Surprisingly creepy. Reminded me of Scary Stories a little bit, and the artwork was really good. ( )

13 stories to tantalize the senses, boggle the mind, and make you think twice about that bump in the night! 13 stories that could send chills down your spine, make your skin crawl, or merely give you a good scare. 13 stories leaves room for a little something for everyone, and I certainly had MY favorites! My top three from this spooky collection in self ranked order...

Number 3....CRAZY PLAYZ
We all want to excel at our work and when your place of business is an amusement zone, your ticket to riches is getting the guests to lighten their loads in order to enjoy all you have to offer and keep coming back. This story...takes that job VERY SERIOUSLY, much to the surprise and detriment of their newest underage employee. Let's just say his summer job will have him feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Number 2...SCRABBLED
What's a girl to do when she's home by herself? Nothing out the ordinary...at least until a cautionary instruction from a parent turns into a statement they wish to expunge. No one wants to be seen as tender, after all...but sometimes the outcome of a self-inflicted challenge is WAY more than you bargained for. This story has all the right words to bring a night at home...by yourself...to vivid, heart stopping, living color. You'll never look at a Scrabble game the same way again!

Number 1...THE SUBSTITUTE
Every kid longs for a substitute at some point in the academic career. They think it will liven things up, take off some of the pressure, and turn an otherwise heavy day around because they can redirect the lesson, get them off topic, and have a free day. But what happens when the substitute is the one throwing the curve balls? What happens when they introduce a lesson on something you never imagined that simultaneously steals your breath and stokes your curiosity? What happens when that very same lesson is causing your friend undue panic and the substitute doesn't seem to care? If you're name if Hazel, you try to redirect the conversation, put an end to the current topic, and if all else fails, talk to the teacher after class. After all, he's just a creepy substitute that took a Halloween time lesson a bit too far...right?

This one will get you going for all the right reasons, and makes the perfect starter story to kick off the entire collection. Recommended for Middle Grade readers and beyond! You may need to keep the lights on for some of them, and a stomach of steel for others, but it's all in good CREEPY fun!


**ARC received for review; opinions are my own ( )

Another solid collection of scary stories for kids. Several have surprise endings, the literary equivalent of jumping out and shouting BOO! ( )