Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871) have been highly popular in their original forms, and have served as the basis for many subsequent works since they were published. They have been adapted directly into other media, their characters and situations have been appropriated into other works, and these elements have been referenced innumerable times as familiar elements of shared culture. Simple references to the two books are too numerous to list; this list of works based on Alice in Wonderland focuses on works based specifically and substantially on Carroll's two books about the character of Alice.
Carolyn SiglerSigler, Carolyn, ed. Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" Books. Lexington, KY, University Press of Kentucky, 1997. has shown that Carroll's two great fantasies inspired dozens of imitations, responses, and parodies during the remainder of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth — so many that Carroll at one point began his own collection of Alice imitations. In 1887, one critic even suggested that Carroll had plagiarized Tom Hood's From Nowhere to the North Pole (1875) when writing Alice — although Hood's work came out ten years after Alice and was one of its many imitations.Sigler, p. 206.
In 1907, copyright on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland expired in the UK, entering the tale into the public domain. The primary wave of Alice-inspired works slackened after about 1920, though Carroll's influence on other writers has never fully waned.
Literature and publications
Literary retellings and sequels 1890 – The Nursery "Alice" by Lewis Carroll himself, retelling the story for younger children. 1895 – A New Alice in the Old Wonderland by Anna M. Richards, a sequel in which a new Alice Lee travels to Wonderland to meet many of Carroll's characters, as well as others. (New ed. 2009, ) 1897 – Gladys in Grammarland by Audrey Mayhew Allen and illustrated by Henry Clarence Pitz, an educational work in which a recalcitrant schoolgirl meets many grammar Imps which help to educate her. (New ed. 2010, ) 1902 – The Westminster Alice by Saki and illustrated by Francis Carruthers Gould, parodying the Second Boer War in which Alice meets many British politicians of the time. (New ed. 2010, ) 1902 – Clara in Blunderland and the following Lost in Blunderland (1903) by Caroline Lewis, parodying the Second Boer War in which Clara represents the Leader of the House of Commons and later Prime Minister Arthur Balfour. 1904 – John Bull's Adventures in the Fiscal Wonderland by Charles Geake and Francis Carruthers Gould, parodying British economic policies of the time, in which John Bull plays the part of Alice. (New ed. 2010, ) 1905 – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Retold in Words of One Syllable by J.C. Gorham,Carroll, Lewis (2010) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retold in words of one syllable by Mrs J. C. Gorham. Evertype. part of Burt's Series of One Syllable Books, retelling the story of Alice in words of one syllable. 1907 – Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream by John Kendrick Bangs, parodying big business and big government. (New ed. 2010, ) 1914 – Malice in Kulturland by Horace Wyatt, a satire of current events involving Prussia. 1917 – New Adventures of Alice by John Rae, a sequel in which a young girl called Betsy dreams of finding a new Alice in Wonderland book, and the adventures within. (New ed. 2010, ) 1923 – Alice in Grammarland by Louise Franklin Bache and illustrated by "Claudine", an educational work in which Alice attends a courtroom scene in Grammarland where questions of grammar are discussed. (New ed. 2010, ) 1925 – Alice in Orchestralia (or Alice in Orchestra-Land) and the following Marching Notes (1929) (or Alice in Music Land) by Ernest La Prade are educational works in which a new Alice meets animated musical instruments and learns about the symphony orchestra and music. 1977 – Blabberwacky by Walter Banks, retelling Carroll's Jabberwocky with standard English words substituted for the nonce-words of the original. 1984 – Alice Through the Needle's Eye by Gilbert Adair, a sequel in which Alice falls through the eye of a needle and traverses Wonderland once again. (New ed. 2012, ) 1996 – Automated Alice by Jeff Noon, a sequel in which Alice enters a grandfather clock and emerges in future Manchester, meeting many bizarre denizens including an invisible cat named Quark and Celia, the Automated Alice. 1998 – Otherland by Tad Williams, a science fiction series heavily influenced by Alice in Wonderland. There are sections involving a Red Queen, the chess-squares concept from Looking Glass, and villains who take the form of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. 2006 – The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, a trilogy implying that Carroll distorted the story of Princess Alyss Heart (a.k.a. Alice Liddell), who had been sent to Earth when the evil Queen Redd conquered Wonderland. The series follows Alyss' exploits with familiar characters cast in new roles. 2007 – Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot, a graphic novel exploring the links between Carroll and the Sunderland area, with wider themes of history, myth and storytelling — and the truth about what happened to Sid James on stage at the Sunderland Empire Theatre. 2009 – Wonderland Revisited and the Games Alice Played There by Keith Sheppard, in which Alice finds herself back in Wonderland and has a number of boardgame-themed adventures. () 2010 – Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland by J.T. Holden, retelling Carroll's classic tales entirely in rhyming verse. (). 2011 – Alice in Zombieland by Nickolas Cook and illustrated by Brent Cardillo, retelling the story but with more zombies. 2012 – The Red Country by jibrailis, a prequel in which the Red Queen and White Queen first discover Wonderland. 2013 – Alice in 9 Circles of Wonderhell by Catt Dahman, in which Alice is transformed into a formidable warrior, following a rabbit-like guide on a mission to stop the dead walking the earth. 2013 – Splintered by A.G. Howard, a book series in which a descendant of Alice Liddel, Alyssa Gardner, finds out the truth about the dark secrets of Wonderland. () 2014 – Chainsaw Alice in Wonderland by Khurt Khave, retelling the story with themes and settings of the sci-fi, horror and steampunk genres. 2015 – The Chronicles of Alice by Christina Henry, a horror series retelling the Carroll stories. 2015 – After Alice by Gregory Maguire, a sequel in which two children, Siam and Ada, follow Alice into Wonderland and retrace her footsteps. () 2015 – Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland by Jonathan Green, a horror gamebook set in Wonderland. () 2015 – The White Rabbit Tales, a series by D. R. Moody following the character of the White Rabbit through short stories and a novel. The short stories are prequels, whereas the novel takes place simultaneously to Carroll's original, but following the White Rabbit instead of Alice. 2016 – Heartless by Marissa Meyer, in which readers get a better understanding of how the Queen of Hearts became the heartless, white rose-despising tyrant she is in Carroll's Wonderland. 2017 – The Secret Way of Alice by Travis Arias, an introduction to the process of spiritual development in the form of commentaries and explanations of the ideas, symbols and characters found in Alice in Wonderland. 2017 – Alice Returns by Nayantara Ghosh, a sequel in which Alice returns to Wonderland to save it from her childhood friend-turned enemy, Ivy. The story was written by the author when she was eleven years old. 2018 – A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney, a modern retelling that imagines Alice as a black teenage girl from Atlanta. McKinney uses Wonderland and the creatures that dwell within it to explore themes of nightmares, fears, and generational trauma. () 2019 – Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsay, a sequel in which Alice returns to Wonderland under orders from the White Rabbit to kill an increasingly unstable Queen of Hearts. () 2019 – Bernard Pepperlin by Cara Hoffman, a sequel which follows the Dormouse as it falls into a teacup and swims through into another world. 2019 – Wonderland: An Anthology edited by Marie O' Regan and Paul Kane is a collection of short stories influenced or inspired by Alice in Wonderland. 2021 – Alice's Adventures under Water by Lenny de Rooy, a sequel in which Alice falls through a lake into an underwater world. The book is written in Carroll's style, and contains many new puns, poems and parodies. It also has different layers of hidden references, like the original books. () 2024 – Alice in vaccination land Faringdon, the White Rabbit Press, limited edition of 50 copies, () 2025 – Alice: Twisted Tales of Familiar Faces by Audrey Brice, in which Alice is a budding serial killer with a thirst for blood. After capturing the White Rabbit with plans to torture and kill him, she spares his life when he promises her greater prey—the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.
Literature containing allusions and influences
Adventures in Skitzland from The Chicken Market and Other Fairy Tales (1877) by Henry Morley was inspired after meeting Lewis Carroll at the Ocean Hotel (then known as the Kings Head Hotel) in Sandown Isle of Wight in 1874. A copy of the book as well as others by Morley survived in Carroll's rooms after he died. Davy and the Goblin; or, What Followed Reading "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1884) by Charles E. Carryl. (New edition 2011, ) The Admiral's Caravan (1892) by Charles E. Carryl. (New edition 2011, ) Finnegans Wake (1939) by James Joyce is famously influenced by Alice in Wonderland. The novel is about a dream, and includes such lines as: "Alicious, twinstreams twinestraines, through alluring glass or alas in jumboland?" and "... Wonderlawn's lost us for ever. Alis, alas, she broke the glass! Liddell lokker through the leafery, ours is mistery of pain." French philosopher Gilles Deleuze writes extensively on Alice in Wonderland and the paradoxes contained within it in The Logic of Sense (1969). Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979) by Douglas Hofstadter contains numerous references to Alice in Wonderland. The Mordant's Need series (1986–1987) by Stephen R. Donaldson tells the story of a woman named Terisa who travels from modern Earth to a medieval setting where there is a form of magic based on mirrors. Instead of reflecting images, mirrors are used to "translate" people and things between locations and realities. The author also bases much of the plot on a metaphor of the game of checkers (or "hop-board") instead of chess. City of Glass (1987) by Paul Auster contains a reference to Chapter IV: Humpty Dumpty of Through the Looking-Glass. Stasiland (2003) by Anna Funder is a non-fiction text which explores the regime of the German secret police and the Berlin wall, with many allusions to Alice in Wonderland throughout. The King in the Window (2005) by Adam Gopnik. The first book of Echo Falls by Peter Abrahams features main character Ingrid Levin-Hill starring in a stage production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. White Rabbit Chronicles (2012–2019) by Gena Showalter is set in a modern-day world of zombies and zombie killers, and plays off Carrollian themes while including the titular character Alice Bell. The Wonderland Gambit series by Jack Chalker is given a science-esque setting, but plays heavily on both Carrollian characters and themes. The Riverworld series by Philip José Farmer uses Alice Liddell as a character. The eleventh book of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket uses Carroll's The Walrus and the Carpenter to reveal a coded message. The book also features a beach named Briny Beach.