Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories

Don't Read This Book

by Anna Claybourne

Love to tell scary stories around the camp fire? Like to solve mysteries? Brave enough to hear the truth about some pretty freaky phenomena? Then cuddle up with this spooky spine-tingler, filled with delightfully frightful true stories of real-life monsters, doomed domains, menacing mysteries, strange disappearances, and so much more.

Meet ghosts, ghouls, and zombies. Go inside haunted houses, hidden graveyards, and deadly secret passages. The Fright-o-meter rates each story for its level of scariness. Full of thrills and chills, this book will have you sleeping with a nightlight for sure. Read if you dare, but don't say we didn't warn you!

Genres: Nonfiction, Horror, Middle Grade, Science, Ghost Stories, Childrens, Mystery

144 pages, Library Binding

Published August 1, 2017

About the author

Freelance children’s writer and editor, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Anna Claybourne writes children's information books on all kinds of topics: science experiments, ancient history, the human body, things to make, the environment, robots, evolution, art, fashion, Shakespeare and many more - as well as retellings of myths, legends and Shakespeare plays, and rhyming stories.

She studied English literature at university, but has always been interested in science, technology and art and design as well. She loves making and crafting, especially sewing, and her house is full of fabrics, craft materials, tools and books. Other interests and passions include camping, cats, outdoor swimming, news and politics, and music - she plays the trombone and has played in many different bands and orchestras, including performing live on a John Peel session in 2002 with Scottish band Ballboy.

Anna was born and grew up in Yorkshire, but has also lived in Canada as a student, Iceland as an au pair, and Costa Rica as a conservation volunteer, where she saw tarantulas, tapirs, monkeys, sloths, crocodiles and giant katydids. She now lives in Edinburgh with her two children and two cats, Skye and Socks.

Reviews

[✧ hayley (the sugar bowl) ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

➳ 5 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

i loved this book as a kid and definitely read it before bed countless times along with books about the titanic, famous body parts, and facts about death—what does that say about me as a child? 🤍🤭



୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read and found on Open Library, the intended audience for Anna Claybourne's 2017 Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories (which is in my opinion young readers, and especially boys, from about the age of eight to ten or twelve or so) will likely find the book's 114 page collection of diverse and global hauntings, cryptids, natural and historical mysteries, as well as the general freak-out factor of Claybourne claiming for example that vampire bats might be coming to dine on your blood and that weird looking monsters are lurking in the depths of the oceans both internally and externally titillating, joyfully educational (and that yes, I certainly do much appreciate how Claybourne's text for Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories equally strives to be solidly balanced, first and foremost looking for and presenting scientific explanations but that the author also does not ever shy away from pointing out mysteries that still do seem to defy science and that ghosts and aliens might indeed exist even if there is as yet no scientifically unassailable proof thereof).

But as much as I have found Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories generally all-round interesting, engagingly penned (and that having Anna Claybourne in particular show in Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories how most so-called mummy curses can in fact be medically/scientifically and also historically explained, that ghostly ships, spooky lights, ball lightning etc. are mostly something natural occurring and not based on the occult, on revenants, the Devil etc. and indeed that the historical Vlad the Impaler is actually considered a hero and not a vampiric villain by the majority of Romanians makes both my adult reading self and my inner child very much personally pleased), I really do not do not at all like the general set-up for Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories, finding how the mysteries etc. are arranged in basically in no order whatsoever rather hugely annoying and headache-producing.

For honestly, why not have all ghost and hauntings stories appear in one section, all animal and geological mysteries in another and so on and so on? As yes, for Anna Claybourne to keep jumping in Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories from one "mysterious" example to something totally and thematically different (and often then back again and over and over so to speak), I do find this more than a bit distracting and textually frustrating (and especially so since the combination of text and images in Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories is actually often much too busy for me, too extensive but at the same time also not intensive enough and with no lists of books and websites for more information, for further reading and study being provided either). And well, combined with the so-called Fright-O-Meter ratings Anna Claybourne provides for each of her inclusions feeling rather silly and also totally subjective and the multiple-choice quizzes and flow charts being decent enough but kind of at least for me annoyingly disrupting textual flow, yes, while I do think that Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories is fun and provides a nicely decent marriage of fun and solidly science and fact based education, the set-up really does massively grate particularly on my older adult reading self (and enough so that my rating for Don't Read This Book Before Bed: Thrills, Chills, and Hauntingly True Stories can only be a very low three stars, and that frankly, said three stars is in fact rather generous on my part).

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book, but not quite what I was expecting. I thought it would be full "hauntings" and spooky ordeals, and there was some of that, but I would actually call this book more scientific, than ghostly. There was also some interesting historical events covered.



One of the first places discussed was Houska Castle in the Czech Republic. It was basically a castle built more than 800 years ago, to cover a giant, creepy hole. (On a side note, when I just typed in "Houska" in the search it said it was a traditional Czech bread, so they named their creepy castle after some bread. :D)



I thought these strange flying triangles were one of the more interesting things mentioned. I like to think that there are other beings out there, but I just can't imagine why such advanced species would be doing weird random crap down here, like flying around in triangles.

Another mystery from space is a mysterious goo that appears after meteor showers. That was one of the most interesting things mentioned because it's well documented and so far, unexplained.

A lot of the "mysteries" mentioned are things like Bigfoot, things that people claim to see but there is no proven photographic evidence.

Lots of fun information but I had to take one star off for the format. I hate when there is a bunch of tiny text randomly spread all over the page. It's just not enjoyable to read.

[Aeicha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightfully frightful, spooktacular, and creeptastic read! Bursting with super fun chills and thrills, I could not put this book down. I had such a blast learning about all kinds of out there things, likes ghosts; freaky weather phenomenon; scary places; wicked cool myths; and more. Young readers will be absolutely bewitched by all the cool info and captivating pictures. A perfect Halloween read!!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book to read with lots of fantastic, creepy stories. Loved the quizzes scattered throughout!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, but I wouldn't consider this a "scary" book, even with all of the various topics that are covered!

Each topic / subject is 2-pages long and contains facts and brief anecdotal information about the person, place, or thing. There are also fun "Quizzes" scattered throughout! This was produced by National Geographic Kids, so the book is very colorful with a lot of photographs, charts, bubbles of information, and more!

My favorite topics were: The Mothman and the Owlman, Predicting a Disaster (Titanic), Terror in the Night, all of the Quizzes, Lurking in the Lake (Loch Ness), Real-Life Dracula, Mummy's Curse (King Tut's tomb), Underground Ghost Town (in (or under) Edinburg, Scotland), The Terrifying Tower (Tower of London), Eerie Everest (even a mountain can be haunted), Abandoned City (Chernobyl - I was in high school when this happened), Abandoned Ship, Presidential Poltergeists (ours), and the Ghosts of Flight 401.

[Mrs Mommy Booknerd http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is FANTASTIC. I could not stop reading it and both my boys thought is was super cool too and a bit spooky! This book is filled with stories of hauntings, all of which are true. So cool right! In this book you will read about all sorts of thrills, chills and spooky goings on. This book has all the things that I love about National Geographic...the amazing photos, great tidbits and facts, as well as the well written table of content. This book will make you want to snuggle in at night and maybe put the blanket over your head. A spooktaular addition to any home library. 5 stars

[Piyali · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son LOVED this book. This book will certainly appeal to tweens if they like strange and scary facts, both normal and paranormal.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the Fright-o-meter that showed how scary the story was.

The story of Houska Castle was really cool. It was built over a long, dark hole in the ground. It was said to be the gateway to the Underworld. The castle is a mystery because it doesn’t seem to have been designed to live in. It’s not in a position to look out for enemies, there’s no natural water supply, and it doesn’t have a kitchen. Many of the windows are fake, with solid stone behind them and no rooms. There aren’t stairs from the first floor to the upper levels. People had to climb to the second level by using ropes. It’s said it was build to block the hole and prevent things from getting out.
There’s a story that criminals who were sentenced to death were offered a pardon if they went down the hole to see how deep it was. A man agreed and was lowered down but a few minutes later he screamed in terror and came back up an old man, who died soon after.
People have seen ghosts, including a row of people chained together and guarded by big black dogs.

It’s so cool that some stories about ghost ships say the crew tries to greet sailors and even sends over a small boat carrying letters to be delivered. They’re addressed to places that don’t exist or to people who died a long time ago. Sailors would say the letters shouldn’t be taken home, but kept on board and nailed to the mast.

Fata Morganas are a type of mirage, not sure what type because it didn’t say how it differs from a regular one. Mirages happen when light is bent as it passes through layers of air at different temperatures. At sea this can make light bend over the horizon. A ship that’s far away and out of sight can sudddnlt appear or seem to be floating on the sky. Fata Morgana can make icebergs, islands, and giant waves appear out of nowhere when they’re not really there.

I was fascinated by the reincarnation stories. The 2 year old boy who had nightmares that he was trapped in a burning plane and he was the pilot. His parents researched the story and found he shared the first name of a pilot who had died in WWII. He could describe the airplane and detailed the crash and his friend. The memories are supposed to begin being related as soon as one can speak and be forgotten by age 5 or 6.
But the one about the man whose memories just got stronger with age was so interesting. He remembered a temple and recognized it on TV as the city of Petra in Jordan. He was shown on TV and the Jordan government arranged for him to visit. He knew his way around and explained what the buildings were for to the archaeologists and pointed out things that hadn’t been excavated.
People who think they’ve been reincarnated seem to all have died a sudden or violent death.

England has rollright stones that are said to be a king and his men who were turned to stone by a witch. Legend says they sometimes come to life at midnight. If you count the stones you’ll always get a different number.

I loved the ghost stories of the White House. It’s crazy that Lincoln had a dream that he had walked into a room to find a funeral going on for an assassinated President, and a few days later he was shot. Winston Churchill saw her ghost in the Lincoln Bedroom when he stayed there, along with other famous people.

The flight 401 gave me chills. The pilot and engineer died in the crash, but on subsequent flights with that airline, the pilot would be there and people would talk to him, and then he would vanish. And one person saw the engineer sitting in the cockpit and the spirit told him he didn’t need to do the preflight check because he had already done it! Another time he appeared inside an oven and told the flight attendant to watch out for fire on this plane. It later had to be grounded because the engine malfunctioned. The sightings happened on planes that had reused parts from the wrecked 401. The airline didn’t want people to think the planes were haunted and so took the parts out and the hauntings apparently stopped.

I wish this had only been on ghost stories and things like that, because I had to skip over some gross sections that were disturbing and I didn't want to read about. It would have been much better just sticking to ghost stories and the ones I like and leaving off gross parasites and nasty, ugly animals. A lot of the stories I did read weren't good and felt lacking in info, like they didn't qualify as good enough stories because there weren't enough details about them.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

They dug up every foul, disgusting, scary thing they could think of. Must read this one slowly, to savor the points but I'm afraid I read it too fast--and skimmed through the rest--for it to keep me up at night!

[Alyx Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids are so excited about the book. It is delightfully creepy with stories both familiar and new. I appreciate the freak-o-meter.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, I'll admit I did not finish reading this book, I flipped through and read bits and pieces, but then stopped. BECAUSE they have incorrect information in this book- in one section it claims that Anne Boleyn was beheaded by guillotine... which is impossible since it wasn't invented until 1789 and she was beheaded in 1536. So.. one star for bad information.

[RumBelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is varied in terms of the topics it covers, which makes it a really fascinating, engaging read. My only issue is that things are included in this book that are not remotely scary, or related to the paranormal, and their inclusion is, to me, really confusing. Two examples are the migration of monarch butterflies, and black holes. Both of these are simply scientific topics and not remotely frightening.

Topics such as ghosts and haunted places, creepy dolls, underground domains, aliens, sea monsters, creepy swarms of creatures and more all find a home in this book. Not one of the topics is dull, and all are presented in a very interesting way. Admittedly I did not read the ones about the swarms, that creeps me out. Many I had read about in other books, but one topic that was new for me was Houska castle in the Czech Republic. This castle was built over an impossibly deep hole the locales believe led to the Underworld. It was not a castle built for habitation, leading many to speculate that it was built to keep something from getting out of that hole into the wider world.

Of the more familiar topics, I loved the authors take on various sea monsters, The Mary Celeste and the many ghosts and paranormal locales in Edinburgh.

In addition, fun inserts like quizzes and follow the path activities where your choices determine the next path you follow. The book did not have any additional material such as a glossary or additional reading resources.

The photos, digital art and artistic representations of the topics discussed are very well done. They add to the text, bringing the topics to life and really showing what is being talked about.

A book with a lot of variety, that will keep you entertained.

[K.L. Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

National Geographic Kids has creepy catacombs with mummies of Palermo inside these pages. Was the Mothman real in West Virginia? When you sleep, is your brain sorting through the things you’ve seen and done, and then deciding what you should remember? Disappearing lighthouse keepers, being buried alive, monsters in the lake and weird science can be found throughout these pages. Interesting facts and photos that will keep you up at night can also be found here. There are even a few dedicated pages to the end of the world.

There are lots of things we can’t explain or don’t understand. If you are afraid of hauntings this guide might not be for you. If you need a gauge for how creepy a story might be you’ll find one on every page and it’s called a fright-o-meter. Every reader who opens this book will be informed, enlightened and find they can’t tear themselves away from these curious stories.

[Dorine White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well put together book for young readers looking for some chilling facts and stories. There is something for every one's fears inside. Along with amazing full-color picture spreads, there are also fun quizzes and inside story statistics. I think my favorite stories were the ones about haunted places on Earth. They tell you the full back story along with why people think these places are haunted. The pictures are plain old freaky too.

There are also chapters on creepy insects, strange occurrences and disappearances, and viruses that make you sick. I had a lot of fun reading this book. I even had to skip a couple of the insect chapters because they looked like they might pop off the pages. Another winner from National Geographic Kids. 5 stars!

[Kaine Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure, it's a kids' book, but it was still entertaining. Serving as a brief overview of a number of "spooky" subjects, you'll find all kinds of interesting page layouts including quizzes, fact-or-fake photo listings, and historical information.

For the intended audience, if they're into the paranormal, this is probably a good read and serves as a great jumping off point to find things to look into with more depth. For non-child readers, it may still provide a few unique or new tidbits - the section on the Beast of Bodmin was new to me, alongside a handful of others - and proves an amusing read.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
From haunted castles and hotels to zombie ants and mysterious monarchs; underground, underwater and outer space... Every place seems to have it's own creepy legends and stories, creatures and mysteries. All of them get a two page spread in this colorful book with lots of photographs, fact boxes, and brief stories and examples. Includes several quizzes. Photo credits. A fun book to browse through.

[Mrs. Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't Read This Book Before Bed truly is filled with thrills, chills, and hauntingly true stories! From haunted hotels and castles, to zombie flesh eaters and presidential poltergeists, this book is great for fans of history, science, tall-tales, and the great unknown. Just remember, you may not want to read this book before bed!

[LeiAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam loved this. He was excited every night for the next tale. I’m convinced that there’s a book for every kid. And once you find the book that really piques their interest, it’s easy to get them to read. This book totally did the trick.

Some of the information was outdated, over-simplified, or glamorized. But I am willing to extend grace considering the intended audience.

[H. Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really find this one to be a neat little collection of fun, creepy stories. Even reluctant readers become totally absorbed due to slick graphic layout. Little quizzes and diagrams enhance interaction with the text. Included a few cases I hadn’t looked into before, as well the ones we all enjoy. Easily digestible non-fiction amusement.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this for my 12yr old but I read it instead. I found it fascinating. The fright-o-meter is way off though. I didn't think anything was scary. Mostly ghost stuff & unexplained phenomena.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun to read, and I actually learned quite a few things I didn't know before.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is Perfect for anyone interested in all things odd, spooky and conspiratorial.

[Robin Berman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, filled with colorful photos and illustrations of each topic.
Each mysterious topic is discussed on 2 pages.

I liked the "spookometer" on each topic which had numbers 1-10 degrees measuring how scary it is.

Intrigued about Houska castle and the "Never ending hole" it covers, and why modern technology hasn't figured out about this hole.

Deducted 1 star because some of the topics don't really belong in the book- the migration of Monarch butterflies? While fascinating, it's not at all scary or creepy. Doesn't go with the theme.

This book has a lot of science topics like super volcanoes, Mars, sink holes, Tsunamis, black holes, and meteorites. It doesn't stick to the theme of the book at all. It does have a lot of great photos and illustrations etc., and the pages are colorful and interesting to look at, so I kept the 4 star rating. I learned what a fumarole is.

[Jacob]

This book is pretty good. It has lots of things on the paranormal and other crazy stuff. Honestly it's a lot to take in a lot of conflict if you know what I mean. It's a pretty good book I'm being honest right now.