new Scooby Doo cartoons or Addams Family stuff. As soon as you grow up, content that is spooky, creepy, crawly, but not nightmare-inducing is replaced by torture porn and horror movies. Why?!?

Anyway, The Chuckling Whatsit does contain gratuitous casual decapitations and stabbings, but because of the cartoony tone of the drawings, the lack of seriousness of the protagonist, and the melodramatic writing, it's easy to digest! I read this before bed and was creeped out many times, but I was able to sleep!

The story does jump all over the place, but that disorientation just seems to be his way of making the mood more unnerving.

I only didn't love how the female characters are rendered, especially in comparison to the males, but that's just me.

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A serial killer active a decade prior seems to have reemerged in a sleepy bayside town. The recent murder victims each have a background in horoscopes or spiritualism and share interest in a deceased artist named Emile Jarnac, famous for his production of peculiar effigies. An unemployed hack writer named Broom is hired by a shadowy entity to investigate these murders and their connection to Jarnac. As he digs deeper into the mysterious murders he finds more questions than answers and entangles himself in a web of conspiracies.

This was an engaging and deeply layered mystery plot balanced by a jovial tone and a whimsical, gothic aesthetic. The winding narrative is full of twists and turns that are compelling to unpack and the ever expanding cast of characters provided additional intrigue. I appreciated the rather lighthearted and cheeky mood which makes the exaggerated narrative more entertaining than it would given the typical self-serious "true-crime" approach. Moreover, the book has a really rich woodcut-like aesthetic which combined with the Tim Burton-esque art direction makes for a read full of personality.

[Dbgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took awhile to get used to the drawing style, but I got used to it pretty quickly and it looked good and individual. And stylish and fateful, like a proper noir should! The plot was complicated and I quite didn’t understand it fully (partly because I read it in English which is not my mothertongue), but it was good and tragic. I read the ending quite fast because I wanted to know how it ends, but when the end was left quite open, I was disappointed at first. I pondered it for a while and then I thought that actually this kind of mystic ending fits to this well. The story was mystic so why not the ending too. Despite it was tragic, this also had dark (and sometimes childish) humour too that I liked.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the reviews of this book comment on how similar the book's visual style is to the artwork of Edward Gorey, and that's certainly true, although I also found it very evocative of Hitchcock's films (especially Vertigo) and the hard-boiled detective fiction of the 1930s and the Hollywood renditions of those classics (e.g., the Maltese Falcon). The plot is really twisty. There are a lot of characters and action unfolding in at least three different arenas, and the action sometimes jumps from setting to setting on a single page, so it can be challenging to keep up. Worth reading twice to make sure you get all the nuances.

[Toastkat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what I was expecting when I went into this, so I can't really complain that I didn't get what I was expecting. But I will say this. Take your time. Take your time reading this. Because if you rush it, you'll miss something or get confused by the three or four plot-lines going at once. Overall it was... eh. Like I'm not walking out of this shocked or thrilled by the suspense. I'm not sad that it's over either. I sort of drifted through the story with a "whatever" attitude not long after I started. It was okay. I guess if thrillers and murder mysteries are your things, you'll like this. But if not... I'm not sold on the genre any more than before.

[Kai Satuye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a murder-mystery, horror, and thriller, but first and foremost this book is campy.

Sala’s unapologetic melodrama, that harkens back to B-movies of old, allows for each twist and turn to be dramatic and exaggerated in a way that only enhances the story. Sala’s art especially lends to the tale, being both creepy enough to amplify the unnerving atmosphere and stylized enough to include silly visual gags(such as the “open me” gag and the random man with two noses).

While many stories harkening back to this time period often choose to satirize or modernize it, Sala plays it straight, creating a novel that blends in perfectly in with 50’-80’s american camp.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying Richard Sala’s books as this is the 4th I’ve read in a short span.

The stories tend to be pretty basic, the dialogue humorous on the odd side, and just very cool artwork.

It’s pretty obvious Sala grew up (or still) watching/enjoying horror/sci-fi material from the 50’s. His stories tend to play out like many of those movies and there are references/nods to certain movies in this book.

Love it and plan on reading more!

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely mesmerizing cartooning but the story is either too convoluted or too choppy for me to have fully grasped what the story even was. Sala's cartooning is masterful stuff, and truly unique. This might be reason alone to consider picking this up, and perhaps one might get more from the story with a couple readings. As it stands, I feel the script could have been refined significantly to better work alongside Sala's gothic artstyle.

[John Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonkers but enjoyable. A murder mystery. The Gull Street Ghoul (serial killer) has resurfaced after years of absence, and a journalist ends up being the man to solve this mystery. The drawings are great but off the wall, however the writing is surprisingly less mad, generally understandable. I got quite lost in the middle as to the intricacies of the plot, but understood what was going on by the end. I could probably do with reading it again, sure it would make even more sense. A good read.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super fast read! Finished it in less than an hour.

Was it entertaining? Meh sort of. Was the story good? Not really. Was the art good? Heck yea

I’ve still yet to be super impressed with any of the Sala stories that I’ve read so far. This one is probably my second favorite to Peculia so far.

I own 3 more unread books after going on a massive Sala buying binge. Hopefully some get to the 4 or 5 star range!