saidtheraina's review against another edition

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5.0

Like [b: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark|1325218|Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Scary Stories, #1)|Alvin Schwartz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440189576l/1325218._SX50_.jpg|145600]? Try this!

I'm not someone who typically seeks out horror stories. But I try to read broadly so I have a variety of genres to take to my regular school visits. And I'm always looking for media that comes from underrepresented, marginalized groups. So this book lives at the intersection of several things I'm looking for.

It's also an interesting one to categorize. Although it has a lot of Scary Stories-like appeal, the publisher (Scholastic) is really the only thing about it that specifically seems to target kids. Jones includes a contextual introduction, and the writing style speaks to adults just as well as to kids. Our library put this in our Adult collection, and it truly has appeal for probably 4th grade through adult. Jones' work of collecting these stories should be valued. And somehow putting this in the kids area would feel like it was being taken less seriously than it feels sitting on the adult shelf. But kids will like it.

The book is split into five categories: Ghosts, Spirits, Witches, Monsters, and The Supernatural. Your mileage will vary as far as creepiness goes. There were definitely some that gave me chills. Each story is accompanied with an illustration, which also vary in creep-factor.

I'll probably take this out to middle schools next time I visit them.

libraryraven's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative tense fast-paced

5.0

jenn_h's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

4.0

emburklin's review

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fast-paced

5.0

fionaalanna's review

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informative reflective fast-paced

3.5

elizabethwillett's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

tbonegreg's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

bitchburgerbibliophile's review

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adventurous dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

3.5

mshiiken's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

What a wonderful collection of scary tales! I'm very glad I read this in the daytime. :)

cedardleland's review

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.0