The Dark Side of Alice in Wonderland

This book examines how Alice in Wonderland has been used in ways not expected by Lewis Carroll. The book begins by discussing Alice Liddell, the river trip, information on Lewis Carroll, the original version of Alice in Wonderland and when Alice's mother had all the letters between Alice and Dodgson destroyed.

I think that can easily be considered a rather extreme action and indicative of some major problem having happened. Carroll's use of photography is discussed and again here there is a major problem in how people view some of the photos he took.

Some of those included young (around 3 years old to maybe abound 17 at the upper end) where some of the photos show the children clothed and some of them have the children nude which, in today's world, would result in an arrest.

The book also discusses how important Alice is in Japan and how this relates to the Lolita/Gothic Lolita movement. The book covers X-rated version of Alice in Wonderland (books and movies), naming some specific examples.

There's a rather odd discussion about a book that claims that Charles Dodgson was actually Jack the Ripper. The book covers various entertainment things like having a mystery program set in where people can take part in solving something related to Alice in Wonderland. The Hunting of the Snark is also discussed.

The author notes some things that may have been mental/physical problems that he had including a minor form of epilepsy, depression, an eating disorder, migraines and insomnia.

Some other ways Alice is used are discussed such as the use of drugs, horror, the occult, steampunk and pornography.

I think it does a pretty good job covering such a wide variety of topics in relation to Dodgson and his Alice writings.

Main Index

Main Alice in Wonderland index page