8. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Schwartz, Alvin and Stephen Gammell. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Scholastic Inc: New york, 1981.

Annotation: Alvin Schwartz's retelling of classic urban legends and folklore will chill and thrill readers of all ages.

Justification For Nomination: I've voiced my personal attraction to horror in blogs before, so it was only natural to be drawn to this collection of classic Folklore. Alvin Schwartz's collection of "Scary Stories," is a book I remember that never made it into my private Lutheran middle school library, or high school for that matter. There were a lot of horror related books such as "Goosebumps," "Fear Street," or anything by Christopher Pike that I was curious to read but wasn't allowed access too. Perhaps that's why I find them and the horror genre fascinating today.

At a young age, I didn't dare challenge authorities or the rules but a fellow rebellious classmate named Melissa did. She seemed to have a certain curiosity for all the things teachers outlawed which compelled her to check "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" out at the public library. I remember her showing it to other classmates during recess when the teachers weren't around, but I refused to read it. She always had books that weren't "school appropriate" and would secretly smuggle them to other classmates.

It wasn't until this lecture and viewing the ALA's banned/challenged books list that I was reminded of Alvin Schwartz's terrifying tales collection. Of course, as an adult I don't find the stories at all shocking, but to a young reader I could see the nature of the stories too terrifying.

The book is broken down into five chapters. Before entering each chapter there is a two sentence description informing the reader, of the authors purpose. The first chapter includes a story with directions to give your listeners a good "jump scare." The second includes classic ghost stories. The third chapter focuses on various horrors such as witches, corpses and all things scary. Chapter four are moral scary stories that warn you of real life dangers. The last chapter focuses on the dark material that is supposed to make you laugh in the end. Overall the author doesn't hide the danger, horror and violence from these tales which could really tick off a concerned parent.

Even though each story has a violent or terrifying ending, I didn't read anything particularly offensive. I would definitely suggest this book for older readers, but the most terrifying thing about the stories are the black and white sketches included. Illustrator Stephen Gammell has extremely gruesome and disturbing interpretations of each story. Thinking back to those middle school days it wasn't the text I remember most, but the images I quickly viewed as a child that gave me nightmares. If it weren't for the illustrations I can't say the book would be any better or worse but it might cut back some of a YA readers fear.

Since there weren't any central characters or extended plots it's hard to review the book for its story telling device. The thing I most highly claim with this book is its brutal honesty. Alvin Schwartz must have known what demographic he was aiming but didn't keep details from the reader. I respect that he put this information out and managed to keep the stories violent and scary while molding it into his own image. The information wasn't too over the top and filled with blood and guts. It was simplistic and just scary enough to become a cult novel (like it had in my middle school.) "Scary Stories" is filled with hands on activities, jokes and songs to thrill the YA reader instead of scaring them to death, like some films do.

While I highly recommend this book, I also see why parents may ban this from their kids readings list. This story does deal with graphic material but by preventing a reader from reading it may only provoke them to getting it themselves in the end.