The skull by Jon Klassen

Intriguingly we are told before the story starts in earnest that Otilla has run away, which will have readers asking questions: where has she come from, why is she leaving and where is she going. But none of these are answered in this mesmerising ghost story with a difference. Otilla runs through the dark and creepy forest, the trees coming closer together, until she spies a seemingly abandoned house in the clearing.

She knocks at the door and a skull answers offering her a place of rest if she agrees to carry him. She agrees and the skull show her the mansion. She sees the fireplace in the room where he sits in the evening. In the garden room a pear tree is growing, much of the fruit fallen to the floor. He tells her he can only eat those because he cannot reach the others. She picks one from the tree and he chews it, the pear falling through him and onto the ground. He takes her to the dungeon and shows her the bottomless pit, then up the stairs to the tower, on to the ballroom, where they don their masks and dance. Later over a cup of tea he suggests she stay the night but warns her of the skeleton which visits every night. As he is not as fit as he once was he is worried that he will be caught. They go to sleep but it the middle of th night, the skeleton appears, saying, ‘Give me that skull, I want that skull’ over and over again. Otilla grabs the skull and leads the skeleton up the stairs to the tower where she pushes him over the edge.  Later in the night when the skull is asleep she retrieves every one of the skeleton’s bones. She pounds the bones, builds a fire and burns the bones to ash. She carries the ash to the dungeon and throws them into the bottomless pit. Going for a walk the next day, Otilla assures him that the skeleton has gone and he asks her to stay.

An irresistible folk tale, the story has lots of elements which are familiar but take the readers along quite unexpected pathways. Klassen’s wry sense of humour comes to the fore with the detours he takes, keeping the readers on their toes. Otilla is a strong individual, firstly leaving a place she did not like, then hiding out in the wood, taking a skull for a benefactor. She deals with his secret tormentor with dispatch, finding a place to call home.

The wonderful illustrations using very few colours, give an air of gloom and mystery. Minimalist in scope, the ink and water colours creates a grainy texture to his images, the lighter touches, Ottila’s night attire and the pear tree, reinforcing the gloom that surrounds them.

Based on a Tyrollean folk tale which Klassen read in Iceland the story he presents is quite different from the folk tale that he read. His afterword explains the differences and offers thoughts about how the brain works.

Themes: Folk tale, Loneliness, Supernatural, Skull, Skeleton.

Fran Knight