By Stephanie Yap

THE DANGEROUS ALPHABET
By Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gris Grimly
HarperCollins/Hardcover/28 pages/$27.82/Major bookstores/****

There is a long tradition of horror in children's literature. Grimm's fairy tales such as Hansel And Gretel, and Cinderella are filled with self- mutilation, murder and cannibalism, for example - at least in their un-Disneyfied forms.

Renowned fantasy author Neil Gaiman of The Sandman comic book series is no stranger to all things dark and macabre, which he calls 'nastinesses' in this charmingly ghoulish picture book, accompanied by appropriately grisly and grim illustrations by artist Gris Grimly.

That said, young readers aged five and up are unlikely to be truly terrified by the text and images, which are more whimsically dark than truly nightmarish.

There is also much fun to be had in spotting the various objects in each picture which start with the relevant letter.

The two illustrated children and their pet gazelle whose fate it is to traipse through this labyrinth of letters also emerge largely unscathed physically, if probably not psychologically.

The Dangerous Alphabet follows the hallowed tradition of books intended to teach children their ABCs, but don't expect apples, balls and cars. In 13 rhyming couplets, Gaiman informs children that 'O is for Ovens, far under the street' and 'S is for - somewhere - a Skull and its Smile.'

He also strays from the mere introduction of nouns and verbs to incorporate puns ('L is, like 'eaven, their last destination') and meta-fiction ('I am the author who scratches these rhymes').

Though parents probably shouldn't use this book as an actual tool for teaching the alphabet - the letters are deliberately listed out of order at one point, anyway - it is a delightful read for more adventurous and blood-thirsty young readers.

If you like this, read: Thirteen O'Clock by James Stimson (2005, US$12.76 or S$17.40 at amazon.com). In this quirky tale, a little girl lives in a creepy house with a clock that chimes the 13th hour.

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on July 6, 2008.