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Tales to Keep You Up at Night
From the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Magic Misfits, comes a spectacularly spooky novel that will keep you up way past bedtime.
Perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!
Amelia is cleaning out her grandmother's attic when she stumbles across a book: Tales to Keep You Up at Night. But when she goes to the library to return it, she's told that the book never belonged there. Curious, she starts to read the stories: tales of strange incidents in nearby towns, of journal entries chronicling endless, twisting pumpkin vines, birthday parties gone awry, and cursed tarot decks. And at the center of the stories lies a family of witches. And witches, she's told, can look like anyone...
As elements from the stories begin to come to life around her, and their eerie connections become clear, Amelia begins to realize that she may be in a spooky story of her own...
With hair-raising, spine-chilling prose, Dan Poblocki delivers a collection of interconnected stories that, if you're anything like Amelia, is sure to keep you up late in the night.
Perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!
Amelia is cleaning out her grandmother's attic when she stumbles across a book: Tales to Keep You Up at Night. But when she goes to the library to return it, she's told that the book never belonged there. Curious, she starts to read the stories: tales of strange incidents in nearby towns, of journal entries chronicling endless, twisting pumpkin vines, birthday parties gone awry, and cursed tarot decks. And at the center of the stories lies a family of witches. And witches, she's told, can look like anyone...
As elements from the stories begin to come to life around her, and their eerie connections become clear, Amelia begins to realize that she may be in a spooky story of her own...
With hair-raising, spine-chilling prose, Dan Poblocki delivers a collection of interconnected stories that, if you're anything like Amelia, is sure to keep you up late in the night.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published August 16, 2022
47 people are currently reading
542 people want to read
About the author
Dan Poblocki
26 books647 followersAuthor of The Stone Child, The Nightmarys, The Ghost of Graylock, and the Mysterious Four series,The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe, and The Book of Bad Things.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
December 3, 2023
Let me tell you, Dan Poblocki has written quite a creepy, unnerving, and at times genuinely scary book of stories. While targeted for middle-grade readers, it definitely has appeal to older readers. This is quite dark.
The first story was so so good. It set such an excellent tone for the collection. It's still my favorite. I didn't love all the stories, but they were all effective, and I appreciated how they all tied into the frame story. Despite them all tying in, there was a little of every kind of horror. I don't enjoy seeing kids in danger or being harmed, so that was a little tough to take in, but there's nothing too gory with this book. I think it's more about the concept and the implications of each story that makes it so unnerving. I wish I had taken notes on the story titles, but unfortunately I didn't. I will say overall that this collection is worth checking out. I have already gotten the next book, More Tales to Keep You Up at Night from my library to listen to soon.
I definitely recommend this book to fans of kids' horror, even as an adult.
The first story was so so good. It set such an excellent tone for the collection. It's still my favorite. I didn't love all the stories, but they were all effective, and I appreciated how they all tied into the frame story. Despite them all tying in, there was a little of every kind of horror. I don't enjoy seeing kids in danger or being harmed, so that was a little tough to take in, but there's nothing too gory with this book. I think it's more about the concept and the implications of each story that makes it so unnerving. I wish I had taken notes on the story titles, but unfortunately I didn't. I will say overall that this collection is worth checking out. I have already gotten the next book, More Tales to Keep You Up at Night from my library to listen to soon.
I definitely recommend this book to fans of kids' horror, even as an adult.
September 27, 2022
This book is too scary for me to finish even during the day time which means I will recommend it to all the kids who are like "give me the scariest book here".
September 9, 2022
Horror! For children! Some genuinely creepy moments here with delightfully unsettling imagery (the man with the upside down head! worm food!); a few of the stories ended up being more graphic than I was expecting. Excited to hand to fans of Nightbooks and The Wrong Train -- they will get a kick out of this one.
July 16, 2024
Initial reaction: Strong 4 star read. Review to come. Oh I really liked this MG horror with its range of stories. Some tales were very strong examples of horror done well for this age group. Others were a little weaker but the way it tied together into the central story was decent. I'll be reading the second book soon.
Full review:
I don't often get a chance to pick up middle grade titles, but this was a book that caught my attention as I was browsing my library. Well, truth be told I had actually picked up the sequel to this particular book, not realizing that it would probably be better if I had context of where this series started. So, ended up scouting this out, put the sequel to the side, and started reading this. I'm glad I did.
This is a series of short scary stories with one central theme/tie-in story at the heart of it. You follow a girl who finds a mysterious library book long overdue. Presumably the book was in the possession of her grandmother. Problem is that her grandmother has been missing for quite some time and it doesn't look like she's coming back, having disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Our MC Amelia decides she wants to do the right thing and return the book to the local library, so as not to get any kind of fees for fines. But it doesn't belong to the library. But Amelia is curious about the stories within so she starts to read them. We hear tales about everything from a kid who gets a visit from an upside down head monster because he won't eat his green beans ("Green Beans"), to a family tortured in the 1970s when intrusive pumpkin vines invade their house ("The Volunteers" - one of my favorites), to a kid terrified at being taken on a way too fast ride to routine practice ("The Ride" - another favorite of mine), to a "be careful what you wish for" visit from a baby witch with a vengeful streak ("Baby Witch"). The stories vary in quality for scares, some light and some quite intense. I think all of the stories are age appropriate for this audience, though, so it worked for what it offered. Not only that, I think the tying of these particular stories, associated with the themes of thirst and revenge which led to the crafting of the forbidden book of tales, was well drawn. Amelia is a relatable protagonist with palpable fears from the story itself as well as coming out of it once she realizes why this book of tales is "forbidden".
Ends on a satisfying note while also managing to be creepy at the same time. I'm definitely picking up the follow-up to see the next set of stories and how that compares. But all in all, had fun with this MG Horror anthology. I wish that the consistency of the stories could have been strong throughout all of them. (I think "Swamp Gas", "Green Beans" and "The Happy Birthday Man Band Camp" - for example - weren't as strong as they could have been. Some felt like it pulled back on the scares while for others, the narration was a bit meandering, so it cut into the tension.). But I can't take too much away from it considering I liked the journey overall.
Overall score: 4/5 stars.
Full review:
I don't often get a chance to pick up middle grade titles, but this was a book that caught my attention as I was browsing my library. Well, truth be told I had actually picked up the sequel to this particular book, not realizing that it would probably be better if I had context of where this series started. So, ended up scouting this out, put the sequel to the side, and started reading this. I'm glad I did.
This is a series of short scary stories with one central theme/tie-in story at the heart of it. You follow a girl who finds a mysterious library book long overdue. Presumably the book was in the possession of her grandmother. Problem is that her grandmother has been missing for quite some time and it doesn't look like she's coming back, having disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Our MC Amelia decides she wants to do the right thing and return the book to the local library, so as not to get any kind of fees for fines. But it doesn't belong to the library. But Amelia is curious about the stories within so she starts to read them. We hear tales about everything from a kid who gets a visit from an upside down head monster because he won't eat his green beans ("Green Beans"), to a family tortured in the 1970s when intrusive pumpkin vines invade their house ("The Volunteers" - one of my favorites), to a kid terrified at being taken on a way too fast ride to routine practice ("The Ride" - another favorite of mine), to a "be careful what you wish for" visit from a baby witch with a vengeful streak ("Baby Witch"). The stories vary in quality for scares, some light and some quite intense. I think all of the stories are age appropriate for this audience, though, so it worked for what it offered. Not only that, I think the tying of these particular stories, associated with the themes of thirst and revenge which led to the crafting of the forbidden book of tales, was well drawn. Amelia is a relatable protagonist with palpable fears from the story itself as well as coming out of it once she realizes why this book of tales is "forbidden".
Ends on a satisfying note while also managing to be creepy at the same time. I'm definitely picking up the follow-up to see the next set of stories and how that compares. But all in all, had fun with this MG Horror anthology. I wish that the consistency of the stories could have been strong throughout all of them. (I think "Swamp Gas", "Green Beans" and "The Happy Birthday Man Band Camp" - for example - weren't as strong as they could have been. Some felt like it pulled back on the scares while for others, the narration was a bit meandering, so it cut into the tension.). But I can't take too much away from it considering I liked the journey overall.
Overall score: 4/5 stars.
July 9, 2024
My head is spinning from this book. That was a twisty, swirly ride. I liked the connections between each story and the ending definitely leaves the reader with hope for Amelia and her family. I will say some of these were pretty intense, especially Nite Crawlers.🫣
May 4, 2022
Tales To Keep You Up At Night is a spooky collection of of short stories for middle grades, ages 10 and up. I enjoyed them myself and I am long past middle grades and deep into middle age.
Amelia and her little brother, along with their two moms have gone to grandmas house to pack things up because grandma has been missing for quite some time. Amelia happens to find an old library book that she decides to return, but once she gets there she is told by the librarian that the book did not belong to that library. As Amelia settles in to read the creepy tales she finds they are all connected, not just to each other but to her family and to the disappearance of her grandma.
There are stories of revenge, including revenge gone wrong when a bullied child tries to get even with his tormentor, a Halloween tale about the dangers of accepting free pumpkins that aren't cut for jack-o-lanterns, a creepy crawly tragedy that befalls a girl who steals from her mother's purse, and many more.
I loved the way the stories are all connected. I think the fast pace and multiple chills should keep young readers interested.
Only one of the stories was not a big hit with me and that is mainly because it was written in second person. I am not a fan of that format and it just doesn't work for me. That is the only thing that prevents this from being a 5 star read.
This title will be released on August 16 which is perfect timing if you are looking to keep your child reading over the summer break, or even if you enjoy a good spooky story yourself. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this book.
Amelia and her little brother, along with their two moms have gone to grandmas house to pack things up because grandma has been missing for quite some time. Amelia happens to find an old library book that she decides to return, but once she gets there she is told by the librarian that the book did not belong to that library. As Amelia settles in to read the creepy tales she finds they are all connected, not just to each other but to her family and to the disappearance of her grandma.
There are stories of revenge, including revenge gone wrong when a bullied child tries to get even with his tormentor, a Halloween tale about the dangers of accepting free pumpkins that aren't cut for jack-o-lanterns, a creepy crawly tragedy that befalls a girl who steals from her mother's purse, and many more.
I loved the way the stories are all connected. I think the fast pace and multiple chills should keep young readers interested.
Only one of the stories was not a big hit with me and that is mainly because it was written in second person. I am not a fan of that format and it just doesn't work for me. That is the only thing that prevents this from being a 5 star read.
This title will be released on August 16 which is perfect timing if you are looking to keep your child reading over the summer break, or even if you enjoy a good spooky story yourself. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this book.
October 4, 2022
Um, yes. Read this if you are craving middle grade horror. Definite echoes of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (the movie more so than the books), but so much BETTER.
The story within a story framing is so engrossing that it takes awhile to figure out just what is going on.
“What would they think if she called them over and told them what she’d learned? That ideas—good and bad—can take root and spread. That you have to be careful with the stories you tell. That monsters, real monsters, exist. That evil is real too, but sometimes—no, often, it does not look how you’d imagine it.”
Words have power and that rings clear in this chilling tale.
The story within a story framing is so engrossing that it takes awhile to figure out just what is going on.
“What would they think if she called them over and told them what she’d learned? That ideas—good and bad—can take root and spread. That you have to be careful with the stories you tell. That monsters, real monsters, exist. That evil is real too, but sometimes—no, often, it does not look how you’d imagine it.”
Words have power and that rings clear in this chilling tale.
October 30, 2023
Some books should not be read. Even if they contain super awesome spooky tales!
A girl finds a book in her grandma’s attic and decides to ignore the warnings! Yep. Because that is what happens when you warn people. Then again, I would have done the same. Probably. Haha. Sorry, I just have a hard time resisting a good spooky tale!
In this book we meet Amelia, a girl who is NOT happy with things at this point. Her grandma disappeared a year ago and it is now time to empty her house and go on with life. But she doesn’t want that and I could very well understand. Not to mention there is a small annoying brother who keeps pestering her, and I was all on her side. When she finds a book of tales in the attic she gets curious! But she also decides to do the good thing and check if the book is missing from the library. When she finds out it is not she decides to read it. I was cheering for her there, haha, I know she should help out her moms and that she should go back, but heck, I would have done the same given everything.
The stories are spooky and get more and more scary as the book continues. Not just that.. things are leaking into the real world as well. Those bells from the grandma in the attic story? Amelia can hear them! That car that was featured in the story about the boy who disappeared 3 days? It is outside the library. I really enjoyed reading the stories and see what happens in there. From babysitting with someone in the attic to tarot cards getting a bit too real. There is a story for everyone and boy they were at times quite scary. They didn’t entirely keep me up all night, but there were a few that will sit with me for a while.
I loved seeing more and more the connection between the stories and then the main story. The names. When we first meet Baby Witch and what she tells the MC in that story along with us the reader. Certain themes that kept coming back. Some were obvious, others made me gasp. I also liked seeing the MC stitch everything together and figure things out. What happened to her grandma/grandpa. What happened in the past. If the stories are true/really happened. And what will happen next!
The ending was fab and while I still have some questions I am happy with how it ended.
But while I absolutely loved the stories and how it all was connected.. I also found it to be too much? I mean, I get it, those families hurt your family. Your history is turned to nothing. I get that you are vengeful. That apparently you all turned into real witches or whatever they really were. But seriously? It’s been ages. Maybe instead of hurt and murder and vengefulness you could just let people know about your family in another way? Like that first story, at least the first part, just let people know about the unjust that happened to you and let people know not to buy into rumours and silly stories.
All in all, I flew through this book, it was just SO good! I definitely would recommend it and I will be getting the next book in the series as soon as I can!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
A girl finds a book in her grandma’s attic and decides to ignore the warnings! Yep. Because that is what happens when you warn people. Then again, I would have done the same. Probably. Haha. Sorry, I just have a hard time resisting a good spooky tale!
In this book we meet Amelia, a girl who is NOT happy with things at this point. Her grandma disappeared a year ago and it is now time to empty her house and go on with life. But she doesn’t want that and I could very well understand. Not to mention there is a small annoying brother who keeps pestering her, and I was all on her side. When she finds a book of tales in the attic she gets curious! But she also decides to do the good thing and check if the book is missing from the library. When she finds out it is not she decides to read it. I was cheering for her there, haha, I know she should help out her moms and that she should go back, but heck, I would have done the same given everything.
The stories are spooky and get more and more scary as the book continues. Not just that.. things are leaking into the real world as well. Those bells from the grandma in the attic story? Amelia can hear them! That car that was featured in the story about the boy who disappeared 3 days? It is outside the library. I really enjoyed reading the stories and see what happens in there. From babysitting with someone in the attic to tarot cards getting a bit too real. There is a story for everyone and boy they were at times quite scary. They didn’t entirely keep me up all night, but there were a few that will sit with me for a while.
I loved seeing more and more the connection between the stories and then the main story. The names. When we first meet Baby Witch and what she tells the MC in that story along with us the reader. Certain themes that kept coming back. Some were obvious, others made me gasp. I also liked seeing the MC stitch everything together and figure things out. What happened to her grandma/grandpa. What happened in the past. If the stories are true/really happened. And what will happen next!
The ending was fab and while I still have some questions I am happy with how it ended.
But while I absolutely loved the stories and how it all was connected.. I also found it to be too much? I mean, I get it, those families hurt your family. Your history is turned to nothing. I get that you are vengeful. That apparently you all turned into real witches or whatever they really were. But seriously? It’s been ages. Maybe instead of hurt and murder and vengefulness you could just let people know about your family in another way? Like that first story, at least the first part, just let people know about the unjust that happened to you and let people know not to buy into rumours and silly stories.
All in all, I flew through this book, it was just SO good! I definitely would recommend it and I will be getting the next book in the series as soon as I can!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
March 9, 2023
Short stories within a grand story. I enjoyed the short stories very much. As an adult, I thought they were spooky for sure and will have kids spooked too! Make sure the child is prepared for some chilling tales.
Also, the only reason this book was given three stars was because I felt the ending was a total disappointment. I was hoping our main character would break the pattern and do some thorn awesome—sadly, no. Other than that, the original grand story told in the book the character reads was intriguing!
Also, the only reason this book was given three stars was because I felt the ending was a total disappointment. I was hoping our main character would break the pattern and do some thorn awesome—sadly, no. Other than that, the original grand story told in the book the character reads was intriguing!
October 31, 2024
Okay, so technically I am a fair bit older than the target market for this book. But you know what, I actually really liked it. And, to be fair, it was pretty creepy. This definitely turned out to be a good pick for spooky season.
Tales to Keep You Up at Night featured a story telling device which I quite like; it features a character finding a strange book. Last year, I read The Haunting of Aveline Jones for spooky season, and Tales has some echoes of that. Both characters find strange old books which lead them to something more than they could have imagined.
Tales to Keep You Up at Night follows Amelia; a young girl who has gone to her grandmother's house, to pack it up, following her disappearance. But when she finds an old book in the attic, she finds that the stories are somehow creeping into her every day existence. And these are stories that you don't want turning up as reality in your life, believe me.
Scary stories can be quite hard to get right. What works for one isn't going to work for someone else. Tales is exactly the sort of book that I would have loved as a pre-teen. Some of the tales here may leave you feeling a bit 'meh', but there are others which just may creep into your psyche, worming their way into your thoughts, and maybe even your dreams. Poblocki is definitely a great author. As Amelia discovers, stories want to be told, and people can live on by speaking their tales. But there is a warning here, something which you may need to heed:
"The witches tend to look like you and me. But they're not. Some appear as girls and some as boys and some as neither and some as both. You might have already met one or two of them in town. Maybe more. The police officer? The teacher? The woman who runs the bookstore? The man who delivers the mail? You never can tell. Spend time peering into mirror glass, and you may find one of the witches peering back. It's possible they've stolen your face. Or maybe - just maybe - you are the witch."
How do we assign the heroes of a tale and the villains? Is the witch always bad? In the writing of history, could there be injustice?
A great book, even though it is aimed at younger readers. This book shows you just how powerful stories can be.
Tales to Keep You Up at Night featured a story telling device which I quite like; it features a character finding a strange book. Last year, I read The Haunting of Aveline Jones for spooky season, and Tales has some echoes of that. Both characters find strange old books which lead them to something more than they could have imagined.
Tales to Keep You Up at Night follows Amelia; a young girl who has gone to her grandmother's house, to pack it up, following her disappearance. But when she finds an old book in the attic, she finds that the stories are somehow creeping into her every day existence. And these are stories that you don't want turning up as reality in your life, believe me.
Scary stories can be quite hard to get right. What works for one isn't going to work for someone else. Tales is exactly the sort of book that I would have loved as a pre-teen. Some of the tales here may leave you feeling a bit 'meh', but there are others which just may creep into your psyche, worming their way into your thoughts, and maybe even your dreams. Poblocki is definitely a great author. As Amelia discovers, stories want to be told, and people can live on by speaking their tales. But there is a warning here, something which you may need to heed:
"The witches tend to look like you and me. But they're not. Some appear as girls and some as boys and some as neither and some as both. You might have already met one or two of them in town. Maybe more. The police officer? The teacher? The woman who runs the bookstore? The man who delivers the mail? You never can tell. Spend time peering into mirror glass, and you may find one of the witches peering back. It's possible they've stolen your face. Or maybe - just maybe - you are the witch."
How do we assign the heroes of a tale and the villains? Is the witch always bad? In the writing of history, could there be injustice?
A great book, even though it is aimed at younger readers. This book shows you just how powerful stories can be.
October 23, 2022
Best ‘spooky’ kids book that I’ve read in a while.
October 10, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ such a cool concept for a book, and some of the stories were pretty creepy. Some things could’ve been done better imo, but overall a great October book I recommend!
October 31, 2024
Middle grade horror
LGBTQ rep
LGBTQ rep
March 2, 2025
The oldest wants the next one in the series. Positive sign.
October 29, 2025
fun scary stories! definitely creepy! and I like that it's a series of vignettes in an overall plotline. great for a Halloween time easy read!
May 21, 2024
Time for more modern middle grade horror. I’m trying to do more lately while spreading them out. They tend to be easy to get at the library and I do prefer reading something physically so as to avoid phone reading. Anyway, this one sounded pretty interesting. Author is Dan Poblocki who has plenty of works, including a fair amount of kids horror books.
He follows the Out of Context Goosebumps account and yes, that is why I’m reading one of his lol. This came in in 2022 and has a neat format. It has 13 short stories with a framing device. It’s about a girl discovering a book that has the stories we read so we read the stories within but also have what she goes through as well. It’s a neat idea and I will cover each story before going over this thing as a whole. So let’s do it.
Amelia’s grandmother went missing a year ago. She was just gone one day, with no real explanation. Grandpa had vanished as well and in both glasses, Amelisa’s moms (getting points off the bat, nice) think they just ran off. After a year of anguish, they decide to sell her house and Amelia is reeling over this. While looking through her attic, she finds a book called INSERT TITLE HERE. It has a written warning on it about reading it but come on.
It’s all mysterious and stuff and so she takes it to the library to turn it in and when she’s told it’s never been here, she gives it a read. And this is what she finds…
Moll’s Well: A once beloved old woman is accused of being a witch. There's more to it than that though. We start strong on one that is theme focused. It uses this to talk about how stories change over time and can shift depending on who is telling it. Writing is good and we get a good sense of the history. A couple things happen a bit too quickly and it's not exactly event-focused. But I rather liked the feel of it and how it clearly sets the stage for the ideas in here. It's a strong start for the stories.
The Babysitter and the Bell: Jenny babysits for a girl with an active imagination. This is a short one so there's not much to say. It works in a simple urban legend way but it's nothing too notable. It's there. Also, getting Stine flashbacks with the Jenny name.
The Ride: A boy goes into a dangerous car pool. Another quick and legend-y one but this leans more to the psychological. There's some creepy imagery in this one on this wild ride and it's effective how they make him question what is going on. It ends a bit quickly and more could have been done but it still works well enough.
Green Beans: A boy visits his great aunt, who doesn't mess around. A more straightforward one that works pretty well. There's a creepy villain in here and it makes for a solid scared straight type story. Had me wondering where it was going and stuck a solid landing. So yeah, it worked.
Swamp Gas: A girl holds a sleepover during Halloween season where scary stories are told. There's a fun meta element in here. The girls tell some of the prior stories and even the next one. Plus most of this is a story one of them tells and one guy says they hate story within a story stuff. That side, the story Martha has is a nice simple creepy one. I'm not totally sure what the ending all means but that seems to be the point and it has a nice ending note. So it has some solid fun Spooky vibes. I'd say it worked fairly well.
The New House: A family moves to a new house where a man is discovered. We saw part of this one already but here it gets finished. It leans into the urban legend aspect in the sense of not being that explained but having solid vibes. It's too quick to be too impactful but it was decently creepy, with a decent ending. It's fine.
Baby Witch: A girl trying to join a dance crew encounters a maybe not so good little Witch. This felt shorter than is which I see as a good thing. The Witch is a fun character, there's some neat Witch stuff and it takes an interesting turn, wrapping around to the start nicely. There's maybe some filler with the alpha bitch crew but it proves to be important to how it pans out. Some nods to the other stories as well. So yeah, it's nice.
(Also, they say that some witches appear as girls, some as boys, and some as neither or both. Enby witches ftw)
Screamers: Two girls who like to make people scream pay the price. There's a clear formula here with the comeuppance but I do like the build up. The girls have kind of a friendship as they use this to let off some steam from their crappy lives. I kinda wish we had more with that but the punchline worked okay. Standard but it works.
The Psychopath’s Tarot: Their friends find some dangerous Tarot cards. I like the build up but the ending feels basic. The formula is clear by now and it feels like it should have gone bigger. Still, there's some fun interactions and it's functional. It's in 2nd person (so it's You) which is neat but doesn't add much. So yeah it’s fine.
(It hides the gender of the lead even though it's clearly a girl, given the others being “forever sisters”. Can't see a guy thinking that. I only mention this cuz they mention wanting a Jillian to ask them out, nice).
The Happy Birthday Man Birthday Camp: This goes for a more abstract route, as a boy who recently had a bad birthday chases down a mysterious birthday man. It can feel confusing but I kind of enjoy the dream like feel of it as well as the Birthday Man himself. It is a bit too long but has enough creep factor to make up for being confusing at times.
Strange Clay:A boy discovers a strange big ball of clay. This one is longer and uses that to build the story. There's stuff with him being a shy nerd dealing with a Bully. It maybe spends too much on the mystery build up but where it goes is solid. It becomes a Revenge tale with a solid dark ending. So despite some slow parts, it became pretty solid.
The Volunteers: A boy’s family is invaded by vines. This is told though journal entries that someone found while looking into this family’s disappearance. I dig that as it makes things feel more personal. This has an odd false start with a rash but then it really gets going. It gets decently intense as this family gets trapped in the house with these vibes. It gets dark with where it goes and a bit emotional as things get desperate. It’s engaging and becomes quite good. The ending is abrupt though so works fine for the kind of story it is. Also, some ties to prior stories as we ramp to the end.
Nite Crawlers: A girl obsessed with winning a fishing contest looks for perfect bait. We end on a solid one. It starts out simple but gets pretty creepy when we see where it's going. A good dark ending too. Turns out you can make good worm horror, suck it Go Eat Worms. I'm being vague but I don't wanna ruin it. The tie to the first story works in ending the short stories, well.
This book overall is quite good, perhaps bordering on higher than that, I’m not quite sure. The concept is a pretty good one, and off the bat I was into it. The format means Amelia doesn’t need to be super fleshed out, as she’s just a way to get into the stories. But still there is an emotional element with her dealing with grandma vanishing and that deepens as things unfold.
The stories are largely good and I like how they are all tied together. It’s pretty obvious after the first story how they tie together but it’s still neat to see them reference each other. Amelia’s segments are fair breaks until the end where it all blows up. At the end we see why this is going on and there’s solid creepy stuff.
In general, there's a good atmosphere and solid vibes. The stories tap into the sort of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark feel and honestly does it better, being more fleshed out and more judge-able. They can feel formulaic which makes sense but in the middle it can drag just a bit. But man the last few make up for it.
Outside of Moll’s Well, my favorites were The Volunteers, Strange Clay, Nite Crawlers and Baby Witch. Those felt the most fleshed out to me. The horror works with good build up and the last few get more explicitly dark if you want that. It’s a good balance, it works for kids but has enough to not feel kiddie nor grimdark.
The logic isn't perfect but the explanation is good with a villain that works well. It's built in a way that it can't have a big happy and the way it plays out is well done and effective. I hate to be vague but I don't give too much away. Trust me, it's a well thought out ending.
Writing is good with some vocabulary words and nice descriptions. The attempts at being rhymethic can feel repetitive though.
It's just a well thought out book, with a unique format that smartly ties it all together. The stories can be better in some areas but while that is holding it back a tad, it's not a big deal.
It still had me engaged and was well done all around. I'm glad I try to keep up with the modern kids horror books as the quality standard is higher these days and what I've read so far has been solid.
This one I debated on the rating for. It’s more about how it’s all constructed, creating a feel that is hard to fully capture. The mild drawbacks are in some of the stories and even then it’s not a big deal with how it all plays out. I feel like I’ve gotten oddly generous this year after being stingy for so long but I could just finally be reading more that gets me. Note that I rate in comparison to others of its type so it’s important to note when it comes to the middle grade books, as I am mostly used to the vintage stuff and it’s easy to be impressed when you tend to get more safe and just fine stories.
I went with the 4 stars this time, yet again. Some could change in the future but either way I think it’s of high quality so the rating doesn’t matter too much. Overall, a solid collection that ties it all together nicely with plenty of spooks that is well done.
There’s a sequel so perhaps someday we’ll cover it. For now, it’s some good stuff worth checking out. That does it for this. I have an idea of what is next so hopefully I can get to it, before Percy Jackson next week. See ya then.
He follows the Out of Context Goosebumps account and yes, that is why I’m reading one of his lol. This came in in 2022 and has a neat format. It has 13 short stories with a framing device. It’s about a girl discovering a book that has the stories we read so we read the stories within but also have what she goes through as well. It’s a neat idea and I will cover each story before going over this thing as a whole. So let’s do it.
Amelia’s grandmother went missing a year ago. She was just gone one day, with no real explanation. Grandpa had vanished as well and in both glasses, Amelisa’s moms (getting points off the bat, nice) think they just ran off. After a year of anguish, they decide to sell her house and Amelia is reeling over this. While looking through her attic, she finds a book called INSERT TITLE HERE. It has a written warning on it about reading it but come on.
It’s all mysterious and stuff and so she takes it to the library to turn it in and when she’s told it’s never been here, she gives it a read. And this is what she finds…
Moll’s Well: A once beloved old woman is accused of being a witch. There's more to it than that though. We start strong on one that is theme focused. It uses this to talk about how stories change over time and can shift depending on who is telling it. Writing is good and we get a good sense of the history. A couple things happen a bit too quickly and it's not exactly event-focused. But I rather liked the feel of it and how it clearly sets the stage for the ideas in here. It's a strong start for the stories.
The Babysitter and the Bell: Jenny babysits for a girl with an active imagination. This is a short one so there's not much to say. It works in a simple urban legend way but it's nothing too notable. It's there. Also, getting Stine flashbacks with the Jenny name.
The Ride: A boy goes into a dangerous car pool. Another quick and legend-y one but this leans more to the psychological. There's some creepy imagery in this one on this wild ride and it's effective how they make him question what is going on. It ends a bit quickly and more could have been done but it still works well enough.
Green Beans: A boy visits his great aunt, who doesn't mess around. A more straightforward one that works pretty well. There's a creepy villain in here and it makes for a solid scared straight type story. Had me wondering where it was going and stuck a solid landing. So yeah, it worked.
Swamp Gas: A girl holds a sleepover during Halloween season where scary stories are told. There's a fun meta element in here. The girls tell some of the prior stories and even the next one. Plus most of this is a story one of them tells and one guy says they hate story within a story stuff. That side, the story Martha has is a nice simple creepy one. I'm not totally sure what the ending all means but that seems to be the point and it has a nice ending note. So it has some solid fun Spooky vibes. I'd say it worked fairly well.
The New House: A family moves to a new house where a man is discovered. We saw part of this one already but here it gets finished. It leans into the urban legend aspect in the sense of not being that explained but having solid vibes. It's too quick to be too impactful but it was decently creepy, with a decent ending. It's fine.
Baby Witch: A girl trying to join a dance crew encounters a maybe not so good little Witch. This felt shorter than is which I see as a good thing. The Witch is a fun character, there's some neat Witch stuff and it takes an interesting turn, wrapping around to the start nicely. There's maybe some filler with the alpha bitch crew but it proves to be important to how it pans out. Some nods to the other stories as well. So yeah, it's nice.
(Also, they say that some witches appear as girls, some as boys, and some as neither or both. Enby witches ftw)
Screamers: Two girls who like to make people scream pay the price. There's a clear formula here with the comeuppance but I do like the build up. The girls have kind of a friendship as they use this to let off some steam from their crappy lives. I kinda wish we had more with that but the punchline worked okay. Standard but it works.
The Psychopath’s Tarot: Their friends find some dangerous Tarot cards. I like the build up but the ending feels basic. The formula is clear by now and it feels like it should have gone bigger. Still, there's some fun interactions and it's functional. It's in 2nd person (so it's You) which is neat but doesn't add much. So yeah it’s fine.
(It hides the gender of the lead even though it's clearly a girl, given the others being “forever sisters”. Can't see a guy thinking that. I only mention this cuz they mention wanting a Jillian to ask them out, nice).
The Happy Birthday Man Birthday Camp: This goes for a more abstract route, as a boy who recently had a bad birthday chases down a mysterious birthday man. It can feel confusing but I kind of enjoy the dream like feel of it as well as the Birthday Man himself. It is a bit too long but has enough creep factor to make up for being confusing at times.
Strange Clay:A boy discovers a strange big ball of clay. This one is longer and uses that to build the story. There's stuff with him being a shy nerd dealing with a Bully. It maybe spends too much on the mystery build up but where it goes is solid. It becomes a Revenge tale with a solid dark ending. So despite some slow parts, it became pretty solid.
The Volunteers: A boy’s family is invaded by vines. This is told though journal entries that someone found while looking into this family’s disappearance. I dig that as it makes things feel more personal. This has an odd false start with a rash but then it really gets going. It gets decently intense as this family gets trapped in the house with these vibes. It gets dark with where it goes and a bit emotional as things get desperate. It’s engaging and becomes quite good. The ending is abrupt though so works fine for the kind of story it is. Also, some ties to prior stories as we ramp to the end.
Nite Crawlers: A girl obsessed with winning a fishing contest looks for perfect bait. We end on a solid one. It starts out simple but gets pretty creepy when we see where it's going. A good dark ending too. Turns out you can make good worm horror, suck it Go Eat Worms. I'm being vague but I don't wanna ruin it. The tie to the first story works in ending the short stories, well.
This book overall is quite good, perhaps bordering on higher than that, I’m not quite sure. The concept is a pretty good one, and off the bat I was into it. The format means Amelia doesn’t need to be super fleshed out, as she’s just a way to get into the stories. But still there is an emotional element with her dealing with grandma vanishing and that deepens as things unfold.
The stories are largely good and I like how they are all tied together. It’s pretty obvious after the first story how they tie together but it’s still neat to see them reference each other. Amelia’s segments are fair breaks until the end where it all blows up. At the end we see why this is going on and there’s solid creepy stuff.
In general, there's a good atmosphere and solid vibes. The stories tap into the sort of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark feel and honestly does it better, being more fleshed out and more judge-able. They can feel formulaic which makes sense but in the middle it can drag just a bit. But man the last few make up for it.
Outside of Moll’s Well, my favorites were The Volunteers, Strange Clay, Nite Crawlers and Baby Witch. Those felt the most fleshed out to me. The horror works with good build up and the last few get more explicitly dark if you want that. It’s a good balance, it works for kids but has enough to not feel kiddie nor grimdark.
The logic isn't perfect but the explanation is good with a villain that works well. It's built in a way that it can't have a big happy and the way it plays out is well done and effective. I hate to be vague but I don't give too much away. Trust me, it's a well thought out ending.
Writing is good with some vocabulary words and nice descriptions. The attempts at being rhymethic can feel repetitive though.
It's just a well thought out book, with a unique format that smartly ties it all together. The stories can be better in some areas but while that is holding it back a tad, it's not a big deal.
It still had me engaged and was well done all around. I'm glad I try to keep up with the modern kids horror books as the quality standard is higher these days and what I've read so far has been solid.
This one I debated on the rating for. It’s more about how it’s all constructed, creating a feel that is hard to fully capture. The mild drawbacks are in some of the stories and even then it’s not a big deal with how it all plays out. I feel like I’ve gotten oddly generous this year after being stingy for so long but I could just finally be reading more that gets me. Note that I rate in comparison to others of its type so it’s important to note when it comes to the middle grade books, as I am mostly used to the vintage stuff and it’s easy to be impressed when you tend to get more safe and just fine stories.
I went with the 4 stars this time, yet again. Some could change in the future but either way I think it’s of high quality so the rating doesn’t matter too much. Overall, a solid collection that ties it all together nicely with plenty of spooks that is well done.
There’s a sequel so perhaps someday we’ll cover it. For now, it’s some good stuff worth checking out. That does it for this. I have an idea of what is next so hopefully I can get to it, before Percy Jackson next week. See ya then.
December 10, 2022
Review up later.
June 28, 2022
What worked:
The story centers around an old, tattered library book titled Tales to Keep You Up at Night that Amelia finds in her grandmother’s attic. The book contains a collection of eerie stories beginning with Moll Bowen, a 90-year-old woman using a stiff, leather-bound book with yellowed pages to help her neighbors. Moll’s Well is said to have the purest, sweetest water anywhere, and she uses it to complete the recipes within the book’s pages, although Judge Turner sentences her to death for practicing witchcraft. This event becomes the catalyst for future tales surrounding the book and the well. Adding to the mystery, Amelia’s last name is Turner, and the librarian’s last name is Bowen.
Much of the book is comprised of creepy short stories that seem to be unrelated. However, the names in the stories should become familiar, and Amelia finally discovers connections, even though they’re very improbable. The stories describe witches that can appear as anyone, giant golem-like creatures wandering the forest, pumpkin vines seeking to kill, and other dangers that lurk in the night. The variety of tales will keep readers engaged and wondering where the plot is headed. They create a riddle to be solved with clues that will tingle your spine, and readers may not like the many possible solutions. Young readers may fear the dark after reading these stories!
The format of the plot is a bit unusual since most of it is introduced through the short stories. Brief chapters about Amelia, the main character, pop up throughout, but they mostly share Amelia’s actions between readings. She’s deeply distressed about her grandmother’s disappearance last year, and she’s extremely upset that her mothers have chosen to sell the old house. Amelia wants to learn what really happened to her grandmother, and that spurs the opening of the plot. She eventually uncovers what happened, but it’s not something she ever expected.
What didn’t work as well:
The early stories are unrelated, so understanding an overall conflict or plot is more challenging. You might imagine where the narrative should be going, but the stories don’t easily fit that idea until Amelia discovers how they tie together. They’re woven into a heart-pounding, ominous adventure.
The Final Verdict:
There are many ways a story can echo through life. The ghoulish tales will keep readers up at night, and the format of the narrative will keep readers thinking. The overall book successfully presents a chilling plot that will highly entertain middle-grade readers. I highly recommend you give it a shot.
The story centers around an old, tattered library book titled Tales to Keep You Up at Night that Amelia finds in her grandmother’s attic. The book contains a collection of eerie stories beginning with Moll Bowen, a 90-year-old woman using a stiff, leather-bound book with yellowed pages to help her neighbors. Moll’s Well is said to have the purest, sweetest water anywhere, and she uses it to complete the recipes within the book’s pages, although Judge Turner sentences her to death for practicing witchcraft. This event becomes the catalyst for future tales surrounding the book and the well. Adding to the mystery, Amelia’s last name is Turner, and the librarian’s last name is Bowen.
Much of the book is comprised of creepy short stories that seem to be unrelated. However, the names in the stories should become familiar, and Amelia finally discovers connections, even though they’re very improbable. The stories describe witches that can appear as anyone, giant golem-like creatures wandering the forest, pumpkin vines seeking to kill, and other dangers that lurk in the night. The variety of tales will keep readers engaged and wondering where the plot is headed. They create a riddle to be solved with clues that will tingle your spine, and readers may not like the many possible solutions. Young readers may fear the dark after reading these stories!
The format of the plot is a bit unusual since most of it is introduced through the short stories. Brief chapters about Amelia, the main character, pop up throughout, but they mostly share Amelia’s actions between readings. She’s deeply distressed about her grandmother’s disappearance last year, and she’s extremely upset that her mothers have chosen to sell the old house. Amelia wants to learn what really happened to her grandmother, and that spurs the opening of the plot. She eventually uncovers what happened, but it’s not something she ever expected.
What didn’t work as well:
The early stories are unrelated, so understanding an overall conflict or plot is more challenging. You might imagine where the narrative should be going, but the stories don’t easily fit that idea until Amelia discovers how they tie together. They’re woven into a heart-pounding, ominous adventure.
The Final Verdict:
There are many ways a story can echo through life. The ghoulish tales will keep readers up at night, and the format of the narrative will keep readers thinking. The overall book successfully presents a chilling plot that will highly entertain middle-grade readers. I highly recommend you give it a shot.
October 10, 2022
This was an interesting story that had stories within a story. The stories all intertwined into one big story. This was very creative. The story (and stories within) were all creepy and immersive. It definitely had the classic Poblocki feel to it, like his earlier books.
I would have given this book 5 stars if it weren't for the gay characters. Homosexuality was mentioned several times in this story and with more than a couple of characters. This book is marketed for young readers. Gay lifestyles shouldn't be presented as a normal family design for this age group. It seems like more and more media is pushing this for no reason. Argument aside, it seemed to conflict with part of the plot and was distracting. You can't be blood-related children with a gay couple. That's not possible.
I know someone will comment on my review and tell me I'm "homophobic". I'm not scared of gay people and I have strong beliefs about this. Normalizing this lifestyle doesn't make it ok. If you disagree with me, just ignore me and move on. If you can be offended, I can too.
I would have given this book 5 stars if it weren't for the gay characters. Homosexuality was mentioned several times in this story and with more than a couple of characters. This book is marketed for young readers. Gay lifestyles shouldn't be presented as a normal family design for this age group. It seems like more and more media is pushing this for no reason. Argument aside, it seemed to conflict with part of the plot and was distracting. You can't be blood-related children with a gay couple. That's not possible.
I know someone will comment on my review and tell me I'm "homophobic". I'm not scared of gay people and I have strong beliefs about this. Normalizing this lifestyle doesn't make it ok. If you disagree with me, just ignore me and move on. If you can be offended, I can too.
February 12, 2025
This book is twisty, bizarre, and genuinely unnerving. Unlike any MG novel I've read before...
November 11, 2022
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Amelia and her brother Winter are bored hanging out at their grandmother's house while their moms clean it out and ready it for sale. Amelia loved her grandmother, and she feels that not keeping the house is admitting that her grandmother, who disappeared a year ago, isn't coming back. It's odd that no one talks about the fact that her grandfather had also gone missing under similar circumstances. When Amelia finds an old library book in the attic, she decides to return it. At the nearby public library, she meets Mrs. Bowen, the librarian, who says the book isn't from that library, but invites Amelia to read. Amelia has vague memories of her grandmother with the book, but also remembers a scrawled note at the front telling her not to read the book, but that is gone. When she gets a few stories in, she realizes that one of the families in the book is Bowen, but when she asks the librarian, she finds she was mistaken, and her name is Brown. The tales, starting with Moll's Well, about a woman whose healing powers are considered witchcraft so she is put to death and her accuser takes her property, outline the retribution that Moll's family took on different people who had mistreated them. And they are creepy tales, indeed. A girl who babysits is surprised that the family's grandmother is upstairs, and takes her a drink of water, only to find when the parents return that there is no grandmother. A group of teens summon "Baby Witch". Tarot cards go terribly wrong. The more stories Amelia reads, the more she starts to realize that elements of the stories are coming to life in her world! When Winter comes to the library to be read to, this becomes even more apparent, and I am now never going to grow pumpkins in my garden! Amelia finds out some clues to the past, and tries unsuccessfully to get rid of the book. Is the book her destiny? Is she going to be the one who writes more stories? Most importantly, will there be a sequel that tells us more about her grandmother?
Strengths: The formatting of this book really helps. The chapters detailing Amelia's story start with a charming page decoration, and are in a modern font while the chapters of Tales to Keep You Up at Night have a creepy border, older style font, and a darker paper, so its easy to keep the two separate parts clear. The tales of Moll's descendant's retribution are very skillfully woven into the threads of Amelia's life. The format gives Poblocki a lot of space to explore many different tales and ways of telling them, including one story in second person. It's hard to find examples of that perspective! Winter is a good addition and grounds Amelia in the real world even as the supernatural crowds into her life. This is another winner from Poblocki, and cements his status as an established middle grade horror writer.
Weaknesses: I personally struggle with the story-within-a-story format; I just wanted to find out what happened to Amelia, so tended to rush through the scary stories, which are not my favorite thing to read, either! My students will not feel this way and will relish the deeply creepy tales. I also wanted more information about what happened to the grandmother and grandfather and sort of hoped they would reappear.
What I really think: I'm a long time fan of Poblocki's work, but prefer his books that verge on Young Adult, like Liar's Room, The Ghost Hunter's Daughter, and The Ghost of Graylock. This new title is more like the Shadow House series and would be a great addition to an elementary library as well as middle school ones, especially where story-within-a-story books like Nance's Daemon Hall, Kerr's The Most Frightening Story Ever Told, and West's Long Lost are popular.
Amelia and her brother Winter are bored hanging out at their grandmother's house while their moms clean it out and ready it for sale. Amelia loved her grandmother, and she feels that not keeping the house is admitting that her grandmother, who disappeared a year ago, isn't coming back. It's odd that no one talks about the fact that her grandfather had also gone missing under similar circumstances. When Amelia finds an old library book in the attic, she decides to return it. At the nearby public library, she meets Mrs. Bowen, the librarian, who says the book isn't from that library, but invites Amelia to read. Amelia has vague memories of her grandmother with the book, but also remembers a scrawled note at the front telling her not to read the book, but that is gone. When she gets a few stories in, she realizes that one of the families in the book is Bowen, but when she asks the librarian, she finds she was mistaken, and her name is Brown. The tales, starting with Moll's Well, about a woman whose healing powers are considered witchcraft so she is put to death and her accuser takes her property, outline the retribution that Moll's family took on different people who had mistreated them. And they are creepy tales, indeed. A girl who babysits is surprised that the family's grandmother is upstairs, and takes her a drink of water, only to find when the parents return that there is no grandmother. A group of teens summon "Baby Witch". Tarot cards go terribly wrong. The more stories Amelia reads, the more she starts to realize that elements of the stories are coming to life in her world! When Winter comes to the library to be read to, this becomes even more apparent, and I am now never going to grow pumpkins in my garden! Amelia finds out some clues to the past, and tries unsuccessfully to get rid of the book. Is the book her destiny? Is she going to be the one who writes more stories? Most importantly, will there be a sequel that tells us more about her grandmother?
Strengths: The formatting of this book really helps. The chapters detailing Amelia's story start with a charming page decoration, and are in a modern font while the chapters of Tales to Keep You Up at Night have a creepy border, older style font, and a darker paper, so its easy to keep the two separate parts clear. The tales of Moll's descendant's retribution are very skillfully woven into the threads of Amelia's life. The format gives Poblocki a lot of space to explore many different tales and ways of telling them, including one story in second person. It's hard to find examples of that perspective! Winter is a good addition and grounds Amelia in the real world even as the supernatural crowds into her life. This is another winner from Poblocki, and cements his status as an established middle grade horror writer.
Weaknesses: I personally struggle with the story-within-a-story format; I just wanted to find out what happened to Amelia, so tended to rush through the scary stories, which are not my favorite thing to read, either! My students will not feel this way and will relish the deeply creepy tales. I also wanted more information about what happened to the grandmother and grandfather and sort of hoped they would reappear.
What I really think: I'm a long time fan of Poblocki's work, but prefer his books that verge on Young Adult, like Liar's Room, The Ghost Hunter's Daughter, and The Ghost of Graylock. This new title is more like the Shadow House series and would be a great addition to an elementary library as well as middle school ones, especially where story-within-a-story books like Nance's Daemon Hall, Kerr's The Most Frightening Story Ever Told, and West's Long Lost are popular.
October 12, 2023
This book was okay. The wrap around story turned out better than I thought it would, I felt like it slowed down a little in the middle. The atmosphere successfully got more shadowy and uncomfortably close as the book progressed. One weakness was that the wrap around story kept referring back to little details from stories earlier in the book. There were a lot of stories, and I didn't remember every one by the time I got to the end (I was also reading in chunks, as I like to do with collections of stories). I don't know that it was entirely effective to keep trying to scare me with a reference I didn't connect.
The stories were creative and very creepy. I might want to give the book a "6th grade and older" rating.
There were some really good stories that would fit with an urban legend type vibe. I'd be interested to ask the opinion of a modern middle school student for some things, though. There were some settings that were obviously in a fairy tale setting or set in the far distant past, and one was given a clear date from journal entries, but were we supposed to envision a contemporary moment for the others? A lot of them had the scary and dangerous stuff happen when the kids were riding their bikes out and away from home. Kids don't really do that anymore. That's not a circumstance they can relate to unless it's in "Stranger Things" or whatever. Young kids aren't allowed to walk home from school very far or explore wild or unknown places. One of the stories relied on a situation where a large group of elementary or middle school age kids were playing outdoors in a neighborhood, then going on a long hike with no parents hovering. It's fairly rare to see that.
I'd love to know what the target audience actually thinks of the stories. I'll look and see if some of the Goodreads reviews are written by kids. (Sometimes they even write a review for a school assignment.)
The stories were creative and very creepy. I might want to give the book a "6th grade and older" rating.
There were some really good stories that would fit with an urban legend type vibe. I'd be interested to ask the opinion of a modern middle school student for some things, though. There were some settings that were obviously in a fairy tale setting or set in the far distant past, and one was given a clear date from journal entries, but were we supposed to envision a contemporary moment for the others? A lot of them had the scary and dangerous stuff happen when the kids were riding their bikes out and away from home. Kids don't really do that anymore. That's not a circumstance they can relate to unless it's in "Stranger Things" or whatever. Young kids aren't allowed to walk home from school very far or explore wild or unknown places. One of the stories relied on a situation where a large group of elementary or middle school age kids were playing outdoors in a neighborhood, then going on a long hike with no parents hovering. It's fairly rare to see that.
I'd love to know what the target audience actually thinks of the stories. I'll look and see if some of the Goodreads reviews are written by kids. (Sometimes they even write a review for a school assignment.)
January 2, 2024
Tales To Keep You Up At Night by Dan Poblocki is a fictional thriller, and is one of the very first books to actually keep me up all night! This book is about a girl named Amelia who discovers a library book in her missing grandmother’s old attic. Amelia’s curiosity gets the best of her, and she slowly starts unfolding unsettling stories in nearby towns; from tarot cards that come true to a car ride that went terribly wrong. But these are just stories. Amelia knows they’re not really true. Are they?
Amelia lives with her mothers and younger brother, Winter. The theme of this book, I would say, is fear and revenge. There are a lot of things I liked about Tales To Keep You Up At Night, but my favorite part is how you can slowly start noticing how things are tied together. Although, I wish the author would go in detail about characters outside the tales, like Amelia and her family. We don’t exactly know what Amelia or her family look like, when or where the story is set, or any background information about the characters. Other than that, this page turner is good for fans of frights and mystery.
Amelia lives with her mothers and younger brother, Winter. The theme of this book, I would say, is fear and revenge. There are a lot of things I liked about Tales To Keep You Up At Night, but my favorite part is how you can slowly start noticing how things are tied together. Although, I wish the author would go in detail about characters outside the tales, like Amelia and her family. We don’t exactly know what Amelia or her family look like, when or where the story is set, or any background information about the characters. Other than that, this page turner is good for fans of frights and mystery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2022
This MG novel is perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!
🧙🏻
Amelia’s grandmother has been missing for a year so when her moms & little brother go to clean out her house to sell it, Amelia believes this is truly goodbye and she’ll never know what happened to her grandmother. While in the attic Amelia discovers a book called Tales to Keep You Up at Night. Thinking it’s a library book, Amelia heads to the local library to return it, but sits down to read it there instead. What comes next is a series of scary stories that have Amelia realizing she’s more connected to this book than she ever knew.
🌒
I’m such a scaredy cat I’ve been putting off reading this one by @danpoblox but I should have dove right in! What a unique take on scary stories and I see there’s a sequel coming in 2023! I’m thrilled this was chosen as a @txbbaward title for this year & happy we chose it for our first battle list for 22-23! I’m recommending this to all my students who are fans of horror!
CW: death, violence, disappearance, blood
🧙🏻
Amelia’s grandmother has been missing for a year so when her moms & little brother go to clean out her house to sell it, Amelia believes this is truly goodbye and she’ll never know what happened to her grandmother. While in the attic Amelia discovers a book called Tales to Keep You Up at Night. Thinking it’s a library book, Amelia heads to the local library to return it, but sits down to read it there instead. What comes next is a series of scary stories that have Amelia realizing she’s more connected to this book than she ever knew.
🌒
I’m such a scaredy cat I’ve been putting off reading this one by @danpoblox but I should have dove right in! What a unique take on scary stories and I see there’s a sequel coming in 2023! I’m thrilled this was chosen as a @txbbaward title for this year & happy we chose it for our first battle list for 22-23! I’m recommending this to all my students who are fans of horror!
CW: death, violence, disappearance, blood
June 15, 2023
What if you found a book with this title in your grandmothers attic, and someone had written in the front cover, “Do not read this book.” Would you read it anyway? What if your grandmother had also recently mysteriously disappeared in the same way your grandfather did years before? When Amelia is cleaning out her missing grandmothers house, that’s what she finds. And, yes, she reads it. And the stories (also included in this book for us) really are tales not to read in the dark!! There is the tale of the car driven by—what, a ghost? The grim reaper?—who knows that might drive you to your death. There is the Baby Witch who seems kind until she begins to talk of revenge. There are the pumpkins that one family ignores and after they rot, their vines begin to grow into the house, around the house, and choke the life out of people. And somehow, all these tales are tied together with this town that Amelia’s grandmother lived in. Somehow they tie to her disappearance. Be prepared to be scared.
July 16, 2023
Amelia is annoyed because her Moms are cleaning out grandma's house because she's been missing for a year. Amelia doesn't want to lose grandma or forget about her so she hides out in the attic and discovers a worn book with the warning DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. Amelia thinks this is a joke by her grandma and so begins reading. What follows are some truly creepy and scary tales about different people, but they all seem connected. Every time Amelia pauses in the stories she realizes that the world around her has altered slightly. As she reaches the end, she has to make an agreement that's going to change everything forever.
Some of the stories were absolutely terrifying, and left a queasy feeling in my stomach. The imagery was great, and I loved Amelia's character. I think the last few pages got a little preachy about the spreading of ideas, but it was also true so I can overlook that. Truly a wonderfully horrible middle grade scary book. On par with Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark.
Some of the stories were absolutely terrifying, and left a queasy feeling in my stomach. The imagery was great, and I loved Amelia's character. I think the last few pages got a little preachy about the spreading of ideas, but it was also true so I can overlook that. Truly a wonderfully horrible middle grade scary book. On par with Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark.
January 21, 2024
This was successfully creepy and took me right back to telling scary stories at primary school sleepovers (click, click, slide – I’m looking at you).
Amelia discovers a book of scary stories in her grandmothers attic. I felt quite abruptly flung into her life and flailed a little bit to keep up, but was aware that the priority lay with each scary story rather than Amelia’s world. The connection between the book and real life was fairly obvious (but still made me smile) at the beginning, but I thought the added twists along the way were really good.
I would have liked a bit more resolution at the end, or at least a bit more clarity surrounding Amelia’s grandparents, and the fate of everyone connected to the book. But hats off to the author for creating horrendous monsters (hardcore nightmare-worthy) even with names like the Happy Birthday Man (probably the one I found most disturbing).
Perfect for anyone who doesn’t limit spooky things to one day of the year.
Amelia discovers a book of scary stories in her grandmothers attic. I felt quite abruptly flung into her life and flailed a little bit to keep up, but was aware that the priority lay with each scary story rather than Amelia’s world. The connection between the book and real life was fairly obvious (but still made me smile) at the beginning, but I thought the added twists along the way were really good.
I would have liked a bit more resolution at the end, or at least a bit more clarity surrounding Amelia’s grandparents, and the fate of everyone connected to the book. But hats off to the author for creating horrendous monsters (hardcore nightmare-worthy) even with names like the Happy Birthday Man (probably the one I found most disturbing).
Perfect for anyone who doesn’t limit spooky things to one day of the year.
June 25, 2024
TW: clowns, breaking glass, missing family members, blood, blood sucking worms, being tied down, being buried alive
This is a brilliant and very twisty book. Rather than being a collection of random stories, these tales are in fact connected, and in very clever ways. The opening chapters could have been shorter, but honestly, this was a scary read. And I say this as an adult horror reader. One story in particular, 'the psychopaths terot' had me in chills.
Mind you, this could be a turn off for some more timid readers, as some stories can be quite disturbing. 'Nite crawlers' in particular was one full of things you normally don't read in jr fiction horror,. (Spoiler alert!)
including being buried alive and being eaten alive by hundreds of huge, blood sucking nightcrawlers. Don't get me wrong, this was disturbing and scary in all the right ways, but just need to be aware this is a bit more intense than other jr grade horror I've read.
This is a brilliant and very twisty book. Rather than being a collection of random stories, these tales are in fact connected, and in very clever ways. The opening chapters could have been shorter, but honestly, this was a scary read. And I say this as an adult horror reader. One story in particular, 'the psychopaths terot' had me in chills.
Mind you, this could be a turn off for some more timid readers, as some stories can be quite disturbing. 'Nite crawlers' in particular was one full of things you normally don't read in jr fiction horror,. (Spoiler alert!)
including being buried alive and being eaten alive by hundreds of huge, blood sucking nightcrawlers. Don't get me wrong, this was disturbing and scary in all the right ways, but just need to be aware this is a bit more intense than other jr grade horror I've read.
April 7, 2025
As an adult, this is probably three stars. A young girl comes across a book of stories that are subsequently told as part of the larger story. The story is told as a backdrop, maybe the foreground? for the long standing feud between the Bowens and Turners, members of this community.
There isn't anything that will make your spine crawl. The stories are creative and varied though. There are some truly surprising ends for a book aimed at 11-15 year olds. If your child is a bit skittish, read it to them. If your child is older, or fine with some child level brutality (yes, people will die), they will be fine on their own.
I will give this to friend who loves horror and has sons who may enjoy it. Or I will give it to my brother, who has a son who is a voracious reader.
There isn't anything that will make your spine crawl. The stories are creative and varied though. There are some truly surprising ends for a book aimed at 11-15 year olds. If your child is a bit skittish, read it to them. If your child is older, or fine with some child level brutality (yes, people will die), they will be fine on their own.
I will give this to friend who loves horror and has sons who may enjoy it. Or I will give it to my brother, who has a son who is a voracious reader.
August 26, 2022
3.5- 3.75. Ok this was, for the most part, GREAT. I really enjoyed the stories- I thought they were delightfully spooky. However, the overarching story with Amelia was a little lacking, I thought. I would’ve loved more of the in-between- more of the story “coming alive”. I felt like the ending was rushed, and the very end did not really make a lot of sense to me. I understood what Poblocki was going for, but I think because the ending was so rushed, it didn’t end up working. Will still recommend to my students, though! I will say, I think the rushed ending is a bit of a fatal flaw with Poblocki’s work- I know I felt the same after reading the Ghost Hunter’s Daughter, too.
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