In a Dark, Dark Room: And Other Scary Stories

by Alvin Schwartz, Dirk Zimmer (Illustrator)

In a dark, dark room, in a soft, soft voice, tell a scary story--It; s fun! It's fun to scare your friends with stories about ghosts and pirates, skeletons and strange happenings.

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Fiction, Short Stories, Halloween, Picture Books, Fantasy

64 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Alvin^Schwartz
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Alvin Schwartz was the author of more than fifty books dedicated to and dealing with topics such as folklore and word play, many of which were intended for young readers. He is often confused with another Alvin_Schwartz, who wrote Superman and Batman daily comics strips and a novel titled The Blowtop.

For Batman - See: Alvin^^Schwartz https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked the story of the girl whose head falls off so much that i got a baby doll when i was 3, named her Jenny, and tied a green ribbon around her neck, and then i'd untie it and i'd make her head fall off. when my parents figured out what it was supposed to be, they knew i would be weird forever.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter finds it quite intolerable that I "read scary stories all the time" but that she's not allowed to. Mind you, most of the stories I read to her are cheery books with unicorns, talking animals and more than a dash of the color pink. She's also a child who has hid some of my books before because the cover was "too scary and I wanted to make sure it didn't bother anyone." I honestly figured anything remotely scary would not go over well… then I remembered a book I enjoyed as a kid. The stories weren't particularly scary and the illustrations looked very similar to Halloween decorations I remember from my childhood. I went online, ordered it and figured it would be fun to read.

This is what I remembered:



This is what we got:



So yeah, the illustrations were revised in recent years and instead of making them less scary (like that horrible revision of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark which I will not allow in my house because if anyone is reading it they will be as traumatized as I was a kid damn it all) it was made significantly creepier. While I personally love the artwork, I would call it significantly scarier. I read through the stories and was delighted to remember them, but the accompanying illustrations, were certainly a bit more than I thought my daughter could take based on her personality and decided perhaps it was better if I hid it for a bit.

…

So, story time hits that night and my daughter tells me "I want the story about the girl whose head falls off." I look at her blankly, wondering what the hell she's talking about and if she's somehow figured out the iPad's code and has been pulling up things on Youtube that she really shouldn't when she runs over to my bookcase and pulls this out. Apparently she had seen me put it away earlier in the day, pulled it out, looked through all the pictures, and returned it to the bookcase.

Well, bravo child, my hands are tied, time for some scary stories.

Overall she enjoyed the book and I was pleasantly surprised to not be woken up with screams about ghost pirates or anything throughout the night. While it worked out well for me and my daughter, I highly advise parents to look through this one prior to buying… that said, who knows? Maybe the child is braver than you think. 4/5 stars.

Side note: after reading through it and losing the nostalgia filter, I do think the illustrations in this version make for a better book.

[Dez the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok first off - caution here. This says it’s a level 2 reader (reading with help). One would think that the level also makes it appropriate for the same age range, however…

Beware - some of these may have frightening images for young or sensitive children.

The collection of stories are actually derived from old folklore, old tales, and shortened versions of longer stories from long ago. That was the coolest part for me. I read this to my 7 year old and grimaced a little but think the horror images and descriptions should make this more the 8-9 age range. The difficult thing is that it’s clearly written for younger readers, so it’s a toss up there. Cool knowledge page in the back on where the stories derived from though!!

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually add my son's books to my reading log while reading them to him, but this was so nostalgic and fun that I had to. I didn't realize until a few days ago that the Alvin Schwartz scary story collections were recently re-made in the "I Can Read" books for today's kids, and that's super exciting to me because there isn't nearly enough children's horror in the book world these days and it would be nice to see these take off and inspire more modern authors to write more horror for kids! In the meantime, my son (who is 6) really liked these and I had fun re-visiting such familiar stories I grew up on. ♥

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[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hands down one of my favorite children's books. My kindergarten teacher read this to us Halloween (1989) and I fell in love with it. The story of the little girl named Jenny with the ribbon around her neck really stuck with me. In middle school and high school I started asking people if they ever read a book with that story in it, or heard of it. No one did. As an adult I was determined to find it but I didn't remember what it looked like. Every Halloween season I would look in bookstores and ask booksellers if they ever heard that story. I was beginning to think that I made it up.

I started working at Borders Books & Music (R.I.P.) fall of 2005 and started working in the children's section doing inventory and merchandising. This book was on a cart that I was re-shelving in the I Can Read Book spinners and I happened to flip through it. Oh my god I was so excited. I bought it that day and then I had the author and the title and was able to order some in hard cover.

Now when I wander through Barnes and Noble I sometimes see the hardcover in the bargain books section during Halloween time. I make sure to pick up a copy and I give them to my nieces and children of my friends. I just bought a new one to use when I work with young children so I can keep my copy nice.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I missed reading this book when I was younger. It was published in 1984, and by then I was a young teen, and not interested in I Can Read! books. I saw a clip on TikTok about this collection of stories recently and had to check it out. If only it had come out a few years earlier. My creepy little soul would have loved it.

I checked out the original 1984 edition from the library, though there is also an updated edition with new artwork. My favorite stories are: "The Teeth" (mainly for the creepy artwork); "The Green Ribbon" (ominous and scary); and "The Night It Rained" (sad, unsettling, spooky). "The Pirate" was pretty good too. The other three stories were fine, but could have used a little something more. All of them had great pictures.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this last year so I could read it out loud to my son when he got a little older. I borrowed it from the library a couple times when I was a wee one. Today seemed like a good time to read it to him since it's gloomy out and he's home sick.

Anyway, my son was too busy jumping around so I read it to myself. This book contains seven ghost stories told in a style suitable for young readers. I was in first grade when I read it so that gives you an idea of the reading level.

The Green Ribbon is still my favorite almost forty years after I first read it. Her head falls off when the green ribbon is removed. Who doesn't love that? The Night it Rained is another favorite. "But our son has been dead for over a year," etc.

Dirk Zimmer's art is creepy but not super creepy. I'm glad this edition still uses the art from the 1984 edition.

Four out of five stars. I'll be glad to read it to my son when he's not too busy bouncing around the living room.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, the memories! I remember my first grade teacher reading this book to me. VERY VERY scary. There were some scary stories which I somehow forgotten over my childhood/teenhood, but the one story I ALWAYS remembered and would randomly replay in my head is the story of THE GREEN RIBBON.

THE GREEN RIBBON............so it's about this girl named Jenny who always wore a green scarf/ribbon around her neck. Jenny marries a boy and the boy always asks Jenny why she has the scarf on. Jenny simply just says she'll tell him someday. So one day, **SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT ALERT ALERT** when Jenny is dying and at her deathbed, Jenny tells the boy to undo the ribbon around her neck. When the boy does, Jenny's head falls off.
*GASP***
As a little kid, the story scared the HELL OUT OF ME. (That is the reason why I still remember THE GREEN RIBBON story to this day.)
So yeah, I'm sure this is a total horror book especially if only one simple story freaked me out.

Regardless, this book has amazing suspense, mystery, and horror.
It's the perfect book to scare the crap out of someone....especially on Halloween. :)

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alvin Schwartz is one of the best tellers of scary stories for kids, and in this book he has adapted that ability for a younger audience than ever: the early reader.

The best thing about Alvin Schwartz's scary stories is that the best ones really do make chills run up and down one's spine, and cause a bit of paranoid fear about what could be lurking around the corner in one's own house. The stories that comprise In a Dark, Dark Room are very short, but effective. Kids won't soon forget the eerie endings, solidly embedded in the American tradition of horror and folklore storytelling.

To me, the best story of In a Dark, Dark Room is about the girl who always wears a green ribbon tied around her neck for no obvious reason. She resists telling a boy she knows (and ends up marrying) the purpose of the ribbon until her dying day, and then...

I like this book. It's a brief read, but completely worth it. I rate In a Dark, Dark Room two and a half stars, and am tempted to round to three. Alvin Schwartz's most famous illustrating partner is the incredible Stephen Gammell, but Dirk Zimmer pairs wonderfully with him as well.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Folklorist and children's author Alvin Schwartz presents seven spooky selections in this early-reader collection. From the opening tale about The Teeth, in which a boy runs from a series of men, each with teeth longer than the last, to the closing children's song about The Ghost of John, the contents here is sure to give young beginning readers the shivers. In the Graveyard sees a fat woman speaking to three thin corpses in a graveyard, while The Green Ribbon follows the tale of a young girl who always wears a ribbon of green around her neck. The titular In a Dark, Dark Room uses repetition to build suspense, and scare the reader, while The Night it Rained and The Pirate both chronicle a ghostly encounter.

Although I have vivid memories of reading Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark as a girl - a collection that was intended for older, middle-grade readers - I never happened to pick up In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories, which first saw print in 1984. I'm glad I've finally remedied that situation, as I think this collection makes an admirable spooky read for younger children who are just becoming independent readers. I appreciated the author's foreword, in which he talks about the appeal of being scared, and I also appreciated the afterword, in which he briefly discusses the folkloric sources for each selection. With the exception of The Teeth, which comes from Suriname, it would seem that these tales and songs are mostly British and/or Euro-American. The accompanying artwork by Dirk Zimmer accentuates the scares to be found in each tale, and ably complements the text. Recommended to beginning readers looking for ghost stories.

[La Coccinelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short collection of very short stories aimed at beginning readers. Though most are based on older folktales, I felt the stories were kind of watered down, to the point that they'll probably only be entertaining to the age group they're aimed at. Kids might get a sense of accomplishment from reading these little morsels of fright, but older readers are likely to be left unsatisfied.

That said, the illustrations are great. The edition I read features new illustrations from 2017, which breathe some new life into this 1984 collection.

Here are my thoughts on the individual stories:

"The Teeth" - Creepy more than scary--and without much of a plot--this is basically just the story of a boy who encounters a series of men with progressively larger teeth. The fright factor is highly dependent on the illustrations.
3*

"In the Graveyard" - I can't quite tell if this one features fat-shaming or not (but if I'm questioning it, it could probably be construed that way). An overweight woman sitting in a graveyard meets some corpses. She asks them if she will be like them when she is dead. They say yes. The illustrations show a vision of her future self as a skinny corpse that looks awfully happy. Make of that what you will.
2*

"The Green Ribbon" - I think I've seen a version of this story somewhere before. It's probably the most comical and macabre of the bunch. It concerns a young girl named Jenny who wears a green ribbon around her neck. She won't tell anyone what it's for until the day she's on her deathbed... when everyone finds out in a startling way. (The illustrations make the girl look disconcertingly like Anne Shirley... so the finale becomes even more disturbing!)
3.5*

"In a Dark, Dark Room" - The title of this story is probably the spookiest part of it. It relies on word repetition to build up suspense. Unfortunately, the payoff is kind of... meh. This is another story in this collection that relies heavily on the illustrations; the ending is next to worthless without them.
2*

"The Night it Rained" - If you're over the age of ten, you'll probably have encountered a variation on this story. A man sees a little boy standing next to a cemetery. It's raining, so he offers the kid a lift and the use of his sweater, with a promise to return the next day to pick up said garment. For kids who haven't read something like this or seen the twist, it will probably be more engaging.
3*

"The Pirate" - Here's yet another story that looks like it stars Anne Shirley (this time with bosom friend, Diana Barry). Diana Ruth is spending her vacation with her cousin Anne Susan. Susan tells Ruth about how the guestroom is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a pirate. So Ruth checks the room thoroughly before going to bed, only to hear a big voice! The illustrations are essential to this story, too; readers won't fully appreciate the final climactic scene without them.
2.5*

"The Ghost of John" - This is apparently a poem written by an 8-year-old girl (who would now be 48, according to the note at the end). It's surprisingly good, considering the age of the poet; I've read rhyming poems by adults that are a lot worse.
2.5*

I might recommend this to young children who are starting to read on their own. The actual writing is pretty decent, and the illustrations are deliciously creepy (while still maintaining a sense of humour). For older readers who want a story collection that's actually satisfying on a plot level, though, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

[Tova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago, and The Green Ribbon was something.

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vi numa postagem aleatória no Facebook que os livros de Alvin Schwartz foram uma porta de entrada do horror para drogas mais pesadas de muita gente e seus livros são mesmo uma delicinha.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a reread for me. I have read it several times since I was a kid. It is a favorite.

[Bilgewater · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books of all time and one of the first books I ever read. The illustrations are spectacular and very creepy, and the stories are wonderfully told twists on classics. Perfect for kids and new readers, as well as anyone who wants a gentle but spooky read.

[Mr. Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t untie the green ribbon....ahhhhh!

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Now, I have been introduced to Alvin Schwartz’s works before through his famous and controversial “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” series and after I found out that Alvin Schwartz had written another pair of horror stories for children called “In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories,” of course I had to give this series a whirl!

This is a collection of horror stories for children and there is a total of seven stories being told in this book. The stories featured in this collection are:

1. The Teeth
2. In the Graveyard
3. The Green Ribbon
4. In a Dark, Dark Room
5. The Night it Rained
6. The Pirate
7. The Ghost of John

Wow! Alvin Schwartz really knows how to create stories that are both scary and tame for any child and all of these horror stories contain a mixture of humor and horror that made me both smile and cringe at the same time. I loved the fact that Alvin Schwartz did some research on these stories and allows the readers to understand where these stories came from as he mentions it in the “Where the Stories Come From” section at the end of the book as I wanted to know where these stories came from. I also enjoyed many of the stories in this book with my favorites being “The Green Ribbon” and “In a Dark, Dark Room” as I believe that those are the creepiest stories in this collection, especially “The Green Ribbon!” Dirk Zimmer’s artwork conveys both horror and comedy in this book as the characters have exaggerated features which includes some of the characters have large noses and wide eyes and I also loved the way that the characters look so pale and frightened in most of the images as it shows what kind of horrors the readers will be introduced to when they start reading this book!



The reason why I took off a half point from the star rating was because I felt that there were too many abrupt endings in each story and I wanted to see some closure in these stories, although given the short length of this book, that was to be expected. Also, even though I have enjoyed Alvin Schwartz’s work on “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” I felt that this collection of horror stories was not as scary as “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” Maybe it is because the artwork was not as scary as Stephen Gammell’s artwork in “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” and that took away the creepiness of the stories, although stories like “The Green Ribbon” still remained creepy no matter how the illustrations looked like.

Overall, “In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories” is a great collection of horror stories that children will gladly enjoy during Halloween time! I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since there are some scary stories in this book that might creep out younger readers.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I, as an adult, thought these were great scary stories, but this is a children's book. Some might not be okay for younger readers.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been in print for almost 40 years and there's a reason. If you have a young child that thinks they are ready for a ghost story, give this one to them or read it together with them.

[STEPH · Rating 3 out of 5]

A horror story for kids? This is the perfect book.


This is probably the shortest and quickest review, ever.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously for young kids. I remember reading this back in the '80s, and picking it up and taking the few minutes to read all of the stories and take in the artwork was a lot of fun. Just spooky enough for toddlers and elementary school kids before they dare enter the creepy world of the original "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books, and just fun enough for adults looking for a quick shot of nostalgia during the Halloween season!

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw someone dressed as Jenny from "The Green Ribbon" for Halloween and viscerally recalled the fear of reading this book as a kid. It spooked me then and I love how fun and creepy it is now! I love the genre of horror within readers for kids who want something scary but aren't ready for Goosebumps yet. Nightmarish AND developmentally appropriate!

[Sayeeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

her head fell off!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😵

[✨faith✨trust✨pixiedust✨ Dead Account; Not Coming Back · Rating 4 out of 5]

That story about Jenny's green ribbon still haunts me

[Penelope (Penelope’s Picks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will always remember The Green Ribbon.

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are level 2 reason with help short scary stories. Very cute but they are to short and the stories feel open ended.

[Goge (BARRONS) le Moning Maniac, · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was scared. This book scared me. I read it more than ten years ago.. I was scared.. creeped out, horrified and fascinated. This was one of my earliest horror stories I read as a kid.


There was one story that thinking about gave me scared the willies out of me and that was the story of the girl with a ribbon around her neck... *shivers* Still scares me today.. 'Everyone asked her what the ribbon was for but she never told them. Time went by and she go herself a boyfriend who became her husband. He asked her what the ribbon was for but she never told him; just kept telling him, "not yet". Finally, as they(or just her?) lay dying in bed, I believe, she said, "now, now untie the ribbon." He does and her head falls off.
-The thought that at any time her head could have fallen off scares me. The mystery of how her head got like that scares me. "Headless", this book spooked me so much I gained a fear of headless things ect.And.. I was always so scared that my neck was going to pop off.. barbies scared me because their heads could pop off *shudders*. I used to randomly touch my neck to see if I could feel a thin line that shows my head would come off. I completely believed when I was older that was how I would die, my head popping off.. Yep, this book scared me. And I remembered this compulsion to touch my neck to assure myself it wouldn't fall off because thinking about this book I unintentionally touched my neck, my hand's cold right now and that scared me. Made me remember what I used to do. This book is extremely nostalgic. I used to have troubles sleeping with this book.. A Major goosebumps, shivers, shudders, and ice-cold feeling type of book.


I don't remember the teeth story but thinking about it gave me a small shudder.. I think my subconcous was scared of it when I was younger too..

[CoCoBug · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were talking about The Green Ribbon this past book club, so I had to order the book I remembered from my childhood, and was not disappointed (except that it's a reprint). It has 6 stories and a short poem in it, and most are enjoyable. It ultimately is the illustrations that make each story creepy. I really did like how at the end the author gives the origin of each tale. That might not matter to a kid, but to an adult that loved these as a kid, it's fun to do some research.

The Teeth - a small boy keeps seeing a succession of men on the street, each with longer teeth than the previous one.

In the Graveyard - a short and fat woman sitting on a bench in the graveyard sees 3 long and thin corpses come in and asks if she will be like them when she dies. They say yes, sit up in their coffins, and she yells. I didn't really get this one. (I get the short/fat thing dying, and becoming thin and skeleton like, I'm not stupid. I just didn't get her yelling at the end after already having a conversation with the corpses.)

The Green Ribbon - obviously the best story. Jenny and Alfred meet in school, end up married. Will never tell him why she has a green ribbon on her neck. She gets old, and when she is about to die she lets Alfred take it off. Plop, there goes her head.

In a Dark, Dark, Room - one of the two I didn't like. Not creepy. Dark wood, dark house, dark room, dark shelf, dark box, GHOST. dumb.

The Night it Rained - my second favorite. Classic story - driver picks up kid in the rain, gives him a sweater. Goes to get it next day, mom says son died a year ago. He finds it on the boys grave.

The Pirate - the other dumb one. A girl is visiting her cousin, told her room is haunted. She looks everywhere, can't find a ghost. He yells.

The Ghost of John - a little poem written by an 8 year old. Fun.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alvin Schwartz is one of the best tellers of scary stories for kids, and in this book he has adapted that ability for a younger audience than ever: the early reader.

The best thing about Alvin Schwartz's scary stories is that the best ones really do make chills run up and down one's spine, and cause a bit of paranoid fear about what could be lurking around the corner in one's own house. The stories that comprise In a Dark, Dark Room are very short but effective. Kids won't soon forget the eerie endings, solidly embedded in the American tradition of horror and folklore storytelling.

To me, the best story of In a Dark, Dark Room is about the girl who always wears a green ribbon tied around her neck for no obvious reason. She resists telling a boy she knows (and ends up marrying) the purpose of the ribbon until her dying day, and then...

I like this book. It's a brief read, but completely worth it. I rate In a Dark, Dark Room two and a half stars, and am tempted to round to three. Alvin Schwartz's most famous illustrating partner is the incredible Stephen Gammell, but Dirk Zimmer pairs wonderfully with him as well.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

New illustrations by Victor Rivas reinvigorate this classic easy reader with cartoonish, creepy kids, ghosts and ghouls. Schwartz begins his book writing, "Most of us like scary stories because we like feeling scared. When there is no real danger, feeling scared is fun." He uses repetition, suspense and sudden revelations to great effect. Rivas' illustrations amp up the fright with creepy cartoon characters in the style of Tim Burton and Edward Gorey.