Spooky Stories for a Dark and Stormy Night

by Alice Low (Editor), Gahan Wilson (Illustrator)

This collection of spooky stories represents many cultures, including African-American, Chinese-American, Russian, and Norwegian. Gahan Wilson's eclectic illustrations eerily complement the spine-tingling stories.

Genres: Horror, Picture Books, Short Stories, Halloween

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1994

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me smile. :) The stories in this book remind me of childhood days spent sitting in the cornfield on the edge of our neighborhood (yes, a cornfield in town -- the farmer refused to sell. When he passed away, the family sold his two fields to a developer who put apartments and an assisted living facility on them. I pity the kids in that neighborhood now. It's nice small-town living still...but no scary stories or games of hide and seek amid the stalks anymore. Sing with me: They paved paradise and put up a parkinggggg lot! You have me to thank for that song being in your head all day now. But.....back to my book review.....) Ahem.... ok we were all sitting in the cornfield at the edge of our neighborhood.....telling scary stories. Usually we had our sleeping bags to sit on, some snacks we ferreted from the cupboards at home and flashlights. Flashlights were necessary because when it was your turn to tell the story you had to shine the light up into your face so you looked scary. When it hit 10 pm, or we got a good case of the shivers,(whichever came first) it was time to go home. Because, our dads were all scarier than any stories we had to tell if we dared stay out past 10 pm. The stories in this book remind me of the tales we told each other as kids....ghosts, curses, haunted houses, giant cats, monsters, curses, etc. I smiled the entire time I was reading. What a fun book!

The illustrations by Gahan Wilson are colorful and just awesome!

The stories vary from folk tales from around the world, short stories by famous authors like Dickens and Washington Irving (shortened and retold for this story collection for kids), and old classics that all kids seem to love. Perfect stories for telling at camp, during sleepovers, on stormy nights to scare your little brother, and also for adults who love this sort of light, creepy fun just as much as kids!

I had so much fun reading these stories! I told my 13-year old that they put a picture of him in the book I was reading.....and then showed him a monster picture from the book. ha ha. :) He just gave me that angst-y look all parents of teenagers know very well, and then finally cracked a smile and walked out laughing. Just getting my own back for all the "you're old'' comments. :)

Alice Low is the author of several books for kids including story collections about myths and legends, holidays, sports and other great topics. I will definitely be reading more of her books! This was such a fun story collection! I'm sure to enjoy her other ones as well!

Gahan Wilson's artwork can be seen in many books....and I'm definitely reading more that contain his art because they have fantastic titles like: The Big Book of Freaks, The Weird World of Gahan Wilson, Still Weird, Even Weirder and Everybody's Favorite Duck. He also provided the illustrations for A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. Who can resist a big book of freaks?? I certainly can't!

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightfully chilling collection of tales was given to me as a gift. I had been in the midst of the worst reading slump of my life, but it was such an engaging book, I couldn't put it down! These stories are a lot of fun, and some are genuinely chilling, which I feel is rare in a lot of "scary stories for kids" type books.

I think the 1990s had a real handle on how to market horror to children. The stories weren't watered down, but they weren't mind-numbingly terrifying, either. Just the right amount of chills, just the right amount of bite. This was a great book and I look forward to reading it again next Halloween!

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

My, my, what spooky stories to tell. I didn't think this book would be as good as it is, it can scare anyone of any age.
Captain Murderer has a Bluebeard feeling to it with a rather scary and sad ending.

I didn't know that the Norwegians also had a tale of the sack lady (Little Buttercup), Cubans have the tale of the sack man. I think that people holding sacks are scary because they can have anything on their back, well, except Santa Clause.

There's even a Russian tale of Baba Yaga (The Black Geese) where the little girl has to go into the witch's chicken legged cabin to save her brother.

I think my favorite would have to be Good-bye, Miss Patterson because a teacher's humiliation backfires when a little witch takes care of her.

Another favorite is definitely I'm Coming up the Stairs because the creep man slowly makes his approach up the stairs and into the girl's room, the anticipation is breathtaking.

And lastly, Boo! because people always have a false sense of security when they are under their bed covers and have locked doors.

[Blaise Kyrios · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going to read one of these for the teens and scare them sooooo much....

[J Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are stories I didn’t know. I came here for the illustrations by Gahan Wilson, which are comically weird. I love these stories that were selected. Not for the very young,

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rowdy pulled this one off his shelf and reminded me how much he loved me reading these stories to him when he was younger. I don't remember reading these hysterically dark tales to him...just one more reason why I deservedly wear the Worst Mother of the Year crown so well!

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun one to read with the kids, although some were surprisingly violent and even disturbing, considering this was a book written for children.