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Dec 16, 2009

Laurel rated it:

The illustrations were the really scary part of these books. I remember being afraid to turn the page and look at the next one when I was a kid, peeling the next page over gradually like a Band-Aid. One pictured effed me up so badly I had to tape a piece of construction paper over it so I could flip through the book without having a heart attack.

6 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2011

Joel rated it:

As scary stories go, they are only slightly. Sometimes they are funny, or just weird, or sad. Except the one about Harold the Scarecrow. God, that one is terrifying. Oh and the spiders hatching from your face.

But the illustrations... The illustrations in this book are good old-fashioned nightmare fuel. I really don't know what they were thinking.

I mean, what were they thinking?

Facebook 30 Day Book Challenge Day 8: Book that scares you. More...

4 comments like (8 people liked it)

Mar 21, 2009

Nathaniel rated it:

Timeless stories adapted in an ageless manner, mixed with some of the most phenomenally horrific illustrations ever. These elements make Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark (and its sequels) the best horror stories ever catered to children. All the stories were well researched and no more watered down than they had to be to find their audience. All the grotesque and grossly horrific tales that once I read as a child, I never forgot. Whether they generated an eerie chill or an uneasy laugh, they ar More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 26, 2008

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

The best collection of stories to tell at a slumber party, ever! A great mix of scary tales and funny ones. Kids especially love the creepy illustrations by Stephen Gammell. Love them, and are freaked out by them, too.

Interesting fact: This book is frequently stolen from libraries.

15 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

My father was a huge fan of all things "scary" when I was a child. My brothers and I grew up reading this and other collections, not to mention the classics of Frankenstein, Dracula, and other horrors. It was surprising to me when my younger brother mentioned missing this book, because I had been feeling the same way! Nostalgia takes over sometimes....

I found another copy recently, and got to read it once more. It took a little while for me to recapture that same fear I More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 25, 2007

Alex rated it:

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (part of the highly recommended Scary Stories Treasury) is good for more than a laugh, some of the stories are actually scary! Many of them are meant to be read or recited aloud, often with a BOO! or a shout at the end to send your nervous sleep-over guests under their pillows with fright.

But what's truly unique about this collection is Stephen Gammell's illustrations. The images haunted me as a child, and have more than likely shaped some of my nigh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 18, 2008

Mrs.frenchs'favorite added it

its really more funny than scary

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2009

Sunny added it

Scary Stories (to tell in the dark) Series by Alvin Schwartz
Rating 7/10. I remember reading (and loving!) these highly contraversial books in about fifth grade. Essentially, they are a collection of short stories adapted from mostly American folklore and "urban legends." There are ghost stories, songs, jokes, and other creepy stuff. The stories all lend themselves to being retold around the campfire (or the urban equivelent) with the possible exception of some of the longer, more More...

0 comments like

Dec 06, 2008

Ben rated it:

I have a feeling that I'm not the only one that added this to my goodreads many years after having read the book. Should we be doing that? Do we really remember how we felt, and even the essentials of what happeend, from books we read in our childhood? I'm guilty of making the attempt here, and while I recall enjoying these stories, and even becoming slightly frightened by a few of them, I never thought of this as a favorite book, or became particuarly excited when the second set of Scary Sto More...

7 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Sesana rated it:

Reading All Hallow's Eve made me nostalgic for my introduction to horror. My second grade teacher read us this book through the month of October, one story a day. And I've been trying to scare myself ever since.

So, how does the original hold up, read after more time has passed than I'm willing to admit, and more horror books and movies than I can count? Amazingly well. These are basically campfire stories, of course, but campfire stories need to be scary to work. They are, in many re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 30, 2011

logankstewart rated it:

Perhaps the reason I've an affinity for dark & twisted art lies with a trio of books I read as a child. Alvin Schwartz is most known for his collection of folktales marketed towards children. His most famous books--Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones--were some of my most favorite reads as a lad, and when I recently happened upon my personal copy of SS3, I couldn't help but dive in. I went to the librar More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 20, 2011

Maranda L. rated it:

Do you enjoy books that make you want to scream or chill your bones? Well the book I read Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell is a book that tells several tales about people and their different situations they are going through. They would always end in a scary way or just to chill your bones. This book was published in October of 1989.
Several of these tales made me feel afraid but some of them didn't. Alvin Schwartz has a series of the More...

2 comments like

Jul 05, 2011

Shannon rated it:

It sure was AMAZING!

My cousin had this book, she borrowed it from the library, and I was skimming the pages. I later asked to borrow it and I am SO happy I did. It is such a great book for the younger generations. Throughout it's pages are short ghost-stories that you can tell around the campfire, but before each one at the bottom of the 'Title' page is a mini synopsis of the story you are about to read aloud to members of your 'Slumber Party', 'campfire' or anywhere else you have peo More...

0 comments like

Jun 02, 2011

Brenna rated it:

I remember reading this book and its sequels when I was younger and being creeped out. However, that was mostly because of Stephen Gammell's illustrations, described by The Horn Book as "ghoulish," which is an apt word. Now that I'm older, the book still remind me of being scared as a child, and the illustrations are still the freakiest part of the book. I've seen that the newer reprint editions have more benign illustrations by a new artist. While this may allay some of the fears More...

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Feb 08, 2010

Destiny rated it:

Author: Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories
The book Scary Stories has a series of stories that will knock your socks off. Alvin Schwartz is very good at putting his and others thoughts in to words. If you read this book you might not be able to pick a favorite story. The plots are very interesting. Its all good in the beginning and BOOM, you see something ab normal. Along with that then it’s following you home!
This book takes place in well; let’s just say the scary times. Some storie More...

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Feb 01, 2012

Stefan rated it:

I purchased this book as one that I fondly remembered from childhood. I don't know for certain how many times my brother and I checked this out from the public library, but it was a lot. The stories in it are fun and the artwork is fantastic. As a matter of fact, even though I remember most of the stories from reading them before, it's the artwork that lodged this book into my head so firmly. Although all black and white, the images are spooky and gruesome. Exactly what an impressionable pre-tee More...

0 comments like

Apr 03, 2011

Evan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Aug 16, 2011

Tracy rated it:

"That person is calling from a telephone upstairs." she said. "You'd better leave. I'll get the police."

If those lines are familiar to you, you've got a pretty good idea of how scary you can expect Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz to be. A collection of urban legends, scary stories, and miscellany, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and its sequels were the most frequently challenged books during the nineties, according to the American Library Asso More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 02, 2011

Madison! :) rated it:

I am usually such a scary movie/book fanatic! But the illustrations in this book make it twice as creepy. It actually made it too creepy to read in the dark! I have to admit, I got a couple of nightmares after I read these stories. There are about 15 total stories in this book, and they all have a heart pounding twist at the end of each. Seriously, these stories make me think someone is always watching me now! The first half of the book are the really intense scary stories, and then the second p More...

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Aug 29, 2008

Amanda rated it:

This book pretty much scared the crap out of me while I was growing up. I remember looking at the pictures over and over and frieking myself out over them. The art is super-creepy and unforgettable. The stories are a little less creepy, but great for campfires with children. I don't think I'll let my son see this book until he's quite a bit older. Some of the images are pretty frightening(for me anyway). I guess it still creeps me out.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 07, 2007

Emiley rated it:

A staple in every elementary school classroom. I don't remember the illustrations, but I think I had an overactive enough imagination. The story about the girl with the green ribbon was pretty freaky, mainly because it was a "boy meets girl" type of story, but with a macabre twist. Around the same time, the story of La Llorona also gave me nightmares, but I am not sure where I heard it from; it wasn't from this book.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 28, 2011

Conari rated it:

I read this when I was about seven and there was some story about the "Wendigo" Ten years later and if I hear noises or see a strange shadow in my room I instantly think of it. Then I have to put on some music. When I read these stories (I read all three books within a week) I couldn't have been less scared. Thinking about them is what made them scary. However, this is all probably because I'm strange lol. Anyway, from what I can remember, the stories were really interesting. If they w More...

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Jun 04, 2009

Maureen rated it:

I really haite this book it's not even scare at all really.Well it's stuiped and not scare and really who are they really tring to convised. Really if you want to red it your going to have this comment. But really just don't read at all.

7 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Clint rated it:

All the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books are wonderful. The stories are really scary while at the same time being written for kids, the drawings are really scary, and these books are some of my best memories of being a kid.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 07, 2009

Nicholas rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 14, 2009

Joshua Nomen-Mutatio rated it:

I got a chill just remembering how much these books managed to frighten me as a child. It was largely (I'd say 90%-95%) about the illustrations. Even some of the stories that weren't scary to me in themselves at all left extremely eerie, surreal, terrifying imaginings crawling 'round my mind through the strong influence of the accompanying images. I read all three of these books a lot as a child. Loved to be terrified I guess. Terror really is the wrong word. Basking in strangeness...eerin More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 07, 2011

Vincent rated it:

First time I red this book I was like pshh how scary can it be but I dare you to read it because first time I red it I nearly crapped myself. There are about 15 different stories and all of them has scary looking pictures <-(NO JOKE). But in the end I liked this book not only did it give me nightmares for the rest of my life and give me jittery feelings of me being watched my some being. But it showed me lots of grusome pictures that I didn't need to see.

I would mostly recomend th More...

1 comment like

Feb 05, 2009

Kristi rated it:

One of the most memorable series of books from my childhood. The stories in the books aren't particularly scary; some are humorous, some are eerie, some will give a kid chills...some are not even original to Mr. Schwartz, and are the sort of urban-legend stories you hear around the campfire growing up.

No, what makes these spectacular books stand out as fine examples of kindertrauma is Stephen Gammell's most excellent illustrations.

Some of them still give me heart palpitat More...

0 comments like

Mar 12, 2009

Cici rated it:

This book was sooo scary to me when I was a little kid. The story about the girl with the red or green ribbon, really, really freaked me out and thestory about the girl that was dared in the graveyard. My son recently brought a book, like this with simular stories, not all the same, but they did have The Girl with the Ribbon and I almost didn't read it to my 6 and 4 year old, but they begged and begged, they won't be scared, they're not babies anymore, it will be so much fun,.. well my son loved More...

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Oct 05, 2011

thuy rated it:

I haven't read this book in years so this review is based on my recollection of it (which I think might be better in this case). I remember that the stories were twisted and creepy with a Twilight Zone type feel. But the scariest part? The illustrations! To this day, I cannot see one of the illustrations from this book without a chill going through me. One of the reasons I don't think I will be re-reading this book anytime soon is because of how scary I remember the images being. Sure, they migh More...

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