Freaky Friday :|: 6

Title: Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones
Author: Alvin Schwartz
Published: September 1991
Pages: 128
Publisher: HarperCollins
Summary:

Storytellers know -- just as they have for hundreds and hundreds of years -- that everyone enjoys a good, scary story!

Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories 3 joins his other popular collections of scary folklore, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, to give readers spooky, funny and fantastic tales guaranteed to raise goose bumps.

Who is the Wolf girl? Why is a hearse filled with men with yellow glowing eyes? Can a nightmare become reality? How do you avoid an appointment with Death?

Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozens scary stories -- and even a scary song -- all just right for reading along or for telling aloud in the dark.. (from bn.com)

Editorial Reviews:

A wonderful collection of tales that range from creepy to silly to haunting. (Entertainment Weekly)

Read these if you dare. (New York Times)

Wow, I'm one hell of a masochist. You don't understand how bad I want to go out and buy these books but at the same time how much these pictures scare the hell out of me. I read these when I was in fifth grade so that puts me at what, 10? Nearly 16 years later and I still get all skeeved out looking at those drawings. That's some power, right there.

Freaky Friday :|: 5

Title: More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Author: Alvin Schwartz
Published: October 1984
Pages: 112
Publisher: HarperCollins
Summary:

(www.bn.com) All those who enjoyed shuddering their way through Alvin Schwartz's first volume of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark will find a satisfyingly spooky sequel in this new collection of the macabre, the funny, and the fantastic.

Is it possible to die -- and not know it? What if a person is buried too soon? What happens to a thief foolish enough to rob a corpse, or to a murderer whose victim returns from the grave? Read about these terrifying predicaments as well as what happens when practical jokes produce gruesome consequences and initiations go awry.

Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories -- and even a scary song -- all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark.

If You Dare!

Editorial Review:

Brief, bloodcurdling tales of ghosts, murders, graveyards, and other horrors, greatly enhanced by the ghoulish illustrations. - Horn Book

Ok, seriously, go Google some of the images from this book and tell me you're not going to be seeing those things on the inside of your eyelids tonight. It's sadism at its best, people. Or masochism, depending on which side you stand on.

And it's not too often you find the sequel published before the first installment. Narnia was like that. It could be a BN flub. I have no idea and, honestly, I'm too tired to check right now so I'll just leave it be. If someone else wants to correct it, be my guest.

Freaky Friday :|: 4

Title: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Author: Alvin Schwartz
Published: July 1986
Pages: 128
Publisher: HarperCollins
Summary:

A wonderful collection of tales about eerie horror and dark revenge designed to captivate and enthrall readers for hours. There is a story here for every reader - tales of lovers who come back from the dead, skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth, and people who stand on graves to be grabbed by death. (from The Flesh Farm)

Non-Editorial Review:

Come on people... there is no way you could convince me that this collection of books didn't scare the living shit out of you as a child. Pondering the days of my own self-shitting I wonder if the publishers had any idea of the impact these books would have on kids. To this day they are still printed in mass quantity and sell like hot cakes around the globe.

Many would agree that this book in particular started their fascination and addiction to the horror genre. If you look at these short stories more closely, you see they are basically mini-scripts and with the imagery of Stephen Gammell they send the stories to a frightfully personal level. Considering most of these stories have been passed down for centuries, I don't believe there would have been any other pair of men who could have collected and twisted these stories into this excellent compilation.

Some highlights include a young man withering away after peering into a mysterious man's face, a preacher who dares to spend a night in a local haunted house only to be awakened by a mysterious woman, and a woman carrying her own severed head in a wicker basket for safe keeping.

A must-have for horror fans, regardless of age! (from The Flesh Farm)

Ok, yeah. There was a major poop factor with these stories. Major. I mean, just look at the drawing on the cover. If that doesn't have your mind going bat shit in the dark, I don't know what will. These stories scared the piss out of me and you know what? If I read them again, I'm sure the pee would be right there again. The pictures are freaky as hell. Some of them I couldn't even look at, they just creeped me out so much.

And holy crap. I didn't know these books were as old as I am! Well, a year younger but still. Maybe I did know that. I can't remember. I don't think I did. Anyway, if you need a good enema, be sure to pick up this book. And a clean pair of pants. And maybe some wet wipes for cleanliness' sake.