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The Skeleton Dance
Dive into a moonlit adventure where the graveyard comes alive in ways you’d never expect. Beneath the watchful gaze of a perched owl, the clock strikes twelve, setting off a chain of events that transforms the quiet night into a realm of unexpected antics. From quarrelsome cats to a mischievous skeleton who doesn’t play by the rules, each moment unfolds with twists and turns that will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.
As the story deepens, more skeletons emerge, turning the graveyard into a lively spectacle. Whether dancing in perfect rhythm or using their own bones to create music, these characters will enchant readers with their playful yet eerie escapades. Every scene is a visual and narrative treat, blending clever humor with a touch of mystery, as the night’s surprises build toward a delightfully unexpected conclusion.
With its vivid imagery and lyrical storytelling, this book is a celebration of imagination and creativity. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy whimsical tales that mix fun and a touch of spookiness, offering a journey that delights, intrigues, and lingers in the mind long after the final page. Prepare to be swept into a world where the ordinary transforms into something magical under the light of the moon.
As the story deepens, more skeletons emerge, turning the graveyard into a lively spectacle. Whether dancing in perfect rhythm or using their own bones to create music, these characters will enchant readers with their playful yet eerie escapades. Every scene is a visual and narrative treat, blending clever humor with a touch of mystery, as the night’s surprises build toward a delightfully unexpected conclusion.
With its vivid imagery and lyrical storytelling, this book is a celebration of imagination and creativity. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy whimsical tales that mix fun and a touch of spookiness, offering a journey that delights, intrigues, and lingers in the mind long after the final page. Prepare to be swept into a world where the ordinary transforms into something magical under the light of the moon.
137 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2025
17 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Samuel DenHartog
321 books113 followersSamuel DenHartog is a versatile and imaginative author whose works span a wide array of genres, including mythology, fables, fairy tales, fantasy, romance, mystery, science fiction, and children's books. His stories captivate readers of all ages, blending wonder with rich, timeless narratives.
What sets Samuel apart is his ability to breathe new life into ancient tales while preserving their core essence. Whether it's mythology, folklore, or fairy tales from various cultures, by carefully balancing tradition with modern touches, he creates stories that resonate with contemporary audiences, making historical and mythical narratives feel fresh, relevant, and engaging.
Off the page, Samuel is a lifelong learner, constantly expanding his creative horizons and engaging with innovative ideas. His journey is a continual pursuit of knowledge and creativity, bridging the worlds of tradition and imagination.
What sets Samuel apart is his ability to breathe new life into ancient tales while preserving their core essence. Whether it's mythology, folklore, or fairy tales from various cultures, by carefully balancing tradition with modern touches, he creates stories that resonate with contemporary audiences, making historical and mythical narratives feel fresh, relevant, and engaging.
Off the page, Samuel is a lifelong learner, constantly expanding his creative horizons and engaging with innovative ideas. His journey is a continual pursuit of knowledge and creativity, bridging the worlds of tradition and imagination.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 3, 2025
The Skeleton Dance, a short animated film by Walt Disney released in 1929, entered the US public domain on January 1st, 2025.
The Skeleton Dance, a short "book" of A.I.-generated rhyming poetry "inspired by" the animated short and "featuring imagery from" the same, was published on . . . January 1st, 2025. We're not wasting any time raiding public domain content to feed into ChatGPT, are we?
The book inserts sequential images from the cartoon (that's what "featuring imagery from" means apparently, it simply means "taking pictures from this thing that artists created and sticking them in my book unaltered"), making it in essence a digital flip book. I guess using an A.I. image generator was simply too much work in this case. But congratulations to the author for their first book that contains any material that is NOT A.I. generated, just stolen (legally) the old-fashioned way instead. There's a first time for everything. It only took 140 A.I. generated books to reach that point.
The Skeleton Dance, a short "book" of A.I.-generated rhyming poetry "inspired by" the animated short and "featuring imagery from" the same, was published on . . . January 1st, 2025. We're not wasting any time raiding public domain content to feed into ChatGPT, are we?
The book inserts sequential images from the cartoon (that's what "featuring imagery from" means apparently, it simply means "taking pictures from this thing that artists created and sticking them in my book unaltered"), making it in essence a digital flip book. I guess using an A.I. image generator was simply too much work in this case. But congratulations to the author for their first book that contains any material that is NOT A.I. generated, just stolen (legally) the old-fashioned way instead. There's a first time for everything. It only took 140 A.I. generated books to reach that point.
May 16, 2025
I have tried AI, and I find it guilty!
I didn't read the entire thing because only the first several pages were available in the Amazon sample. However, I'm allowing myself to rate it anyway because I saw enough. Besides, it's not like DenHartog "wrote" anything, (more on that in a second), so it doesn't deserve more than one star. I won't be purchasing the rest because I refuse to give this dude one red cent to support his abominable mission to, ahem, "write" 1,400 books in the next 12 years and thereby set a new world record. If my count is correct, he's up to 177 books as of May 15th, 2025, and he started in December of 2023. However, all of his books are done with AI.
You're goddam right it doesn't count. The man don't write shit!... Well, actually he does write shit.
Right. His finished product is shit, but the man doesn't actually write anything at all unless you use the loosest interpretation of the word, and I ain't granting him that semantic boon. It's an insult to anybody who cares about the craft in even the remotest degree, writers and readers alike, even bad writers. Shit, Amanda McKittrick Ros, Jim Theis, and James Dashner all suck a Pygmy's rectum, but I hold them in higher esteem than this unconscionable asshat and all purveyors of AI codswallop, because at least those chuckleheads made an effort. AI prompt typers (or whatever they are; I refuse to call them authors) are the in same class as any sports star who used steroids to get where they got, and any records they obtained should be stripped from their worthless butts because they didn't do any actual work. It's like bringing home McDonalds, putting the nuggets and burgers and fries on a plate, and telling the family you "made" supper. And this is actually an apt metaphor, because AI is to writing what McDonalds is to cuisine: complete crap. Oh, sure, it's sustenance, but in the end it's gonna rot out the part of the body you're feeding; your stomach in one case and your brain in the other. Have you ever read AI output? It is so bad it makes my brain hurt after a couple of pages. And AI books for children... Ooooooh, don't even get me started.
Letting a child read an AI kids' book is tantamount to child abuse because it stunts their intellectual growth, and all AI dealers and traffickers who produce and peddle this tripe to young, impressionable minds ought to be transported back in time and handed over to the God damned Spanish Inquisition which could speed them on their way to the tenth level of Hell that Dante certainly would've included in his Inferno and reserved for AI book producers had he penned it in the 21st century!
I'M NOT FINISHED!!! On a more personal note, let me just go on record as saying that there's no place for fakes, charlatans, or tricksters like this in decent society. They play on the gullibility of innocent people. If my hands weren't tied by the unalterable fetters of the law, then I would invoke the tradition of our illustrious forbears, reach back to a purer, sterner justice, and have them BURNED AT THE STAKE!!!
Hallelujah! Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?
On a more serious note, I have nothing but pity in my heart for someone who wishes to write but isn't any good at it. However, my pity does not extend so far as to him putting children's mental development at stake which he has done in an effort to get a record, a record which will be undeserved if attained because he hasn't written anything. He's just fed some kernels into the AI digestive system, collected the turds that emerged at the other end, stuck in a thumb, pulled out a plum, and said, "What a good boy am I!" He wants to "be a writer," but apparently doesn't want to "write."
I read a couple chapters of some other free books he had on Amazon, something about a library mystery, and... I don't remember the other one. I just looked at them yesterday. That's how mind-numbingly bad the AI writing was; my brain defenses have already blocked the details from my memory. But this one... This is beyond the pale. This is nothing but pictures from the Disney Silly Symphony of the same name which is a fave I watch every Halloween. Unfortunately, it's in the public domain as of this year. DenHartog swiped stills from the short, showed it to AI, and let it shit out a bunch of dragged-out crappy verse which endeavors, yet consistently fails, to achieve some kind of meter.
Yes, and he won't stop 'til he gets enough. It's an intolerable and unforgivable cardinal sin, and he and his cronies must be stopped anyway, anyhow, everyway, and everyhow.
I'm not sure how I feel about him stealing the images, though, because the alternative is using an AI image generator. This produces pictures that are just as terrible as the writing. Six fingers for people, or sometimes four, is the most picked-on common error, but seriously, any AI image is the basis for a "can you find ten things wrong with this picture" exercise found in a kid's magazine. Bizarro actually spoofed it the other day.
This inspired me to rewrite the lyrics to another classic, and I will leave you with that.
He fights for sewage wherever there's treasure,
A.I. Joe is there!
A.I. Joe,
(A real American zero),
A.I. Joe is there!
It's A.I. Joe against intellect and savvy,
fighting to wipe your brain.
He never gives up, he's always there,
Spewing his rubbish over land and air.
A.I. Joe,
(A real American zero),
A.I. Joe is there!
A.I. Joe is the code name for DenHartog's untrained special mission force. It's purpose, to defeat human ingenuity with A.I., a ruthless, terrorist construct determined to debilitate every brain.
He never gives up, he'll stay till your brain's done,
A.I. Joe will dare!
A.I. Joe
(A real American zero)
A.I. Joe!
I didn't read the entire thing because only the first several pages were available in the Amazon sample. However, I'm allowing myself to rate it anyway because I saw enough. Besides, it's not like DenHartog "wrote" anything, (more on that in a second), so it doesn't deserve more than one star. I won't be purchasing the rest because I refuse to give this dude one red cent to support his abominable mission to, ahem, "write" 1,400 books in the next 12 years and thereby set a new world record. If my count is correct, he's up to 177 books as of May 15th, 2025, and he started in December of 2023. However, all of his books are done with AI.
You're goddam right it doesn't count. The man don't write shit!... Well, actually he does write shit.
Right. His finished product is shit, but the man doesn't actually write anything at all unless you use the loosest interpretation of the word, and I ain't granting him that semantic boon. It's an insult to anybody who cares about the craft in even the remotest degree, writers and readers alike, even bad writers. Shit, Amanda McKittrick Ros, Jim Theis, and James Dashner all suck a Pygmy's rectum, but I hold them in higher esteem than this unconscionable asshat and all purveyors of AI codswallop, because at least those chuckleheads made an effort. AI prompt typers (or whatever they are; I refuse to call them authors) are the in same class as any sports star who used steroids to get where they got, and any records they obtained should be stripped from their worthless butts because they didn't do any actual work. It's like bringing home McDonalds, putting the nuggets and burgers and fries on a plate, and telling the family you "made" supper. And this is actually an apt metaphor, because AI is to writing what McDonalds is to cuisine: complete crap. Oh, sure, it's sustenance, but in the end it's gonna rot out the part of the body you're feeding; your stomach in one case and your brain in the other. Have you ever read AI output? It is so bad it makes my brain hurt after a couple of pages. And AI books for children... Ooooooh, don't even get me started.
Letting a child read an AI kids' book is tantamount to child abuse because it stunts their intellectual growth, and all AI dealers and traffickers who produce and peddle this tripe to young, impressionable minds ought to be transported back in time and handed over to the God damned Spanish Inquisition which could speed them on their way to the tenth level of Hell that Dante certainly would've included in his Inferno and reserved for AI book producers had he penned it in the 21st century!
I'M NOT FINISHED!!! On a more personal note, let me just go on record as saying that there's no place for fakes, charlatans, or tricksters like this in decent society. They play on the gullibility of innocent people. If my hands weren't tied by the unalterable fetters of the law, then I would invoke the tradition of our illustrious forbears, reach back to a purer, sterner justice, and have them BURNED AT THE STAKE!!!
Hallelujah! Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?
On a more serious note, I have nothing but pity in my heart for someone who wishes to write but isn't any good at it. However, my pity does not extend so far as to him putting children's mental development at stake which he has done in an effort to get a record, a record which will be undeserved if attained because he hasn't written anything. He's just fed some kernels into the AI digestive system, collected the turds that emerged at the other end, stuck in a thumb, pulled out a plum, and said, "What a good boy am I!" He wants to "be a writer," but apparently doesn't want to "write."
I read a couple chapters of some other free books he had on Amazon, something about a library mystery, and... I don't remember the other one. I just looked at them yesterday. That's how mind-numbingly bad the AI writing was; my brain defenses have already blocked the details from my memory. But this one... This is beyond the pale. This is nothing but pictures from the Disney Silly Symphony of the same name which is a fave I watch every Halloween. Unfortunately, it's in the public domain as of this year. DenHartog swiped stills from the short, showed it to AI, and let it shit out a bunch of dragged-out crappy verse which endeavors, yet consistently fails, to achieve some kind of meter.
Yes, and he won't stop 'til he gets enough. It's an intolerable and unforgivable cardinal sin, and he and his cronies must be stopped anyway, anyhow, everyway, and everyhow.
I'm not sure how I feel about him stealing the images, though, because the alternative is using an AI image generator. This produces pictures that are just as terrible as the writing. Six fingers for people, or sometimes four, is the most picked-on common error, but seriously, any AI image is the basis for a "can you find ten things wrong with this picture" exercise found in a kid's magazine. Bizarro actually spoofed it the other day.
This inspired me to rewrite the lyrics to another classic, and I will leave you with that.
He fights for sewage wherever there's treasure,
A.I. Joe is there!
A.I. Joe,
(A real American zero),
A.I. Joe is there!
It's A.I. Joe against intellect and savvy,
fighting to wipe your brain.
He never gives up, he's always there,
Spewing his rubbish over land and air.
A.I. Joe,
(A real American zero),
A.I. Joe is there!
A.I. Joe is the code name for DenHartog's untrained special mission force. It's purpose, to defeat human ingenuity with A.I., a ruthless, terrorist construct determined to debilitate every brain.
He never gives up, he'll stay till your brain's done,
A.I. Joe will dare!
A.I. Joe
(A real American zero)
A.I. Joe!
January 15, 2025
A whimsical short story written in rhyme.
February 15, 2025
"Master storyteller Samuel Denhartog" has verified that he uses AI to produce his books and covers. For this one, he's literally copied and pasted images from a public domain Disney cartoon.
January 17, 2025
It's cute! I would say it's more for kids than adults, at least my kids would like it. The illustrations remind me of the old school animations of the WWII WB cartoons.
January 22, 2025
Kids story/long poem
🎵🎶Spooky scary skeleton...🎶🎵
Nice quick easy read, my second "short story" by this author, so far so good.
🎵🎶Spooky scary skeleton...🎶🎵
Nice quick easy read, my second "short story" by this author, so far so good.
September 25, 2025
The perfect read for a Halloween night.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews