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In a Messy, Messy Room and Other Scary Stories
Sam is scared. Every night he hears scurrying, scratching, scuttling, scary sounds in his messy, messy room. What awful thing is hiding there? Here is Sam's story--and four other tales just as spooky and funny that are guaranteed to give readers plenty of goosebumps and giggles. "An absurdly wonderful collection."--School Library Journal.
48 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 1990
About the author
Judith Gorog
16 books5 followersBorn in 1938 in Madison, Wisconsin, Judith Gorog grew up in Pennsylvania, Texas, and California before moving with her mother and stepfather to Wiesbaden, Germany, where she attended an American Air Force high school. After the suburbs, Gorog loved living in a European city, and spent her time exploring the beautiful streets, visiting coffeehouses, and taking horseback-riding lessons. In addition to the local culture, there was an American library with thousands of books in English for her to read. Gorog returned to the United States for college, attending San Jose State College and graduating from the University of California at Berkeley in 1961. She received her master's degree from Mills College in 1963.
After working for many years as an editor and technical writer, Gorog published her first children's book, A Taste for Quiet and Other Disquieting Tales, in 1982. Since then she has made a name for herself with her “spooky” stories and has published novels and picture books in addition to collections. Gorog and her Hungarian-born husband lived in Italy for a year, and have traveled to Peru, Japan, and Hungary. They have three children and a number of pets. Gorog speaks German, French, Italian, and Hungarian as well as English. When she is not writing, she counts among her many interests cooking, skiing, hiking, swimming, people-watching, and visiting hardware stores.
After working for many years as an editor and technical writer, Gorog published her first children's book, A Taste for Quiet and Other Disquieting Tales, in 1982. Since then she has made a name for herself with her “spooky” stories and has published novels and picture books in addition to collections. Gorog and her Hungarian-born husband lived in Italy for a year, and have traveled to Peru, Japan, and Hungary. They have three children and a number of pets. Gorog speaks German, French, Italian, and Hungarian as well as English. When she is not writing, she counts among her many interests cooking, skiing, hiking, swimming, people-watching, and visiting hardware stores.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 20, 2022
I don't think I'd call these horror -- more like creepy or suspenseful stories for 3rd graders (3rd grade was explicitly the intended audience, per the author's note).
The first story, "The Angel" had a cool concept: a boy (the characters in all the stories are boys) whose family are 'housewreckers' (demolition and salvage, I guess?) can hear the voices of the remnants and helps steer buyers to the right pieces. They acquire an angel of which Bruno is instinctively frightened. But then it's all very anticlimactic. Most of the stories are, except for the last one which has a more campfire story twist.
There was one thing that kind of bothered me about this collection, and that was how many stories seemed to gaslight children's fears by showing how they amounted to nothing in the end. Yeah, of course the elder lady who says you're so cute she's going to eat you up won't actually eat you; but still, chasing kids and forcibly kissing them is gross, please stop doing this, grown-ups. Yes, it's unlikely* that the relative you're being sent to visit will fail to show up or not recognize you, but that doesn't mean traveling alone isn't scary, especially the first time.
Maybe this is reassuring to little kids. Even though your adults don't help you with your concerns, or even notice, you are probably safe.
*Not impossible, though. I had it happen more than once!
The first story, "The Angel" had a cool concept: a boy (the characters in all the stories are boys) whose family are 'housewreckers' (demolition and salvage, I guess?) can hear the voices of the remnants and helps steer buyers to the right pieces. They acquire an angel of which Bruno is instinctively frightened. But then it's all very anticlimactic. Most of the stories are, except for the last one which has a more campfire story twist.
There was one thing that kind of bothered me about this collection, and that was how many stories seemed to gaslight children's fears by showing how they amounted to nothing in the end. Yeah, of course the elder lady who says you're so cute she's going to eat you up won't actually eat you; but still, chasing kids and forcibly kissing them is gross, please stop doing this, grown-ups. Yes, it's unlikely* that the relative you're being sent to visit will fail to show up or not recognize you, but that doesn't mean traveling alone isn't scary, especially the first time.
Maybe this is reassuring to little kids. Even though your adults don't help you with your concerns, or even notice, you are probably safe.
*Not impossible, though. I had it happen more than once!
February 26, 2022
As an adult, I really enjoyed this book. I found the stories to be very humorous, especially Wet Kisses and Oh, Louis! Normally, I'm frustrated by scary stories that aren't actually scary, but these were just so off the wall and funny that I loved them.
August 12, 2016
Stories so absurd that my children thought I was making up the end and not reading what was actually written. The last one really had us laughing.
September 16, 2019
This was sort of funny. It's "scary" stories for pretty young kids. I do think young kids will find it scary, but older ones will just want to figure out the "twist" at the end.
May 2, 2022
A delightful collection of scary stories with humorous or unexpected endings for grades 8-12. Perfect for Halloween storytelling.
January 17, 2011
Five wonderfully spooky stories for the younger children. Personal favorites included The Angel and Smelly Sneakers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews