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skyishere's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
williamsdebbied's review
4.0
Creepy collection of short stories. The first story, "Drop by Drop," was my favorite. Brenda is sullen and unpleasant to be around when her parents decide to move to a new house in a tiny little town. Brenda's mood does not improve when a dripping girl who no one else can see appears in the house.
Not gory, just creepy.
Not gory, just creepy.
declaired's review
4.0
I am not a horror reader (or movie-watcher). I don't tend to seek out scary things. The opening scene to the fourth Harry Potter book made me shake when it came out, and I had to put the book down and walk it off (even though it was, you know, interrupting the timing competition that snotty middle schoolers got into with each other. "I read Goblet of Fire in 2 days!" "Yeah? I read it in 6 hours." etc etc.)
And yet, I read every single Vivian Vande Velde story I could get my hands on in middle school. I think-- and don't get me wrong these stories are definitely a Low to Moderate on the spook scale and definitely for a younger reader-- it's because even though the horror markers are pretty standard, the writing is so engaging. I forgot how much I like a well-done first person, and the way it can make an unreliable narrator twist that much more intimate. I also think there's some neat writerly sleights-of-hand. It was a fun jaunt into something light but still vaguely outside my usual genre and tropes.
& I will say that the first story in this collection is one that I still remember intimately from like-- 10 years ago, and it still gave me chills reading it again.
And yet, I read every single Vivian Vande Velde story I could get my hands on in middle school. I think-- and don't get me wrong these stories are definitely a Low to Moderate on the spook scale and definitely for a younger reader-- it's because even though the horror markers are pretty standard, the writing is so engaging. I forgot how much I like a well-done first person, and the way it can make an unreliable narrator twist that much more intimate. I also think there's some neat writerly sleights-of-hand. It was a fun jaunt into something light but still vaguely outside my usual genre and tropes.
& I will say that the first story in this collection is one that I still remember intimately from like-- 10 years ago, and it still gave me chills reading it again.
starklinqs's review
fast-paced
4.25
This was a great set of stories! There wasn’t a single one I was bored at and I think like one review said, it was a good mix of creepy while still being okay to read at night. And honestly it was really the first story that gave me any creep factor than the others, which were just well written ghost stories.
duplica123's review
4.0
These are great short ghost stories. I'm not really that big on horror stories as I scare easily, so these had just the right blend of creepy story without being too gory or too scary not to be able to sleep at night. I think the scariest story was the first one, "Drop by Drop." The others were a nice blend of silly, gothic, creepy, and sad.
oliviacornwell's review
3.0
These short stories were pretty good. They weren't as scary as I thought (maybe because I read them in daylight), but 'Drop by Drop' was pretty creepy. They would make good ghost stories around a campfire.
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