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A review by alexampersand
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
4.5
I really, really, REALLY love the concept of this book, and I love a lot about it.
The illustrations are gorgeous (and despite flicking through the book god knows how many times, jus the thought of The Haunt still sends a shiver down my spine).
A lot of the stories are good... in theory. But unfortunately, it feels like so many of them just fall slightly flat, purely through the telling of them. The big twists are sometimes just delivered with absolutely no sense of tone or ambiance. "She died of fright." "When he died, he looked like the skeleton." They just seem so factual and to the point.
Saying that, there are a handful that really stood out and were so well done - the one about The Haunt (not just for the illustration), and largely the modern day stories; the one about the babysitter, and about the car headlights in particular were so good.
I also really loved the writing at the end of the book, about some of the history behind some of the stories and where they come from. A really fascinating look at folklore and scary stories.
So overall, a really nice little collection, I just sort of wish that some of the stories had a little more sense of gravity to them.
The illustrations are gorgeous (and despite flicking through the book god knows how many times, jus the thought of The Haunt still sends a shiver down my spine).
A lot of the stories are good... in theory. But unfortunately, it feels like so many of them just fall slightly flat, purely through the telling of them. The big twists are sometimes just delivered with absolutely no sense of tone or ambiance. "She died of fright." "When he died, he looked like the skeleton." They just seem so factual and to the point.
Saying that, there are a handful that really stood out and were so well done - the one about The Haunt (not just for the illustration), and largely the modern day stories; the one about the babysitter, and about the car headlights in particular were so good.
I also really loved the writing at the end of the book, about some of the history behind some of the stories and where they come from. A really fascinating look at folklore and scary stories.
So overall, a really nice little collection, I just sort of wish that some of the stories had a little more sense of gravity to them.