Where the GorgaDale Sleeps
By Aden Gerken
About This Book
In the fog-draped mountains of Kroakburg, on the peculiar Isle of Snozzdink, young Krump Millgs has grown up on a steady diet of his Uncle Gunter's extraordinary tales—ghoulish dentists who steal teeth in the night, prophetic hens with a flair for the dramatic, and creatures so ancient they defy description. These stories have always felt like delightful nonsense, the rambling of a beloved but eccentric old man. That is, until the night Krump is sent alone up the mountain to deliver toys to the local orphanage.
Armed with a cryptic song, a hand-drawn map of dubious quality, and his food-obsessed best friend Hill, Krump sets off into the cold autumn dark—only to find that the mountains hold far more than folklore. An eight-way forked path, a vanishing woodsman, a mysterious old woman who knows his name, and a crumbling orphanage hiding a secret that connects directly to his own family's tragic past all converge in one breathless, terrifying night that will change Krump forever.
At the heart of it all is the GorgaDale—not the watered-down fairy tale version Krump learned in school, but something older, angrier, and far more real. A fallen guardian of an ancient age, banished to the very mountains Krump must cross, the GorgaDale is the answer to a question his family has paid dearly for asking. And now it knows Krump is there.
Where the GorgaDale Sleeps is a richly imagined, gloriously strange adventure in the tradition of classic folklore-driven fantasy. With a voice that crackles with wit and warmth, and a world brimming with creatures, legends, and darkly comic invention, this is a story that rewards both the curious and the brave—if they dare stay on the path.
Krump Millgs has heard his Uncle Gunter's wild stories his whole life—ghoulish dentists, prophetic hens, and an ancient creature called the GorgaDale that lurks in the Kroakburg mountains. He's always assumed they were just stories.
He was wrong.
Sent up the mountain on a simple errand, Krump and his best friend Hill stumble into a night of vanishing woodsmen, cryptic maps, stolen toys, and a crumbling orphanage hiding a secret tied to Krump's own grandfather—and the thing that took him.
The GorgaDale is real. It is ancient. It is hungry. And it already knows Krump is on the mountain.
With only a half-remembered warning song and his wits to protect him, Krump must navigate the dark, forked paths of Snozzdink's wildest peaks and survive an encounter with a creature that has destroyed far braver souls before him.
Full of dark humor, crackling folklore, and genuine chills, Where the GorgaDale Sleeps is an unforgettable adventure for anyone who has ever suspected that the strangest stories might just be true.
About the Author
In all of my years of writing, I never would have thought that my first published work would be the republishing of another man’s work outside of North America. Snozzdink is a subject that has fascinated me for a while now, and I really look forward to finally sharing it with human audiences much like myself.
I first came across the famous Snozzdinkian-Beanish writings when I visited Gookyloo in 2023 and went to the Jenkins International Library which was founded in 1795 by Pico Jenkins and Krump Millgs. It was here when I first read of Krump, his friend Hill Williams, and all of the fantastical legends surrounding the island. These tales told of monsters, mythical beings, curses, tragedies, wars, and places that I couldn't even begin to imagine.
In the past, I had never learned of these things about the Beans at school. I knew that I had to get permission from the families of the authors to republish these books under an American publishing company. This, of course, brought me to the Jenkins and Millgs families (who still own the historical library). After talking with them personally, they seemed to love the idea and agreed to work with me to get the three volumes of The Life and Many Adventures of Krump Millgs as well as many other great works owned by Pico Books published internationally.
Where the GorgaDale Sleeps is the single earliest tale about Millgs's life. Although not by any means the first mention of the ancient and mythical Book'nihgts in any Snozzdink literature, it was the first to make a big impact after so many years of cultural erasure and persecution. It tells the story of a young Krump and how he once accidentally crossed paths with a Book'nihgt on his way up the Kroakburg mountains one night...
Book Details
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
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