Uncombable hair syndrome is a real thing. It also goes by the names Pili trianguli et canaliculi, Spun-glass hair, and Cheveux incoiffables. According to Wikipedia:

The hair is normal in quantity and is usually silvery-blond or straw-colored. It is disorderly, it stands out from the scalp, and cannot be combed flat.

Old Book Illustrations is a search engine and browseable library of—you've guessed it!—the engraved illustrations and litho prints found in old books.

Choose the type of illustrations you want to see: animals or people, landscapes, buildings, etc. Choose your favorite illustrators from a list: Gustave Doré, John Leech, Charles H.

It seems obvious that the presidential candidate's stories of youthful violence are fables, but why? It's not just because he keeps changing the events to account for inconsistencies and incredibilities—it's because no-one can find the people he describes.

But nine friends, classmates and neighbors who grew up with Carson told CNN they have no memory of the anger or violence the candidate has described.

The creators of the game Year Walk have prepared a special treat for us: a free e-book of Swedish scary stories to tell in the dark.

Ehdrigor, a game created by a black, American Indian game designer, gently reflects the Native experience, and how that approach to storytelling differs from Western narratives.

How a surprising iPhone and Apple Watch bestseller is pushing the boundaries of fiction

In her series "Selfie Fables," Italian artist Simona Bonafini imagines what it would be like if Disney's fairy tale heroes joined Instagram.

Imagine Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer told in Family Circus comic strip style, Alice in Wonderland's Alice as a rude fat brat with a Valley-girl accent, Little Red Riding Hood as a young woman who climbs into bed with the Wolf, or Harry Potter told as a comic without words, except for some exclamations and sound affects. — Read the rest

Coffin Hill is a horror story in graphic novel form that's somewhere between HP Lovecraft and Bauhaus: a genuinely scary and brilliantly told tale that's not afraid to show us its black eyeliner and ill-advised teenaged hair. Cory Doctorow reviews the first Coffin Hill collection.

Jasmina Tesanovic on the recent floods drowning the Balkan region, in which, it seems the sorrow never stops.

Gary writes, "Episode 5 of the podcast Far-Fetched Fables features a great reading by Kenny Park of the short story 'Snowball's Chance' by Charles Stross. Far-Fetched Fables is the recent addition to the District of Wonders podcast network, which includes Tony C. — Read the rest

Fables, Elfquest, Marvel's Conan and Neil Gaiman's Sandman are the best fantasy comics of all time, according to Comic Book Resources, whose list is bullshit without Groo.

In Wendy and Richard Pini's ElfQuest saga are the echoes of an old thread of utopian fantasy, removed from epic homily to intimate fable.

Fables are portals to other worlds, writes Heather Johanssen—and to new places in this one.

Before Rimbaud, before the Surrealists, there was Nerval (1808 - 1855), living his life as if it were a lucid dream. Of course, it didn't hurt that his mental skies flickered with the chain lightning of madness—bouts of insanity that condemned him to periodic stays in asylums and, ultimately, self-murder.

Welcome to this year's Boing Boing Gift Guide, a piling-high of our most loved stuff from 2012 and beyond. There are books, comics, games, gadgets and much else besides: click the categories at the top to filter what you're most interested in—and add your suggestions and links in the comments.

I'm beside myself with excitement about Jim Woodring's upcoming 300-page collection of sketchbook drawings, Problematic.

The message of Elfquest is not only a creation myth but the eternal return: a story of magical beings raised by wolves and tied to intergalactic science fiction. One can only imagine the creators have a drinking buddy in the Illuminati.

Co-hosted by Glenn Fleishman. Our guest is comedian, actor, writer, and filmmaker Eugene Mirman. He played the character Eugene in the HBO television series, Flight of the Conchords. He currently plays a Russian hit-man/comic in the Adult Swim Series Delocated and does the voice of “Gene” on Fox’s animated series Bob’s Burgers, which has a new season launching on September 30.

Absurdist kids' literature hero Daniel Pinkwater is at the center of an appropriately absurd kerfuffle. An eighth-grade New York reading test published by Pearson republishes an edited (and much less funny) version of a fairy tale told in his novel Borgel (reprinted in this outstanding omnibus). — Read the rest