“In a creepy old castle all covered with vines, lived twelve ugly monsters in two crooked lines.”
Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody
by Ludworst Bemonster
Before reading this Halloween-perfect parody, be sure that you and your young reader share the picture book that it parodies: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans.
Though it does have a stand alone quality, the comparison to the original picture book that it’s hauntingly based on, will make the giggles and laughs last much longer.
Here, author Rick Walton, along with artist Nathan Hale, pay their Halloween homage to one of their favorite picture books called Madeline.
And so this hilariously haunting parody of the original Caldecott Honor book was the result. This parody has a silver seal of excellence all its own, called, wait for it… a “CaldeNOT Horror Book.”
What child doesn’t love a picture book with monsters and “long leggedy beasties?” And here, these’s a feast of fulsome types afoot.
But not to worry, the art of Nathan Hale makes them both laughable and lovable.
And Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody serves them up in style.
Who can forget those iconic lines from the original classic picture book called Madeline?
In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”
How about this for a spooky switch?
In a creepy old castle
all covered with spines,
lived twelve ugly monsters in two crooked lines.
In two crooked lines, they bonked their heads,
pulled out their teeth, and wet their beds.
They bit the good and gobbled the bad.
They even tried to devour your dad.
They left the castle
each night at nine
in crooked lines,
They yelled.
They whined.
The ugliest one was Frankenstein.
Madeline’s prim Miss Clavell is parodied in Miss Devell who sleeps in a laboratory filled with specimens of lord knows what; and on a ghostly white sheeted gurney, no less.
When Miss Devell discovers Frankenstein’s head is amiss, Dr. Bones is summoned.
And what ensues is merry madness.
Imagine twelve little monsters visiting the sick room of the most famous monster of all time – Frankenstein!
In they stomped, they squealed, “SWEET!”
For there around them, at their feet
were lots of yucky treats to eat.But what inspired the greatest “Eeeews!”
There on his neck:
two huge new screws!
After a chomp fest with Frankie, at long last, everything seems settled with all twelve of the small monsters tucked in tight. But wait!
“One bleak and dark and dismal night,
Miss Devel turned on her light
and shouted, “Something is not right!”
What follows is….monster mayhem with the little monsters asking for…you guessed it. The twelve monsters clamor too for new heads with new screws.
What follows is a scene of haunting hardware envy that is brought on by you know who, and his frankly fascinating form that is is less than truly frightening, but fraught with Halloween fun for young readers.
Please do remember to share the original classic and much beloved Madeline with your young reader FIRST, so this perfect Halloween parody can truly be enjoyed to the full.
And that’s my segue cue for young readers to perhaps hear for the first time, Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s 1962 oldie’s smash hit, “The Monster Mash.” It’s monstrously fun to give a listen.
such a fun–and seasonal–parody. I imagine M. Bemelmans would have got a big bang out or it!