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Bone Meal: Seven More Tales of Terror
Seven scary tales include the title story, in which Eunice wonders about the mysterious bone meal that her father uses in his spectacular garden, a curiosity that increases when another of her boyfriends disappear. Original.
243 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 28, 2023
I was pleasantly surprised with this book of short stories. I hadn't noticed it was a scholastic young adult book when I purchased it, so it made me kinda weary if I'd enjoy it. Some of the stories are way darker than others. My favorite being The Buyers and The Ring.
June 10, 2024
Rounded up to 3 stars.
I don't mind short stories but maybe over the years, they just haven't been what I crave anymore.
This collection of tales are mostly by UK authors I believe so you would think that having that sort of Old World feel would make these tales a little more terrifying.
The description on the back makes it seem an intriguing read but there are six other tales besides the main one which gives the book its title.
"Something to Read" by Philip Pullman is 26 pages long. Annabel is fourteen and likes books more than people or boys so at school she would rather be in the library than the gym during the school dance. She would give anything to just have time to read...even her life. Guess the twist? 2/5.
"Killing Time" by Jill Bennett is 40 pages long. A boy named Nick wants the alarm clock in his grandfather's shed but the old man won't let him as it belonged to his older brother Phil a long time ago. One day he decides to steal it and then Nick starts acting different...
His mother is going to have a baby and his younger sister Sally is more excited than he is...Nick is down right angry about it. There is something about an albino man and lots of animal adjacent violence...WTF? 1/5
J.R.E Ponsford by Graham Masterton is 36 pages long. Kieran O' Sullivan is at Heaton on a scholarship and he becomes the new kid to be made fun of by the older boys. He hides in the cricket pavillion from the bullies and there is a case that showcases the school's best cricket player, J.R.E. Ponsford back before the second World War.
Kieran imagines that this boy would have been nicer to him and writes letters home to his mother about his new friend Ponsford. Staying out too late at night, Kieran runs into some older boys and they think he is spying on them for the headmaster so they chase him and he gets beaten up pretty bad trying to run away.
The house matron is a woman from Australia and she tells how the Aborigines would use a special potion to sprinkle over the weapons of fallen warriors to have them come back from the dead to aid in revenge. Intrigued, Kiernan checks out a lot of books from the library...to see if it is true.
Brilliant. 3/5.
"The Buyers" by David Belbin is 48 pages long. The Conner family is wanting to sell their house and move into a home in a better neighborhood without the barking guard dogs of the comedian who lives next door, especially Karen and her little brother Max.
Karen can't wait to live closer to her boyfriend Mike and Max won't have to have to stay in the cramped up attic anymore. On the market for six months, a man and a woman show up asking to look around the house.
They decide to buy it and it seems to be a house...worth dying for. 4/5.
"Closeness" by Chris Westwood is 24 pages long. College student Cameron James has never been good at talking to girls so he casually glances at the newspaper left by a young lady he couldn't get the guts to chat up. Amid the personal ads is an advertisement for a new form of dating through a company called...Forever.
Send in for a videotape and fill out an application, browse a brochure and give a one time payment of 200 pounds for a lifetime to find that special someone. Cameron does it all and it seems to good to be true when a limo picks him up but this fantastic evening...won't be what he expected at all.
Has some Stephen King vibes...I like it! 5/5.
"The Ring" by Margaret Bingley is 36 pages long. Kate sees the antique ring in the new shop and knows she has to have it for her sixteenth birthday even if her friends Samantha and Clare think it is oto old-fashioned. Kate goes into the shop alone and inquires of the owner how much it costs because if it fits and isn't too much, maybe her mother and stepfather will get it for her.
The price that the handsome man gives her seems so cheap for such a beautiful ring even if it may only be colored glass and not real diamonds and ruby. The owner states that lots of things that seem real are not as they appear...
What follows is a story that is more sad than terrifying but I have to admit it was really good. 4/5.
"Bone Meal" by John Gordon is 33 pages long. Eunice has very creepy parents and they have a lovely garden. Her father uses bone meal and blood but where on Earth does he get it from?
Do you even have to continue when you realize that young men are going missing about the neighborhood? 2/5.
A few hits and many misses but what works makes Bone Meal an interesting piece to add to your book collection.
I don't mind short stories but maybe over the years, they just haven't been what I crave anymore.
This collection of tales are mostly by UK authors I believe so you would think that having that sort of Old World feel would make these tales a little more terrifying.
The description on the back makes it seem an intriguing read but there are six other tales besides the main one which gives the book its title.
"Something to Read" by Philip Pullman is 26 pages long. Annabel is fourteen and likes books more than people or boys so at school she would rather be in the library than the gym during the school dance. She would give anything to just have time to read...even her life. Guess the twist? 2/5.
"Killing Time" by Jill Bennett is 40 pages long. A boy named Nick wants the alarm clock in his grandfather's shed but the old man won't let him as it belonged to his older brother Phil a long time ago. One day he decides to steal it and then Nick starts acting different...
His mother is going to have a baby and his younger sister Sally is more excited than he is...Nick is down right angry about it. There is something about an albino man and lots of animal adjacent violence...WTF? 1/5
J.R.E Ponsford by Graham Masterton is 36 pages long. Kieran O' Sullivan is at Heaton on a scholarship and he becomes the new kid to be made fun of by the older boys. He hides in the cricket pavillion from the bullies and there is a case that showcases the school's best cricket player, J.R.E. Ponsford back before the second World War.
Kieran imagines that this boy would have been nicer to him and writes letters home to his mother about his new friend Ponsford. Staying out too late at night, Kieran runs into some older boys and they think he is spying on them for the headmaster so they chase him and he gets beaten up pretty bad trying to run away.
The house matron is a woman from Australia and she tells how the Aborigines would use a special potion to sprinkle over the weapons of fallen warriors to have them come back from the dead to aid in revenge. Intrigued, Kiernan checks out a lot of books from the library...to see if it is true.
Brilliant. 3/5.
"The Buyers" by David Belbin is 48 pages long. The Conner family is wanting to sell their house and move into a home in a better neighborhood without the barking guard dogs of the comedian who lives next door, especially Karen and her little brother Max.
Karen can't wait to live closer to her boyfriend Mike and Max won't have to have to stay in the cramped up attic anymore. On the market for six months, a man and a woman show up asking to look around the house.
They decide to buy it and it seems to be a house...worth dying for. 4/5.
"Closeness" by Chris Westwood is 24 pages long. College student Cameron James has never been good at talking to girls so he casually glances at the newspaper left by a young lady he couldn't get the guts to chat up. Amid the personal ads is an advertisement for a new form of dating through a company called...Forever.
Send in for a videotape and fill out an application, browse a brochure and give a one time payment of 200 pounds for a lifetime to find that special someone. Cameron does it all and it seems to good to be true when a limo picks him up but this fantastic evening...won't be what he expected at all.
Has some Stephen King vibes...I like it! 5/5.
"The Ring" by Margaret Bingley is 36 pages long. Kate sees the antique ring in the new shop and knows she has to have it for her sixteenth birthday even if her friends Samantha and Clare think it is oto old-fashioned. Kate goes into the shop alone and inquires of the owner how much it costs because if it fits and isn't too much, maybe her mother and stepfather will get it for her.
The price that the handsome man gives her seems so cheap for such a beautiful ring even if it may only be colored glass and not real diamonds and ruby. The owner states that lots of things that seem real are not as they appear...
What follows is a story that is more sad than terrifying but I have to admit it was really good. 4/5.
"Bone Meal" by John Gordon is 33 pages long. Eunice has very creepy parents and they have a lovely garden. Her father uses bone meal and blood but where on Earth does he get it from?
Do you even have to continue when you realize that young men are going missing about the neighborhood? 2/5.
A few hits and many misses but what works makes Bone Meal an interesting piece to add to your book collection.
October 17, 2021
These stories were really good and had shocking endings. The Buyers and The Ring were shocking.
March 13, 2025
1. Something to Read - Philip Pullman - 3/5
2. Killing Time - Jill Bennett - 4/5
3. J. R. E. Ponsford - Graham Masterson - 4/5
4. The Buyers - David Belbin - 3/5
5. Closeness - Chris Westwood - 1/5
6. The Ring - Margaret Bingley - 5/5
7. Bone Meal - John Gordon - 3/5
2. Killing Time - Jill Bennett - 4/5
3. J. R. E. Ponsford - Graham Masterson - 4/5
4. The Buyers - David Belbin - 3/5
5. Closeness - Chris Westwood - 1/5
6. The Ring - Margaret Bingley - 5/5
7. Bone Meal - John Gordon - 3/5
May 11, 2011
The stories in this book were like a lot of other stories that i have read and they were not the interesting.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews