Michael Hague (1948–2026)

When a clever but impoverished young woman named Kate Culhane steps upon a freshly-dug grave, she finds herself caught up in a terrifying adventure, forced to dig up the dead man therein, and procure human blood for his oatmeal. But brave Kate manages to fool the malicious spirit, escape her own untimely demise, and win her love in the process...

This traditional Irish folktale, originally recorded as The Blood-Drawing Ghost in Jeremiah Curtin's nineteenth-century collection, Tales of the show more Fairies and of the Ghost World, is a genuinely horrific story. Michael Hague, whose illustrations usually tend more towards the heart-warming, here delivers a convincingly eerie visual landscape that is a fitting accompaniment to the tale. Highly recommended to folktale lovers, but beware! This is not for the faint of heart - you may never want to eat oatmeal again... show less

Children's author and artist Michael Hague's gorgeous illustrations featuring unicorns are gathered in this beautiful picture book anthology, with a poem or a quotation from a longer work about unicorns paired with each painting. Snippets from Auden and Shakespeare, poems from Ann Santinho and Ella Young, quotations from works such as Robert Brown's 1881 The Unicorn: A Mythological Investigation and Georgess McHargue's 1968 The Beasts of Never—these and other selections are paired with the show more beautiful artwork, offering just a taste of the unicorn lore out there...

Published in 1999, Michael Hague's Magical World of Unicorns is very much a vehicle for the artist's work, rather than a proper story or poetry anthology. It certainly highlights many of Hague's gorgeous unicorn paintings, and the visuals here are more than worth seeking out, for their own sake. That being said, the snippets and quotations presented are also intriguing, with many authors and works known to me, and a few which were not. I appreciated the diversity of selections on offer, from German folk songs, medieval accounts, a hymn to Buddha, modern fantasies and non-fiction, and poetry. Hague created an earlier pop-up book with a similar name, back in 1986 (Michael Hague's World of Unicorns), that I have decided to seek out, to compare and contrast to this later picture book. As for this one, I would recommend it to unicorns lovers young and old, and fans of the artist. show less

Prolific children's author and artist Michael Hague joined forces with paper engineers John Strejan and Rodger Smith in this pop-up book from 1986, highlighting the beauty and enchantment of unicorns. In six two-page spreads, various pop-up scenes—art by Hague, paper engineering by the Strejan / Smith team—are paired with a narrative describing some of the magical qualities of these mythic equines, from the flowers which spring from their steps to the healing power of their horns. Born show more from flowers and protected by the fairies, the unicorn brings a sense of safety and well-being to all who surround him...

I've been on something of a unicorn kick recently, and after reading and enjoying the 1999 picture book, Michael Hague's Magical World of Unicorns, which pairs various quotations about unicorns with Hague's artwork, I discovered this earlier, similarly-titled book. As it happens, many databases combine the two books (I had to separate them out, on two sites that I use), under the mistaken impression they are the same. However that may be, I am glad that I sought this one out, as I found it quite charming. I am not a pop-up aficionado (even as a child I didn't gravitate to the form), but I think that element of the book holds up fairly well, given that it is almost forty years old at this point. The paper elements aren't as complicated as what one would find in a Robert Sabuda or Matthew Reinhart title, but are still quite engaging, and the artwork itself is vintage Hague—enjoyable for me, even if rarely a personal favorite. There isn't really much of a story here, just some discussion of how unicorns live in Fairyland, but the overall reading and viewing experience with Michael Hague's World of Unicorns was a pleasure. Recommended to young unicorn fans, and to anyone who enjoys pop-up books and paper engineering. show less

This book contains two of my favorites, a ghost story and the art of Michael Hague. Kate Culhane: A Ghost Story, is Hague's retelling of a mid-nineteenth century tale from Ireland. The ghastly, ghoulish elements of the story combine perfectly with Hague's full page and double page illustrations in full color to create a no-holds-barred ghost story in the best Halloween tradition.

Hague has illustrated dozens of children's books, including many fairy tales like The Velveteen Rabbit, Peter show more Pan, Beauty and the Beast, classics like The Secret Garden, The Wizard of Oz and The Hobbit, as well as William J. Bennett's anthologies The Children's Book of Virtues and The Children's Book of America. He has collected, retold and illustrated several anthologies himself, including The Book of Pirates, The Book of Fairies, and The Book of Dragons. This book differs from these dramatically. Here, Michael Hague uses his considerable talents to create a creepy atmospheric tale featuring open graves, tattered malevolent corpses and evil spells of enslavement. Even though the book is short and can easily be read in a few minutes, it throws a web of suspense and revulsion that will surely delight the lover of ghost stories.

The story opens on a rocky, windswept coast of Ireland. The illustration of the iron gray sea, the ragged shoreline, a humble thatched cottage, and the crumbling ruins of an old church draw us in from page one.

The following synopsis contains some spoilers:

Poor Kate Culhane is all alone following the death of her mother. At the end of a hard day's work, she stops to tend to her mother's burial place, and accidentally steps onto another nearby grave. Held fast by the foot, she hears a voice commanding her to open the grave. Against her will, she involuntarily grasps a shovel and opens the grave, freeing a hideous, ragged cadaver who orders Kate to carry him on her back through the darkened village in search of a house.

They come, at last, to the home of a wealthy merchant with three grown sons. The corpse commands Kate to take him inside where he further forces her to prepare oatmeal. He then makes her carry the bowl of oatmeal upstairs where he cuts the fingers of each of the young men and drains their blood into the oatmeal. This is his deadman's food which gives him life. It also has the power to permanently enslave Kate and she is forced to eat it, too. The victims hover on the brink of death.

Ah, but our Katie is a clever girl and it will take more than some stiff to outwit her. She tricks the dead man and avoids the bloody oatmeal. As she carries him back to his coffin, hurrying to avoid the rising sun, she also tricks him into revealing some secrets that she uses to not only turn the immediate situation around , but to enrich the rest of her life. Kate Culhane's clever Irish mind saves the day and it's happily ever after time.

The illustrations of Kate struggling along the cobbled streets with the corpse on her back are really creepy and the graveyard scenes so shadowy and spooky that you can almost feel the damp air and the chilling wind and smell the decaying flesh.

I loved this book and dressed as a wicked old hag of a witch, I read it aloud to a slumber party crowd on my niece's Halloween birthday, to rave reviews. The book is intended for the 9-12 year old age group, but I personally do not recommend that they be given it to read to themselves. There is much more fun to be had from this book if it is shared aloud where the abundant atmospheric touches of Hague's prose can work their magic. It is a rather creepy concept, girls carrying rotting corpses and being forced to cut and bleed sleeping victims, not to mention bloody hot cereal...yuk! I would prefer that children have some adult supervision and a measure of laughter and comfort along with the telling of this tale.

It's rare to find such detailed and scary illustrations and a story that doesn't cop out in a children's book format. Hague, himself a parent, has managed to pull off a difficult task and has created a satisfyingly spooky tale without making it unnecessarily violent or terrifying. Don't miss it. show less