I Scream, You Scream

by Tim Waggoner

Eighth-grader Joel Taylor just moved to Shadow Springs with his mom. He likes his new home well enough – until a sinister being called Mr. Freezee begins driving his creepy ice-cream truck up and down the streets at night, playing “Pop Goes the Weasel.”

Joel heard the music.

He looked out the window.

He saw Mr. Freezee, and what’s worse…

Mr. Freezee saw him.

Now Mr. Freezee wants to take Joel to a very special place where the world is made of every flavor of ice cream you can imagine – all of them deadly. Mr. Freezee brings all his new friends here, and they love it so much that they never leave.

Mr. Freezee makes sure of it.

Welcome to Sweet Land, Joel.

Welcome to a nightmare that never ends.

Genres: Horror

114 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 19, 2025

About the author

Tim Waggoner's first novel came out in 2001, and since then, he's published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He's written tie-in fiction based on Supernatural, The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, Conan the Barbarian, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Grimm, and Transformers, among others, and he's written novelizations for films such as Ti West’s X-Trilogy, Halloween Kills, Terrifier 2 and 3, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. He’s also the author of the award-winning guide to horror Writing in the Dark. He’s a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a one-time winner of the Scribe Award, and he’s been a two-time finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a one-time finalist for the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

Reviews

[Austin Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Scream, You Scream, is (as far as I'm aware) the first middle grade / YA horror novella by author Tim Waggoner and published by Weird House Press. It seems to be becoming more fashionable to publish 90's inspired spooky children's lit, largely popularized by Goosebumps, and we've seen other adult horror authors in recent times take on the task of writing for the younger audience.
So among the influx of similar books over recent years, how does Tim Waggoner's effort fare?

In this one, our main character Joel is approached by the villain known as Mr. Freezee, with an urban-legend like background. Mr. Freezee prowls the town in his ice cream truck in search of victims to whisk away into "Sweet Land". After Joel is made his next target, our protagonist must learn more about this ghoulish being and figure out a way to stop him.

Starting with the positives, I really dug the setup and the premise to this. There's some good character work and buildup early on, a fun premise and a really creepy villain in Mr. Freezee. He is described as having different colored eyes, unusually long, slender fingers and an eerily wide grin. Joel's first encounter with him where Mr. Freezee eats a coupon entitling him to a free ice cream is simultaneously funny and creepy. There's a good blend of dark humor and eerie moments in the first half or so of the book.

I also found this to be well paced and well written, for the most part. Tim Waggoner is clearly an experienced author and although this may be his first foray into writing for the younger audience, he did a pretty solid job.

There are a few things I didn't like about it, though, that kept me from rating it higher.
This first one is more of a nitpick but something that kept taking me out of the story; the main character's voice / narration style. It's written in first person AND in the present tense, which isn't inherently bad, but the present tense narration style here felt... I don't know, a bit awkward at times?

Another thing I didn't care for is all of the dreamscape / hallucination scenarios we are dealt. To be fair, they aren't pointless or fakeouts or such, as the villain apparently has some Freddy Kruger-type powers - but the constant visions and dreamscape situations were a bit much.
Continuing upon that, this thing gets really out there in the last 25% or so of the book. Not to give any spoilers, but Mr. Freezee is near God-like, and the story takes a more fantasy and action driven stance. This isn't inherently bad but there was so much going on that I felt like the horror element was greatly reduced and some of that immersion was lost in the final few chapters or so of the book.
I think I would have preferred for this to be more of a grounded/realistic and creeping-dread story - I think it would have been scarier and left more of an impact. And I don't mean that the supernatural elements should have been absent, it's just that things get a bit OTT for me in that final act.

I just didn't feel too deeply invested in this, overall; although I still had a fun time with this book and I think Waggoner did a pretty good job delivering his take on a kids horror book. It reminds me a tad bit of Hill's N0S4A2, but a kids version, and maybe mixed up with that Ice Cream episode from the Masters of Horror series. There are some tropes here and there we've seen done before but I can't knock the book for that, it's really hard to maintain 100% originality in this genre - for what this book is it's pretty good, to be honest - I just didn't quite love it.

Overall I'd give this one a 3.5⭐, but rounded down. I would definitely recommend this for both kids and the grown-Goosebumps-loving-kids, such as myself 😁

[Carson Buckingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Waggoner’s I Scream, You Scream was the most fun I’ve had in ages, and I was sorry to turn the final page of this delightfully creepy novella.

Imagine how your skin would crawl if you heard an ice cream truck drive by playing “Pop. Goes the Weasel.” Not so much, you say? How about in the middle of the night? It happened to Joel Taylor, and when he peeked out to investigate, the driver, who couldn’t possibly have seen him, stuck his arm out the window and waved. He knew Joel was there.

And this is only the beginning of Joel’s problems because you never, ever want to be noticed by Mr. Freezee, who, until that point, was the urban legend, town boogeyman.

This creature, in somewhat human form, thinks nothing of abducting children and even adults, and spiriting them away to a horrific place that’s almost impossible to leave. The ice cream man is on a mission, and Joel and his two friends need to find a way to stop him, and fast!

And in no way is this book just for kids. I blew through it twice and enjoyed it just as much both times, and I’m ‘grandma’ age. This absorbing horror story, in which the protagonists are all 12 years old, appeals across all age groups. Not only does the book have a unique and scary villain, but protagonists who are easily relatable as well—you probably knew kids like this when you were growing up, and the kids reading the book will probably see a friend or two portrayed in the pages. The writing is up to Mr. Waggoner’s usual exemplary standard, the pacing perfect, and the ending satisfying.

I am happy that Mr. Waggoner is directing his inestimable talent toward children’s horror, because, in my opinion, there isn’t enough effort being focused in this direction by authors in the genre. Providing kids with a selection of great horror in a novella length is just the ticket to get kids reading and is perfect for those pesky book reports. Can we make reading fun? You bet! And not to forget R. L. Stine, but his work doesn’t really transcend the age barrier as Mr. Waggoner’s does.

I Scream, You Scream has pride of place in my personal library and is a book not to be missed. And if you have middle-grade children who think reading is drudgery, this book may well change their minds. Pick up a copy for yourself, and one for your favorite young horror fan.

5 out of 5 stars.

[Shiv (The Horrorlander) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is utterly incredible. While not explicitly promoted as such, it is a middle grade/kids horror read.

The villain, Mr. Freezee, is so horrifying and dangerous its insane. The levels that entity goes to in trying to take down the protagonist and destroy this town's children, the incredible action sequences and displays of horror throughout it, and the bonding you get with the characters and their storylines is something to behold.

Not to mention, a creepy urban legend woven as the structure of the unfolding story. This one gets an easy 5/5 Stars Perfect (would be an 6/5 Stars if I could)

Scholastic...get absolutely destroyed.

[Kevin Sweeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after seeing a review from a Booktuber (The Horrorlander), and I'm glad I did. Wow, this book went by fast, sat there and read it all in one sitting! It's got great action, great characters, and a great villain. This is a definite 5 stars for me.

[Norman Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

12-year-old me would have loved this book. 51-year-old me still enjoyed it. It's a fun story, perfectly suitable for kids and can still be enjoyed by old men like me

[Julia Sapphire · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐