The Haunting Hour: Ten New Stories

by R.L. Stine

Ten terrifying tales that will haunt you forever..."Somestories are too terrifying to tell, " says R.L. Stine. "They are the ones that live in the darkest corners of my mind. The ones that give me chills in the dead of night. The ones that I must tell you now -- or they will haunt me forever!"

Read the spine-chilling story of a baby-sitter who loves evil tricks...the terrifying tale of a boy who dared to lie down in an ancient mummy case...the frightful story of two boys just "dying to have the scariest Halloween ever...

Are you ready for these scares and more? R.L. Stine, the #1 best-selling children's author of all time, presents ten new stories that will give you chills in the dead of night and turn any hour into "The Haunting Hour!

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Mystery

153 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

Reviews

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. I understand that this book is aimed at a very young audience so I wasn’t expecting anything disgustingly horrifying or mind blowing, but there have been many children’s horror books that have done a better job such as Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. I don’t think books should be dumbed down and oversimplified just because the audience is young, children are much smarter and more perceptive than we often give them credit for.

The three stories in this collection that I really enjoyed were The Bad Baby-Sitter, Losers and The Mummy’s Dream. These stories were dark, grotesque, psychological and finished with strong plot twists. Unfortunately, all of the other stories were anticlimactic with weak characters, cheesy plot devices, disjointed writing with odd pacing issues and just all around unfulfilling.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cheesy horror, weird fiction and over-the-top fantasy as much as the next guy. But this book just went a little overboard with childish prose that made me roll my eyes quite a few times, even giggling to myself aloud at some points.

I don’t think it’s a bad book at all, in fact I think it would be a great way to introduce horror to young children who have no experience with the genre. It’s a good gateway drug, just not for me.

[Omaira · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Una obra compuesta por 10 relatos que intentan jugar con algunas situaciones inquietantes. Aunque hubo alguno que otro que no me dejó satisfecha, la mayoría sí que me atraparon. Es muy probable que los lectores más jovencitos alucinen más con algunos detalles, pero, como adulta, ha mantenido mi atención y creo que algunos relatos dejan entrever temas serios que podrían ser más desarrollados. Ideal si buscáis disfrutar de historias cortas en las que el miedo suele estar presente de modo suave".

Reseña completa: https://entrelalecturayelcine.blogspo...

La puntuación real sería un 3,5/5. No redondeo al alza porque casi todos los relatos me dejaron con la sensación de que había aspectos que merecía la pena explorar mejor. Además, también influye mi edad, ya que, cuando lo leí con 11-12 años, sé que lo amé y que en ese momento no cuestionaba nada

[Sha · Rating 2 out of 5]

01 Nov 2020

General Notes: The Goosebumps universe/series has a whole lot of good ideas, but they are not usually examined beyond the surface level, and internal consistency is often sacrificed for a randomized twist ending.

These are like mini-Goosebumps stories. Which are bad in that they take an already hyper-simplified idea and make them even simpler, and good in that I don't have to go through pages of extraneous action-adjacent scenes and shock-horror red herrings to get to the central concept. So eh. Win some, lose some.

Individual story reviews are gonna be shorter than normal because there's only so much material I have to work with.

1. The Halloween Dance: 3 Stars
I wonder at what point in your life the chance of a do-over inspires more jealousy than horror. Ah, adulthood.

2. The Bad Babysitter: 1 star
I mean, I guess it was okay but also pretty cliche and the conflict got wrapped up really fast? It doesn't make for a really good horror short story.

3. Revenge of the Snow Man: 1 star
The first part was legitimately scary in an adult horror kindof way. I'm not sure the twist at the end was necessary as it turns plausible horror into something more weird? It doesn't help that the reactee in that case is in denial either- and why wouldn't he be bc freezing in horror is a momentary response.

4. How to Bargain With A Dragon: 2 stars
This is not horror this is retribution. Feels distinctly out of place in the anthology but it's not a bad story if you're judging by middle grade standards.

5. The Mummy's Dream: 3 Stars
That was actually a genuinely creepy idea, and the most suspenseful of the stories so far. Yay possible time travel and body horror? Points lost for plot holes as usual but hey. I can see how it can be patched up.

6. Are We There Yet? 3 stars
Is running out of the car to chase down a stray dog in the middle of nowhere a thing in the USofA? Years of trading cultural titbits back and forth have assured me it's not a good idea to assume anything.

This was actually way more post apocalyptic than I expected, but in a good "oh fuck I can absolutely imagine this happening in the world we live in" kinda way. Could have been a whole novel.

7. Take Me With You: 2 stars
Your standard creepy old ghost girl story. Meh.

8. My Imaginary Friend: 1 star
I think it's just a straightforward story about hallucinations?

9. Loser: 1 star
Listen I dislike assholes as much as anyone but this is was both pointless and unsatisfactory. Wtf is not an ideal reaction to asshole bashing.

10. Can You Draw Me? 3 stars
Ngl the stars are mostly for the very creative resolution. That trumps the one week painting lesson logistics problems too.

[Michelle (MichelleBookAddict) · Rating 4 out of 5]

November 2013
4★

I've been reading some of R. L. Stine's books in between my reading of Dracula (over halfway read and liking it). Nightmare Hour I've read a little over half of. And now I've just finished Haunting Hour. These both are short stories with a Stine's horror imagination. It's even more haunting for me because of Stine's added commentary before each story. It seems that most of his horror stories originate from "What if?". They're all suspenseful and a mix of horror. Just not sure the age he was going for. His characters were all between the ages of 14 to 16 y.o. And some of the things that happen to them are pretty gruesome, i.e. heads decapitated, near or complete possession by ghosts, etc. I do still like Stine though. He writes in such a way that keeps me wanting to read more.

What started me in reading these short stories was for the nostalgia. I read a lot of his books a couple decades ago. I remembered them as being a little haunting and very suspenseful. Turns out that I still feel that way about Stine's works today. I started off by trying the short stories in the Nightmare Hour book. They're good, but I've enjoyed the short stories in Haunting Hour more.

[Tanita Dhiyaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until today, I'm thankful for founding this book by accident in a local bookstore, that weren't meant to sell imported books. It was slipped under a pile of other horror-themed books, and caught my attention immediately. not really because of the title, but for R.L. Stine. If I can recall, he doesn't write collective-story book like this one.And I can sense that this is indeed a more mature book other than other classic Goosebumps.

My favorite story from the book would be, "My name is not Martin", if I'm not mistaken. I'm not really sure what's the exact title, but it was about the kid in the hospital, and the other would be "My Imaginary Friend" which I think is never like any imaginary friend-themed story, as far as I can remember. I must say, Im not really easy on western horror stories, they're just not scary compared to Eastern especially Indonesia's, but this one really gave me some paranoid nights and day after reading it.

A well done job, Stine.

[Storm Arashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oldie but goodie, read this all the time when I was just a kid, it was always eerie then, not scary now but still interesting and fun, especially remembering little details like a characters doll collection, or that voodoo was performed in one story. Or a Dystopian-esque story that was very eerie... And made me wary of car trips for awhile when I was young.

Nice to go back to your roots sometimes.

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5. Great short stories book by the master R. L. Stine. Certainly the author at tread the most at a young age and still enjoy reading it as an adult. Those stories are not all «horror» but they’re all good and very entertaining. Not that scary for adult obviously, but they could give the younger reader a good Goosebumps moment. Loved it!

[lauu 𖤐⭒]

realmente he utilizado este libro para puntuar uno de wattpad

libro: el final de la partida :)

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple years ago, I read a horror anthology called The Nightmare Hour from R.L.Stine. And so far it's probably my favorite anthology .Well Stine did write a sequel or was the haunting hour the sequel ? Anyway here's the review for The Haunting Hour.

The Halloween Dance-These two boys sneak out of their own Halloween party ,because it's lame and want real scares. They run into something that enjoys dancing. Basically Headless Halloween+Attack Of The Graveyard Ghouls =The Cuckoo Clock Of Doom.

The Bad Babysitter-we are two stories in and we already have a decapitation. These two kids have their neighbors over that are super annoying and reckless. They get a babysitter when they go home and she offers to get revenge on them with mud cookies that are voodoo dolls .This story really caught me off guard ,because it seemed so tame at the beginning, but got crazy pretty fast. Four out of five stars for me.

The Snowman's Revenge-These kids have a friend that is obsessed with ways people can die.And he is a somewhat know it all on the subject.He mentions that people can actually die of fright.So the other kids are annoyed and want to prove him wrong.So they burry him in snow making a snowman around him.Only for a somewhat satisfying ending.This one was ok. It did have a death in it but nothing we haven't seen before from Stine. I did however like the fact that the ones that did wrong got the comeuppance.I give this one a three out of five stars.

How To Bargain with A Dragon- Stine hasn't written a ton of stories about dragons,as far as I know. I know there is a dragon in a series 2000 book Be Afraid Be Very Afraid.But as far as I know that's it. Besides the Give Yourself Goosebumps series. This one was ok. it was about this poor kid trying to find work.And he goes to this dragon masters house. The dragon master has almost all of the dragons except for one. And in order for the boy to find work. He must find the last dragon for him. And bring him to the dragon master.We get an explanation why the dragons are staying at this guy's house even though they're mistreated. And it's ok.This one wasn't at all horror. Their is one scene that grabbed my attention. But it was a cop out. I give this one a three out of five stars.

The Mummies Dream-These kids have a birthday party at a museum. And they run across a mummy .One kid decides to scare the other kids by dressing up as a mummy and laying in the sarcophagus. When he does he gets transported back in the actual mummy days. We get the usual Stine facts about mummies that He mentions in every book, which is fine. Other then the fact that he gets transported. This was pretty much the same as the other mummy books.Three out of five stars.

Are We There Yet?-A family goes out on a summer road trip ,but doesn't tell the kids where they are going.The kids know something else is going on when the parents are crying at the diner while holding hands. When they finally get to their hotel and sleep. The kids wake up to find the parents gone. They go looking for them.Only to run into a bunch of scary shenanigans. This one was ok to. I did like this up until the end. It was almost a Welcome To Camp Nightmare type .But not nearly extreme and nowhere near close to being explained enough. I gave it a three out of five stars.Perhaps if we had a little bit more explained it would of atleast got a four.

Take me with you-A girls dad buys this old trunk for her to take on an upcoming trip on a ship. But when they open it weird stuff begins to happen. Whispers of "take me with you" and writing on the mirror with the same phrase haunt our protagonist. This one I feel wasn't really original but pretty decent. I give this one also a three out of five stars.

My Imaginary Friend-I kinda knew the ending of this one before it really got started. there's three friends Travis David and Shawn. Shawn is sick and dosnt want to do anything until Travis talks him into it.Travis is very much a trouble making kid. but Travis is Shawns imaginary friend. But David can see him to ? I don't know. Travis seems to always get Shawn in trouble or almost killed . It's up to David to save him. As I said I did predict most of the ending.But their was one spot that threw me off from my prediction.and that was the mom inclusion.So props to Stine for that. The only down grade was the poorly executed explanation.I gave it three out of five stars.

Losers- This one had a really scary introduction from Stine.Where he's at a carnival and this guy tries to get him to go with him. The story is equally frightening but with some setbacks.These kids go to a fair they go every year. but the two boys are making fun of everything from the way people look to the vegetables that the farmers grow. They even draw on one labeling it "loser" .They run into this guy,a big farmer that tells them to go with him inside his building. They see hands in jars, and stuff .The guy leaves and brings them back candy to eat..Oh boy.And things happen. This one got pretty dark and really uncomfortable. But had a silly premise, with what the candy did. The ending was neat. But it still had something I didn't really like. I gave it a three out of five stars.

Can You Draw Me-A story about this kid that has a major talent for drawing. He is drawing this girl he has a crush on when all of a sudden he loses control of drawing.His hand goes crazy drawing on it's own. The girl gets freaked out,after looking at the picture of her with scars on it and a rat crawling out her mouth. More things like this happen and these drawings get crazier and more disturbing. Like his drawing of himself on a noose and a bunch of headless farmers and cows and horses vomiting.I gave this one a four out of five stars. Mostly for the drawings. Stine wasn't afraid of going there.And it paid off.

Overall this anthology was ok. Not as good to me as The Nightmare Hour.But still fun overall. My favorite story was easily The Bad Babysitter. While the worst being The Snowman. I give it an overall rating of a three out of five stars.

[La llave de plata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hice una mini reseña de este libro en mi blog:
https://lallavedeplatablog.wordpress....

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid set of short stories, probably story ideas Stine couldn't quite flesh out to 100 pages for a full book.

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

R.L. Stine’s sequel collection to “The Nightmare Hour” had only one story in it adapted in the television series named after this book, that being “My Imaginary Friend.” Perhaps this didn’t do as well as the previous? Or something? I’m not sure—but anywho, this was an interesting one. Mr. Stine’s writing is great as per usual and there’s some pretty neat stories in this collection, though I will say the previous one was better overall. The book is entertaining as a whole and most of the stories were of decent quality, minus one. To counteract this praise, a majority of the artwork for this book kinda sucks. Six out of ten of them were either mid or genuine crap, and the four that are good don’t really make up for it much and don’t reach the highs of the first. There’s less stories in here that I could safely say were great than compared to the first as well, and some I didn’t like. Here’s and reviews and ratings for each story:

The Halloween Dance - 9/10
Comes in swinging with a brisk Halloween-themed tale with a delightfully dark ending and gruesome elements to it all, though the reveal leading to the ending feels forced as shit. No one would’ve thought to reverse it (iykyk), like NO ONE.

The Bad Baby-Sitter - 8/10
Pretty solid voodoo story, though the villain feels a bit stupid at one point. Great ending, again. Could’ve had more to it.

Revenge of the Snowman - 3/10
Crown jewel of crap. This one merely had the winter vibes; the ending is dumb and doesn’t make much sense, the story is disappointing and really short, and it felt like a waste of time just for a “told you so!” revenge ending.

How to Bargain With a Dragon - 9.5/10
Could’ve been a litter shorter with that random bit of fat in there, but other than that, this was an awesome sequel story to “The Most Evil Sorcerer” from the previous collection in this series. It’s got a great twist, builds on the first whilst and even referring to it well, and has a baller ending. And don’t forget about the vegan dragons—hoorah.

The Mummy’s Dream - 7/10
Had a good idea but it didn’t do a lot for me outside of that. Need I say it: nice dark ending.

Are We There Yet? - 8/10
One hell of an ending which is wildly different from what I was anticipating (I legit thought it was gonna be some Werewolf stuff—but nope). And yes, the ending was good, but the build-up felt a little drawn out in retrospective, but a solid story nonetheless.

Take Me With You - 6/10
Basic ghost/haunting story with a neat ending I spotted from a mile away (it’s just another Horrors of the Black Ring). The protag’ is a bit dumb, though.

My Imaginary Friend - 7.5/10
Extremely obvious twist ending, which really nullified it. Still liked it though. The rest of it is just decent, nothing too much to devour.

Losers - 9/10
There’s some really gross moments in this one, like the skin sample thing (yikes) and the body horror as a whole. The ending is subtle but really good, the karma arc was great, and the story is just really fun. Just a bit underwhelmed that it wasn’t a dark ending—this one, of all of them here, would’ve favored it best to double down and the karma.

Can You Draw Me? - 5/10
Hits all the tropes and doesn’t do much for me. There’s some nice ideas here but not much else. Ending didn’t make sense (like, did the ___ possess the ____? It’s just, what, complying and not returning? Wtf was the message about, then, if it wasn’t final?) and it was a bizarre note I didn’t jive with.

Overall, 7.5/10. It’s pretty good and a fun read, but the first is better + this one didn’t have a single perfect story for me, and some mild stinkers. Art isn’t the best overall either.
At least this ended my rough reading streak as of late lol.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, full disclaimer, I am quite a bit older than the target market for this collection of stories. And I think that is why it fell a little flat for me. There are 10 stories collected in this volume, so none of them are overly long. The characters all seemed to be around 12 years old, and so again, I think this tells you of where the author is trying to hit with these tales. And, overall, this was the main issue for me: they all came across quite immature. As a way of introducing younger readers to horror as a genre, this collection does have some value. But, if you are looking for truly chilling tales, you will need to look elsewhere.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Halloween Dance: ✮✮
Bad Babysitter: ✮✮✮
Revenge of the Snowman: ✮✮
How to Bargain with a Dragon: ✮✮
Mummy's Dream: ✮✮✮
Are We There Yet?: ✮✮✮
Take Me with You: ✮✮
My Imaginary Friend: ✮✮✮
Losers: ✮✮
Can You Draw Me?: ✮✮

[Samantha Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year I am re-reading books from my childhood.

These stories were very frightening to me as a child. The illustrations were fascinatingly creepy, and some of the stories (especially The Mummy's Dream) filled me with deep dread.

What I find interesting about reading this as an adult is that when you write short stories, there is nowhere to hide-- all of the story's details must be accurate and logical, because the sparsity of words takes away one's ability to hide behind filler, and makes flaws glaringly apparent. This phenomenon is exacerbated further when writing short stories for children. Every single word counts. Every single object in the story is a Chekhov's Gun. If there is a seemingly random scene about dogs or orangutans, it is very obvious to the adult reader that the scene is not random at all and will have something to do with the twist ending. As a child, the endings are mind-blowing-- you are taken aback at the turn of events, even though you can see how all of the clues were there all along. As an adult reader, you can clearly see each plot point contributing to the conclusion like a path of stepping stones leading into the garden. This transparency is not really a bad thing. It shows that R. L. Stine knows how to keep a narrative tight and free of extraneous detail, while keeping children entertained and then proceeding to surprise them. Putting together short stories that wrap up so cleanly and tidily takes a special kind of talent.

The second thing I found interesting is how little mercy R. L. Stine has for his protagonists. In some of the stories, the unhappy endings are welcomed because the kids acted like total brats. There are a couple, though, where the reader is definitely supposed to be on the side of the main character, and the main character meets such a dreadful fate, disproportionate of her or his mistakes, that it feels almost unfair. This is probably why I was always filled with such dread when I read this book as a child. Even as an adult, I kept thinking of ways that things might have turned out okay after all, since the ending was kind of a cliffhanger...

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was overall good, it contained some great scary children stories, some of which made me gasp. However, like most short stories for children, some of the stories weren't as good as the others.

[Nhi Nguyễn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a both terrifying and a little bit funny collection of horror stories, perfect for tweens ^^ This is also the first time I read a book by R. L. Stine, and now I know why he is so famous as a horror writer for kids. I enjoyed the first stories more than the last ones, but it doesn’t mean that they are less scary or great. The stories that scared me the most were “The Halloween Dance”, “The Bad Baby-Sitter”, “Revenge of the Snowman” and “The Mummy’s Dream”, because they really made me go “holy shit!” and made my jaws drop :D The story “My Imaginary Friend” can really shock young readers with the revealed truth, but since maybe I am an adult reader and have read many horror stories/books, I could get that truth somewhere in the middle of the story :)) Still an enjoyable story, though ^^

[Weathervane · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a couple fun stories, but as a whole, not terribly interesting. Some cool illustrations, though.


The Halloween Dance - 3
The Bad Baby-Sitter - 3
Revenge of the Snowman - 2
How to Bargain with a Dragon - 2
The Mummy's Dream - 3
Are We There Yet? - 4
Take Me with You - 2
My Imaginary Friend - 3
Losers - 3
Can You Draw Me? - 4

[Ghanem Alkalbani · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me laugh a lot ! The stories were funny and not scary at all. Some stories were bad and some are good ! I liked "The Bad Baby-Sitter" and "Are we There Yet" ..

[Kacey Laine · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Reader Beware, You’re In For A Scare!”
- R.L. Stine

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Original y entretenido, Al final de la noche es un libro lleno de relatos que solo considerarán terroríficos el público juvenil. Los lectores adultos sentirán una ligera inquietud y mucha nostalgia, sobre todo si en su juventud han leído los libros de la serie “Pesadillas” que escribió el mismo autor.

¡Qué decir de R. L. Stine! Sus libros, siempre para jóvenes, son mundialmente famosos, en especial con el estreno de la película del mismo nombre. Sin embargo, como escritor resulta bastante mediocre. Su estilo es excesivamente simple para resultar atractivo a otro tipo de público, y no está todo lo desarrollado y esmerado que recordaba de mis lecturas juveniles. Así que su prosa resulta burda e insípida, aunque muy dinámica, su lenguaje un poco torpe pero funcional y sus descripciones tan breves y concisas que cuesta mucho tomárselas en serio, incluso las escenas pesadillescas que nos presenta.

Obviamente, al tratarse de un libro de relatos, los protagonistas son muy diversos. Pero todos ellos presentan elementos comunes, como la edad, la condición social (parece que todos ellos son hijos de familias acomodadas) y cierto desprecio o indiferencia por lo sobrenatural u oscuro, que normalmente les sale bastante caro.

Al final de la noche es una antología de narraciones de terror. Diez historias que se adentran en lo más profundo de la oscuridad para hacer que nos enfrentemos a nuestros miedos más profundos, las situaciones más horribles y las circunstancias más misteriosas a las que nunca hemos hecho frente. Así que nos encontramos con macabras danzas en el cementerio en el día más peligroso del año para espiar a los muertos, Halloween; siniestras canguros que realizan ritos vudú, dragones sabios que se cruzan en el camino de niños muy inteligentes, una momia con consciencia, exámenes peligrosos, espectros que solo quieren poseerte, amigos imaginarios con instintos homicidas, ferias de ganado muy extrañas y pinceles con raras características. Todas tienen en común, además de su corta extensión, unos finales sorprendentes y un entorno de pesadilla que es difícil de olvidar.

Definitivamente, Al final de la noche es un libro que da lo que ofrece: puro entretenimiento. Y aunque su calidad literaria no sea demasiado buena, siempre es agradable tener entre tus manos lecturas que te permita viajar a al pasado. Aunque, eso sí, a la parte más recóndita de ti mismo que te recuerda constantemente que el terror es real.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Halloween Dance - 4 Stars.
The Bad Baby-Sitter - 4 stars, it didn't receive higher because of all the name calling, the story could really have been told without it. One scene was surprising because I think it would startle younger children but after this story I did see that it is more considered Young Adult, which is better in my opinion. I did change my rating on this one it is good but it was just the fat/pig language that I didn't like that they just got away with.
Revenge of the Snowman - 3 stars, Not as good as one and two but still good. But I did like the ending because of how it turned out.
How to Bargain with a Dragon - 2 stars, I feel some of the story was hard to picture due to some sentences not making clear sense or enough detail. Also this story seemed really out of place, stories 1-3 seemed present time while this one seemed in the very far past. Also it left loose ends, as in Ned's financial situation. It was slow and not much going on but wasn't terrible and still somewhat entertaining.
The Mummy's Dream - 4 stars, this was enjoyable and the ending was different than what I was expecting since most of the others are more predictable.
Are We There Yet? - 4 stars, whatttttt? That was crazy. This one could have definitely benefitted from being longer but I enjoyed it and didn't expect the end of this one either.
Take Me with You - 3 stars, I feel like I couldn't get into this story too well but I did love the premise and the ending.
My Imaginary Friend - 5 stars, I watched the episode first and it is one of my two favorite episodes. The story was great but reading it, I do have to say that it was a bit tricky to differentiate the three boys.
Losers - 3 stars, THIS is a story that I feel used the "fat" talk better, they said mean things but they had to pay for being mean - but... the story was kind of dull, I feel like with all of them being short stories this one was one of the ones that had the least things going on.
Can You Draw Me? - 4, Creepy definitely, I felt I could picture this story really well and I love the story and the ending and how things came and finished.

I don't know if it was just me but the only one of these that I remember from the show is My Imaginary Friend, I know this book inspired the TV show but I would have though more would have been copied/remade.

[elementarymydearwatson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a nice collection of short stories. Each begins with a small introduction of how he thought of the story/ inspiration and some illustrations. Some are genuinely scary ( however much a children’s book can be).

Story wise review:
1) The Halloween dance: not the best, but reminded me of cuckoo clock of doom

2) The bad baby sitter: I think my favourite of the lot. This is could be a bit longer and I’d still enjoy it. The concept of voodoo always scares me.

3) Revenge of the snowman: classic goosebumps-like

4) How to bargain with a dragon: not scary, but more action/thriller. The premise and set up was different than what I have usually read from Stine

5) The mummy’s dream: cool story, another favourite from this collection

6) Are we there yet? Another good story. Survival of the bravest?

7) Take me with you: think twice before getting an antique! I really hope to read more stories like these . Cursed or haunted objects are really fun way of exploring horror. This reminds me a bit of early Supernatural

8) My imaginary friend : predictable and ok

9) Losers : another good addition. What happens when instead of laughing, you are the one that’s laughed at?

10) Can you draw me? What if an artist doesn’t want to move on after his death? Felt bad for the chimp though

Overall , would recommend reading this, if you are an RL Stine fan. Otherwise, you could read some and skip some others.

[Andy Tran · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Haunting Hour by R. L. Stine is a collection of 10 illustrated short horror stories. These stories are often introduced with the inspiration for the story. The inspirations vary from overheard conversations to late-night thoughts. The stories themselves also vary, so much so that one could be about slaying dragons and the next could be about being turned into a mummy.

When I was little, I was a fan of the TV show, which usually left me terrified at night. Looking back, it wasn't the monsters from the show that scared me, it was those thoughts that they inspired. The main characters of each story are usually ignorant teenage boys with reckless ideas and underdeveloped backstories.

I understand that I am well above 6 years old, but none of these stories are scary. Of the 10 stories, the few good ones are "Bad Babysitter," "Can You Draw Me?," and "My Imaginary Friend." I would recommend this book to anyone who is newer to the horror genre or is scared easily. For those who want a stronger scare, I would recommend Stephen King, who aims for a more mature audience and doesn't cut back on the gory details.

[X_Amytiville_X · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back on the RL Stine train for a minute!
I picked this up at a thrift store a few weeks ago and wanted to read it this month so today I pulled it off the shelf and lost myself in some spooky short stories for the day. I keep saying that these books aren’t aimed at me, but man…I really do enjoy reading them. From what I gather, there was a TV show by the same name of this book (I also think it’s part of a series of books) where the episodes were based on these stories. Please forgive my lack of research. Anyway, there are 10 short stories in this and it’s hard to rate it as a whole because as we all know some stories are better than others. To stay safe, I’ll rate it a 3. It was an enjoyable day spent with this collection for sure. My favorites were ‘Revenge of the Snowman,’ ‘My Imaginary Friend,’ ‘Losers,’ and ‘The Mummy’s Dream.’

3 stars

[Griffin C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty big step down from Nightmare Hour. Feels pretty tame, even by children's horror standards.
My reviews for each story:
The Halloween Dance - 2/10
Feels like a worse version of Headless Halloween.
The Bad Baby-Sitter - 6/10
Pretty fun story.
Revenge of the Snowman - 4/10
Liked the ending.
How to Bargain with a Dragon - 10/10
Incredible sequel.
The Mummy's Dream - 9/10
Fun time travel story.
Are We There Yet? - 3.5/10
Fun story, terrible ending.
Take Me with You - 4.5/10
Hated the main character.
My Imaginary Friend - 1/10
Essentially a rehash of Good Friends from Tales to Give You Goosebumps.
Losers - 5/10
Bad story with great potential.
Can You Draw Me? - 4/10
Didn't care for it that much.
Overall: 5/10

[Ellen Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halloween Dance
This was one of the best stories in this book. The creepy was perfect. I especially loved how one of the female zombies went around with a mirror saying, "Will you reflect tonight? Will anyone reflect?" It was immensely eerie.

Bad Babysitter
This story was not that great, but it was definitely scary. Black magic does exist, and stories that portray somewhat realistic events are scarier than ones that we know are totally made up. Of course, the dog leveled things out and made this story appropriate-ish for grown-up children.

Revenge of the Snowman
Now, this was another one of the best stories. I loved the details in this story. The way the narrator explains the "pop" in his brain just sent shivers down my spine. However, I'm not sure that he deserved to be frozen in fear like that. After all, he was just pranking his friend.

How to Bargain with a Dragon
This story was not outstanding. However, I did like that the dragons were freed in the end from the horrible Dragon Master. The way it was done was terrific, and kudos to the brave young man who helped out.

Mummy's Dream
I did not quite understand exactly what happened in this one, but I'm pretty sure that it was fantastic. It's just that sometimes the story goes over my head instead of through it, where it can be analyzed and examined.

Are We There Yet
This was a beautifully crafted story. It was perfect. It was realistic. It was scary. It was the kind of story that I could cook up during a boring car ride. I liked the somewhat dystopian touch that this story had.

Take Me with You
Oh, I loved this one. I just wish the girl had been friendlier towards the ghost instead of freaking out and acting in an antagonistic manner. I imagine that if I were to meet a ghost, I would be her friend. And I would definitely take her with me on the cruise. It would help her let go and settle down.

My Imaginary Friend
This was a weird, creepy one that didn't make much sense. I think I read a Goosebumps story that had this theme.

Losers
This was an interesting story. The two boys deserved everything they got. This one shows that you literally get what you give.

Can You Draw Me
I liked this story very much, and I felt a personal connection to it, given that my sister is a painter. She did not think it very cool, but I could just imagine paintbrushes having their own mind. Maybe that's how masterpieces were painted, with enchanted paintbrushes.

[Eligos Vespillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Children's horror author R.L. Stine collects fun but inconsistent short stories in this very shiny hardcover including a variety of guest illustrators who contribute much of the appeal. Most of the stories are juvinile to the point of patronizing even the young readers they are intended for, with only a couple of standout tales. The best of which (by a head-scratchingly wide margin) is "Losers". It is such an effectively disturbing tale that one wonders if Stine didn't bring in a more talented (or at least, more serious) ghost writer.

[Brandon Bowden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in 7th grade at junior high. I was so behind in the reading level like I couldn’t read the kids books but my old speech teacher willing helped me how to read this one book. He was very patience and taught me every words he described on each the pages. I enjoyed to listening him. I am so appreciated he helped me so much for the reading. I hated the books so much but right now I loved the books so much.