Horrors!: Ghost Stories & Weird Tales to Help Kids Read, Learn, and Write

by Steve Burt, Jolyn Joslin (Contributor)

From 4-time Mom's Choice Award winner Steve Burt and veteran middle-school teacher Jolyn Joslin comes this exciting book for kids that's also a fabulous tool for parents, grandparents, and teachers: 13 ghost stories and weird tales to help kids read, learn, and write their own stuff. These are the thought-provoking stories young readers love. A boy approaches an old woman tending a grave garden. On a dare a brother and sister enter a bone yard on Halloween to free a sea captain's earthbound spirit. A pup returns to life after 50 years in a tomb. Four school kids battle a giant worm that crosses from its tunnel into theirs. Two girls discover a puppet shop run by a puppet. A drowned corpse pursues six summer campers who have taken the war canoe out for a late-night ride. Each story has discussion questions followed by a writing prompt to help turn readers into writers. Works well with adult supervision or with self-directed students. And the stories are perfect for teachers to use as 15-minute activities at the end of the day.

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2014

About the author

Steve Burt's 2019 gargoyle novel, The Bookseller's Daughter, has won the NY Book Festival Grand Prize and the gold Mom's Choice Award. He is a retired minister and multi-award-winning writer who is best-known for his FreeKs psychic teen detectives series (FreeK Camp, FreeK Show, FreeK Week) and his Stories to Chill the Heart story collections (Odd Lot, Even Odder, Oddest Yet, Wicked Odd). He has won the Bram Stoker Award, several Ray Bradbury writing prizes, and the Benjamin Franklin Award, plus a bunch of book festival awards (Paris, London, NY, New England, San Francisco, Hollywood, Halloween, Beach Book Festival awards). His novel FreeK Week was named the Grand Prize winner at the 2015 Florida Book Festival Awards and the Best Y.A. at the New England Book Festival Awards; it also won the 2014 Mom's Choice Award. His latest books include Wicked Strange, Vermont Ghost Busters, Horrors, and a collection titled Vampires, Ghost, and Graveyards. He also writes inspirational books, including Unk's Fiddle and the bestseller, A Christmas Dozen, and has published stories in Family Circle, Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and others, many of which he performs on radio. Before turning to fiction he wrote numerous church-related books. His 2016 books include Publish Your Book Free: Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide to Create Space Print-on-Demand Publishing, First Worst Joke Book, Second Worst Joke Book, and Christmas Soup for the Soul: 10 Hearty Helpings.