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Short & Shivery #1
Short & Shivery: Scary Short Stories for Kids
Make story time a little spookier with this Halloween-themed collection of ghost stories, spooky shorts, and frightening folktales from all over the world! “No one travels these roads after dark. Those who are found the next day, if they are still alive, will have gone mad.” Chills and thrills to make your flesh crawl with fear! Turn the lights down low and grab your favorite reading chair. But first, you’d better check behind you. . . . Ghosts, monsters, murders, and madmen! These thirty stories have been collected for your reading displeasure from all over the globe, and represent the world’s best scary stories and frightening folktales, featuring famous authors such as Washington Irving and the Brothers Grimm. Welcome to a chilling world of hair-raising tales!
243 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1987
158 people are currently reading
1509 people want to read
About the author
Robert D. San Souci
96 books90 followersRobert Daniel San Souci (October 10, 1946 – December 19, 2014) was a multiple award-winning children's book author, who resided in San Francisco, California. He often worked with his brother, Daniel San Souci, a children's book illustrator. He was a consultant to Disney Studios and was instrumental in the production of the film Mulan, for which he wrote the story. He studied folklore in graduate school. He died after suffering a head injury while falling from a high height in San Francisco in December 2014. He was only 68 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
April 17, 2025
I expected Short & Shivery: Thirty Chilling Tales to be like Alvin Schwartz's celebrated Scary Stories trilogy, retellings of the best hair-raising tales from around the world that effectively induce goosebumps for even seasoned readers. The fact that Short & Shivery includes a few versions of stories found in Alvin Schwartz's trilogy furthers the idea that this book might be a delightfully eerie fright fest in the Scary Stories tradition. But author Robert D. San Souci is primarily a folklorist, perhaps even more so than Alvin Schwartz, and the effect of these thirty chilling tales is less horrifying than it is edifying about what causes heebee-jeebies in a diverse multitude of cultures. The man who brought us Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior, basis for Disney's thirty-sixth full-length animated masterpiece, delves into myths and cautionary tales from Virginia to the Shetland Islands, California to Costa Rica, London to the Orkney Islands, serving up mild scares in a familiar, comfortable narrative voice. Readers of any age or genre preference are sure to find something they like in these thirty forays into the world of the supernatural, the unexplainable, and the bizarre.
"The Robber Bridegroom", based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, leads off this anthology with the saga of a smart, courageous girl who outwits the bandit that tricked her father into promising him her hand in marriage. The miller had no idea he was putting his daughter's life in jeopardy by insisting she marry the man, but now she's the only one who can save herself from a torturous fate. "Jack Frost", a Russian morality fable, is next, portraying the plight of a kindly girl named Maria who is constantly beleaguered by her cruel stepmother. When her stepmother orders Maria left in the deathly cold to finish her off, Jack Frost takes pity on the forlorn girl and brings her diamonds and silver rather than icy death. Outraged that Maria rather than her own daughter, mean-spirited Yagishna, should receive Jack Frost's favor, the stepmother sends Yagishna out on another frigid Russian winter night. But will she, too, merit that rarest of blessings, Jack Frost's tender mercy? "The Waterfall of Ghosts" warns of the perils of wrongdoing and greed, as a pack of wild ghosts haunts a spitfire Japanese girl willing to steal money from a hallowed spiritual site to satisfy her materialistic desires. Yet redemption is possible with a changed heart, and this the story also emphasizes. "The Ghost's Cap" is another Russian folktale, this time telling of Anya, a petulant, lazy girl who accepts a dare to visit a graveyard at night. An unwitting encounter with a ghost leaves Anya with the long-dead apparition's moldy old hat in her hand, but discarding it turns out to be a catastrophic mistake. Now Anya has her own personal haint, who won't rest until he's exacted vengeance.
An American legend from Virginia is next, "The Witch Cat", a familiar retelling to anyone who's read Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories collections. A beautiful young woman come to call on her new neighbor triggers the onset of bad luck for him. Some animal is getting into the coop and killing his chickens every night, but could the young woman be the culprit, a witch capable of shapeshifting into a wildcat? "The Green Mist" follows, a paranormal folktale of a husband and wife waiting to see if the arrival of spring will cure the deathly ailments of their young daughter. But a wish carelessly made and overhead by the bogies could tie the girl's life to something far more spurious, and leave her parents bereaved in the end. "The Cegua" is a Costa Rican legend about a man chased by a monster, who barely survivors the pursuit only to have his harrowing account laughed at by others. Back to the United States we go for "The Ghostly Little Girl", tracing the emergence of a phantom the girls in the story don't know is the deceased spirit of their friend until it's too late. The reveal is a jaw-dropper, for the girls if not the reader. "The Midnight Mass of the Dead", a spine-tingler from Norway, comes next, another spooky folktale used in Alvin Schwartz's books. A stouthearted widow finds herself participating in a church service for the deceased when she mistakenly heads to meeting much too early one Sunday. "Tailypo" is again an American original, a jump-scare narrative of a man who chops off and eats the tail of a weird animal that sneaks into his home when he's asleep. The tail-less creature relentlessly stalks the man to get back his severed limb by any means necessary. "Lady Eleanore's Mantle" is Robert D. San Souci's retelling of a Nathaniel Hawthorne horror story, about a young society girl with lofty airs who departs Great Britain to visit Boston while inadvertently carrying a flesh-eating plague in the wondrously shimmering mantle she wears. A young man whose affections she repeatedly spurned happens upon her in the throes of rot, and sees that her unremitting haughtiness has not gone unpunished.
"The Soldier and the Vampire" is another Russian folk legend, of a soldier returning home for his sister's wedding to discover she's on the brink of death. A powerful wizard/vampire is responsible, but he's too strong to confront at night, and no one knows the location of his resting place where he's vulnerable in the daytime. The soldier is ready to risk his life to redeem his sister from the edge of mortality, but can human bravery, guile, and weapon-mastery defeat such a formidable enemy? "The Skeleton's Dance" is a typical Japanese morality play, funny and serious and macabre all rolled into one, as a wicked young man kills his friend for profit and then tries to use him in death to prosper even more. The deceased has a trick or two up his sleeve, however, and the murderer won't get away with his heinous deed. "Scared to Death" is another American classic brought to wonderfully grisly life by Alvin Schwartz, and the version in Short & Shivery is atmospheric and detailed, if not as frighteningly effective as Schwartz's. A prideful girl challenged by friends to visit a cemetery at night is scared out of her mind when she feels a ghoulish appendage grab her from behind and pull her back to the graves. But is it an attack by the living dead, or is something else restraining her from leaving? "Swallowed Alive" is a British cautionary fable about a thieving liar whose irreverent words catch up to her when she makes a careless declaration before the wrong audience. Duplicity doesn't go unrecompensed forever, it's clear to see. "The Deacon's Ghost" is a sad story from Iceland, about a young churchman and the girl he loves, who agrees to attend a Christmas Eve service with him. He drowns alone trying to cross a swollen river, but the girl remains un-notified of his death as his ghost returns and entices her to join him in the great beyond. Can one blame the deacon for seeking his beloved's companionship, after cruel fate separated them too soon?
"We all know there's many kinds of life that live in the air, on the earth, or in the water. And we, poor mortals, have not the power to understand the like of some of them."
—Short & Shivery, P. 130, from the short story "Boneless"
"Nuckelavee" is a yarn borrowed from the Orkney Islands, telling of an equine monster and its predatory pursuit of an old man headed home one night. Then we come to Robert D. San Souci's version of the great Washington Irving's "The Adventure of the German Student", a somewhat cautionary piece regarding the terrifying ordeal of Gottfried Wolfgang, whose unyielding belief in demons and the supernatural leads him to study in Paris during the French Revolution. When he meets a girl he's seen over and over in his dreams, their future together seems written in the stars, but a happy ending for Gottfried may not be in the cards. "Billy Mosby's Night Ride" is one of the longest stories in Short & Shivery, about a young boy caught up in a web of witchcraft with Francis Woolcott, a neighbor nobody trusts. Billy is eager to apprentice under Woolcott when he secretly witnesses the sensational black magic the man wields, but Billy soon learns the horrifying price paid by those who dabble in the dark arts. In "The Hunter in the Haunted Forest", a Native American legend, an Indian brave whose supply of wild game is running low as winter nears makes the decision to hunt in woods rumored haunted, and takes on an unearthly foe in a battle for his life and the lives of his loved ones. "Brother and Sister" is a good African folktale. A girl reluctant to choose a suitor finally pairs off with a man who catches her fancy, but her little brother finds out the man is a demon and follows them after the wedding to keep his sister from harm. Together the boy and his sister run from the demon and the horde of monsters at his heels, but is it too late for them both to survive? "The Lovers of Dismal Swamp" hearkens back once more to Virginia folklore. When a young man's fiance perishes from swamp fever, the grief swallows his mind, and he convinces himself that his betrothed is not dead, but trapped in the swamp where only he can rescue her. Escaping detention by concerned friends and family who think he's apt to get himself killed, the grief-stricken man sets out on a search for his darling through the swamp, day after day. But if he should find the girl who owns him heart and soul, how can he save her from the death that has already claimed her?
Horror anecdotes from the Shetland Islands speak of a supernatural beast so strange, no one who sees it agrees in their description of its appearance. This creature is the subject of "Boneless", and skeptics beware, there's no mercy for he who refuses to believe in spite of the truth. "The Death Waltz" is a New-Mexican tale of unbalanced affections between a soldier and the woman he desires to marry. When the soldier is killed in an Indian raid, his newly affianced quickly moves on, but death isn't the end of his passion for her. "The Ghost of Misery Hill" is quintessential American folktale, as a prospecting loner dies and puts a curse on anyone with the temerity to work his old mining claim. The first person audacious enough to test the curse is met with swift paranormal backlash, but will he survive to be run out of town? "The Loup-Garou (The Werewolf)" combines several French tales into a single story, about a man named Pierre who ventures out by horse and sleigh one wintry nocturne to procure medicine for his ailing wife. Pierre never will forget the terror of his run-in with the superhuman werewolf, who stalks him with the vicious instinct of a starving carnivore. "The Golem" is a well-known nugget of Jewish lore, David Wisniewski's version winning the 1996 Caldecott Medal, and Robert D. San Souci's telling is culturally interesting. "Lavender" is a prototypical college ghost story, the framework of which will be familiar to most who read it. When a couple of freshmen pick up a pretty girl by the roadside and offer her a ride home, is she everything they come to believe she is? "The Goblin Spider" takes us back to Japan, where samurai hero Raiko and his sidekick Tsuna track a goblin spider that has been terrorizing the Japanese people. Raiko is tenacious and lionhearted, but does he have the cunning to destroy the monster arachnid before it lands its death blow? The thirtieth and final story of Short & Shivery is "The Halloween Pony", a French extraction about three brothers who ignore their grandmother's plea that they stay safe at home on Halloween night. While out and about they run across a creature they would never suspect of doing them harm, but All Hallows' Eve is a night for wickedness, and before it's through the boys will wish they had listened to their grandmother.
It's no surprise that the stories with the best structure in Short & Shivery are retellings of narratives created by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving, but Robert D. San Souci does a fine job putting his own spin on them. To me, the best story of the book is "The Lovers of Dismal Swamp", which contains elements of genuine heartbreak. I identify with the sorrow of the man out wandering the swamp in search of his bride-to-be, unable to accept that she's lost to him forever. Who can accept such a haunting truth as that? Ultimately, Short & Shivery didn't give me shivers and doesn't quite live up to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories, but it's an entertaining hodgepodge of folklore ideal for reading on Halloween or any night in October, when the creeping darkness outside surely seems to hide a few monsters. I appreciate Robert D. San Souci's storytelling, and it's a safe bet I'll be picking up further volumes of his Short & Shivery series. I'm going to have a good time with these.
"The Robber Bridegroom", based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, leads off this anthology with the saga of a smart, courageous girl who outwits the bandit that tricked her father into promising him her hand in marriage. The miller had no idea he was putting his daughter's life in jeopardy by insisting she marry the man, but now she's the only one who can save herself from a torturous fate. "Jack Frost", a Russian morality fable, is next, portraying the plight of a kindly girl named Maria who is constantly beleaguered by her cruel stepmother. When her stepmother orders Maria left in the deathly cold to finish her off, Jack Frost takes pity on the forlorn girl and brings her diamonds and silver rather than icy death. Outraged that Maria rather than her own daughter, mean-spirited Yagishna, should receive Jack Frost's favor, the stepmother sends Yagishna out on another frigid Russian winter night. But will she, too, merit that rarest of blessings, Jack Frost's tender mercy? "The Waterfall of Ghosts" warns of the perils of wrongdoing and greed, as a pack of wild ghosts haunts a spitfire Japanese girl willing to steal money from a hallowed spiritual site to satisfy her materialistic desires. Yet redemption is possible with a changed heart, and this the story also emphasizes. "The Ghost's Cap" is another Russian folktale, this time telling of Anya, a petulant, lazy girl who accepts a dare to visit a graveyard at night. An unwitting encounter with a ghost leaves Anya with the long-dead apparition's moldy old hat in her hand, but discarding it turns out to be a catastrophic mistake. Now Anya has her own personal haint, who won't rest until he's exacted vengeance.
An American legend from Virginia is next, "The Witch Cat", a familiar retelling to anyone who's read Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories collections. A beautiful young woman come to call on her new neighbor triggers the onset of bad luck for him. Some animal is getting into the coop and killing his chickens every night, but could the young woman be the culprit, a witch capable of shapeshifting into a wildcat? "The Green Mist" follows, a paranormal folktale of a husband and wife waiting to see if the arrival of spring will cure the deathly ailments of their young daughter. But a wish carelessly made and overhead by the bogies could tie the girl's life to something far more spurious, and leave her parents bereaved in the end. "The Cegua" is a Costa Rican legend about a man chased by a monster, who barely survivors the pursuit only to have his harrowing account laughed at by others. Back to the United States we go for "The Ghostly Little Girl", tracing the emergence of a phantom the girls in the story don't know is the deceased spirit of their friend until it's too late. The reveal is a jaw-dropper, for the girls if not the reader. "The Midnight Mass of the Dead", a spine-tingler from Norway, comes next, another spooky folktale used in Alvin Schwartz's books. A stouthearted widow finds herself participating in a church service for the deceased when she mistakenly heads to meeting much too early one Sunday. "Tailypo" is again an American original, a jump-scare narrative of a man who chops off and eats the tail of a weird animal that sneaks into his home when he's asleep. The tail-less creature relentlessly stalks the man to get back his severed limb by any means necessary. "Lady Eleanore's Mantle" is Robert D. San Souci's retelling of a Nathaniel Hawthorne horror story, about a young society girl with lofty airs who departs Great Britain to visit Boston while inadvertently carrying a flesh-eating plague in the wondrously shimmering mantle she wears. A young man whose affections she repeatedly spurned happens upon her in the throes of rot, and sees that her unremitting haughtiness has not gone unpunished.
"The Soldier and the Vampire" is another Russian folk legend, of a soldier returning home for his sister's wedding to discover she's on the brink of death. A powerful wizard/vampire is responsible, but he's too strong to confront at night, and no one knows the location of his resting place where he's vulnerable in the daytime. The soldier is ready to risk his life to redeem his sister from the edge of mortality, but can human bravery, guile, and weapon-mastery defeat such a formidable enemy? "The Skeleton's Dance" is a typical Japanese morality play, funny and serious and macabre all rolled into one, as a wicked young man kills his friend for profit and then tries to use him in death to prosper even more. The deceased has a trick or two up his sleeve, however, and the murderer won't get away with his heinous deed. "Scared to Death" is another American classic brought to wonderfully grisly life by Alvin Schwartz, and the version in Short & Shivery is atmospheric and detailed, if not as frighteningly effective as Schwartz's. A prideful girl challenged by friends to visit a cemetery at night is scared out of her mind when she feels a ghoulish appendage grab her from behind and pull her back to the graves. But is it an attack by the living dead, or is something else restraining her from leaving? "Swallowed Alive" is a British cautionary fable about a thieving liar whose irreverent words catch up to her when she makes a careless declaration before the wrong audience. Duplicity doesn't go unrecompensed forever, it's clear to see. "The Deacon's Ghost" is a sad story from Iceland, about a young churchman and the girl he loves, who agrees to attend a Christmas Eve service with him. He drowns alone trying to cross a swollen river, but the girl remains un-notified of his death as his ghost returns and entices her to join him in the great beyond. Can one blame the deacon for seeking his beloved's companionship, after cruel fate separated them too soon?
"We all know there's many kinds of life that live in the air, on the earth, or in the water. And we, poor mortals, have not the power to understand the like of some of them."
—Short & Shivery, P. 130, from the short story "Boneless"
"Nuckelavee" is a yarn borrowed from the Orkney Islands, telling of an equine monster and its predatory pursuit of an old man headed home one night. Then we come to Robert D. San Souci's version of the great Washington Irving's "The Adventure of the German Student", a somewhat cautionary piece regarding the terrifying ordeal of Gottfried Wolfgang, whose unyielding belief in demons and the supernatural leads him to study in Paris during the French Revolution. When he meets a girl he's seen over and over in his dreams, their future together seems written in the stars, but a happy ending for Gottfried may not be in the cards. "Billy Mosby's Night Ride" is one of the longest stories in Short & Shivery, about a young boy caught up in a web of witchcraft with Francis Woolcott, a neighbor nobody trusts. Billy is eager to apprentice under Woolcott when he secretly witnesses the sensational black magic the man wields, but Billy soon learns the horrifying price paid by those who dabble in the dark arts. In "The Hunter in the Haunted Forest", a Native American legend, an Indian brave whose supply of wild game is running low as winter nears makes the decision to hunt in woods rumored haunted, and takes on an unearthly foe in a battle for his life and the lives of his loved ones. "Brother and Sister" is a good African folktale. A girl reluctant to choose a suitor finally pairs off with a man who catches her fancy, but her little brother finds out the man is a demon and follows them after the wedding to keep his sister from harm. Together the boy and his sister run from the demon and the horde of monsters at his heels, but is it too late for them both to survive? "The Lovers of Dismal Swamp" hearkens back once more to Virginia folklore. When a young man's fiance perishes from swamp fever, the grief swallows his mind, and he convinces himself that his betrothed is not dead, but trapped in the swamp where only he can rescue her. Escaping detention by concerned friends and family who think he's apt to get himself killed, the grief-stricken man sets out on a search for his darling through the swamp, day after day. But if he should find the girl who owns him heart and soul, how can he save her from the death that has already claimed her?
Horror anecdotes from the Shetland Islands speak of a supernatural beast so strange, no one who sees it agrees in their description of its appearance. This creature is the subject of "Boneless", and skeptics beware, there's no mercy for he who refuses to believe in spite of the truth. "The Death Waltz" is a New-Mexican tale of unbalanced affections between a soldier and the woman he desires to marry. When the soldier is killed in an Indian raid, his newly affianced quickly moves on, but death isn't the end of his passion for her. "The Ghost of Misery Hill" is quintessential American folktale, as a prospecting loner dies and puts a curse on anyone with the temerity to work his old mining claim. The first person audacious enough to test the curse is met with swift paranormal backlash, but will he survive to be run out of town? "The Loup-Garou (The Werewolf)" combines several French tales into a single story, about a man named Pierre who ventures out by horse and sleigh one wintry nocturne to procure medicine for his ailing wife. Pierre never will forget the terror of his run-in with the superhuman werewolf, who stalks him with the vicious instinct of a starving carnivore. "The Golem" is a well-known nugget of Jewish lore, David Wisniewski's version winning the 1996 Caldecott Medal, and Robert D. San Souci's telling is culturally interesting. "Lavender" is a prototypical college ghost story, the framework of which will be familiar to most who read it. When a couple of freshmen pick up a pretty girl by the roadside and offer her a ride home, is she everything they come to believe she is? "The Goblin Spider" takes us back to Japan, where samurai hero Raiko and his sidekick Tsuna track a goblin spider that has been terrorizing the Japanese people. Raiko is tenacious and lionhearted, but does he have the cunning to destroy the monster arachnid before it lands its death blow? The thirtieth and final story of Short & Shivery is "The Halloween Pony", a French extraction about three brothers who ignore their grandmother's plea that they stay safe at home on Halloween night. While out and about they run across a creature they would never suspect of doing them harm, but All Hallows' Eve is a night for wickedness, and before it's through the boys will wish they had listened to their grandmother.
It's no surprise that the stories with the best structure in Short & Shivery are retellings of narratives created by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving, but Robert D. San Souci does a fine job putting his own spin on them. To me, the best story of the book is "The Lovers of Dismal Swamp", which contains elements of genuine heartbreak. I identify with the sorrow of the man out wandering the swamp in search of his bride-to-be, unable to accept that she's lost to him forever. Who can accept such a haunting truth as that? Ultimately, Short & Shivery didn't give me shivers and doesn't quite live up to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories, but it's an entertaining hodgepodge of folklore ideal for reading on Halloween or any night in October, when the creeping darkness outside surely seems to hide a few monsters. I appreciate Robert D. San Souci's storytelling, and it's a safe bet I'll be picking up further volumes of his Short & Shivery series. I'm going to have a good time with these.
October 21, 2015
An extremely fun compilation of tales around the world. Perfect pre Halloween reading. Includes Grimm and many ethnic tales.
November 6, 2019
Surprisingly scary!
December 24, 2020
Mostly scary folktales told in a similar style to those by the Brothers Grimm. Not really very "chilling", but made for OK reading for the most part. Contains some minor linguistic errors here and there. If you're looking for true horror, you could do much better.
October 31, 2023
Great folklore throughout the world
December 15, 2017
I don't really like scary stories as it is, but the worst is when they're not scary! I found that most of the stories were actually chilling and that a lot of them were essentially the same with different characters.
September 29, 2024
A fun spooky read for my boy's storytime before he goes to bed.
June 27, 2022
Very much checked out at the end of this. The good thing is that it was better than "Lore" which I've read earlier this year because it cuts out the fluff but leaves personally.
The bad thing is that this book lacks diversity, and I mean that in two ways:
1) the locations of each story
2) the types of stories there are
When it comes to locations, this book has about 31 stories in it. And in the introduction it takes pride in the fact that the stories come from all over the place when that simply isn't the case. You have 1 story from Costa Rica, 1 Native American Story, 1 African story and 1 Jewish story, and the book just forgets any Asian country outside of Japan exists. The rest are from the United States or different parts of Europe.
Then a lot of these stories fall into this repetitive loop where you feel like you JUST read the same story two pages ago. There were only a handful that were actually unique or did anything different. So when you begin reading the book you feel like you're going to have a good time only for you to be left dragging you feet at the end..
Would I pick this book up again? No
Would I read it's sequels? ONLY IF my library has them.
The bad thing is that this book lacks diversity, and I mean that in two ways:
1) the locations of each story
2) the types of stories there are
When it comes to locations, this book has about 31 stories in it. And in the introduction it takes pride in the fact that the stories come from all over the place when that simply isn't the case. You have 1 story from Costa Rica, 1 Native American Story, 1 African story and 1 Jewish story, and the book just forgets any Asian country outside of Japan exists. The rest are from the United States or different parts of Europe.
Then a lot of these stories fall into this repetitive loop where you feel like you JUST read the same story two pages ago. There were only a handful that were actually unique or did anything different. So when you begin reading the book you feel like you're going to have a good time only for you to be left dragging you feet at the end..
Would I pick this book up again? No
Would I read it's sequels? ONLY IF my library has them.
January 11, 2021
It's amazing how single phrases or illustrations from a book you read probably more than twenty years ago can stay lodged in your brain forever, but they certainly do. A lifelong lover of folkore and tales of the supernatural, this compendium of strange worldwide stories enchanted me as a kid. There's nothing here as gleefully morbid and gruesome as Alvin Schwartz's similar "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark," but Robert D. San Souci is a better author overall despite lacking the iconic status of Schwartz's retellings.
Standout stories here include "Boneless," a tale of a glowing, shapeless abomination that I've always remembered, and "The Death Waltz," in which a Civil War corpse returns in a gruesome twist on the "Gone with the Wind" setting.
Standout stories here include "Boneless," a tale of a glowing, shapeless abomination that I've always remembered, and "The Death Waltz," in which a Civil War corpse returns in a gruesome twist on the "Gone with the Wind" setting.
May 22, 2017
Predictable and preachy, but still entertaining.
February 11, 2024
In a world where Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark exists, Short and Shivery retells similar (or sometimes identical) folk tales to lesser effect.
The first story included in this collection is the Grimm fairy tale "The Robber Bridegroom", the original version of which contains a gruesome murder that our innocent protagonist (but a poor miller's daughter) witnesses from behind a wine barrel. The San Souci variant eliminates the murder, which robs the story of much of its danger and impact and renders it a bit toothless. That sense of "sanitized for children" hangs over many of the other stories, which occasionally offer a thrill or a chill but for the most part feel too safe to really get under your skin. For this reason I found that the more romantic stories (The Green Mist, The Deacon's Ghost, The Adventure of the German Student, The Lovers of Dismal Swamp, Lavender) worked best.
In the horror vein, I thought stories like "The Ghostly Little Girl" and "Bill Mosby's Night Ride" came the closest to actually frightening me. "The Witch Cat" is a fun bit of Southern-fried supernaturalism. "The Soldier and the Vampire" is charming--I love pre-romantic vampire mythology. "The Goblin Spider" has a couple of folkloric heroes beset by a litany of Japanese monsters to delirious effect. Katherine Coville's illustrations are solid, if perhaps ill-suited to the horror genre.
The first story included in this collection is the Grimm fairy tale "The Robber Bridegroom", the original version of which contains a gruesome murder that our innocent protagonist (but a poor miller's daughter) witnesses from behind a wine barrel. The San Souci variant eliminates the murder, which robs the story of much of its danger and impact and renders it a bit toothless. That sense of "sanitized for children" hangs over many of the other stories, which occasionally offer a thrill or a chill but for the most part feel too safe to really get under your skin. For this reason I found that the more romantic stories (The Green Mist, The Deacon's Ghost, The Adventure of the German Student, The Lovers of Dismal Swamp, Lavender) worked best.
In the horror vein, I thought stories like "The Ghostly Little Girl" and "Bill Mosby's Night Ride" came the closest to actually frightening me. "The Witch Cat" is a fun bit of Southern-fried supernaturalism. "The Soldier and the Vampire" is charming--I love pre-romantic vampire mythology. "The Goblin Spider" has a couple of folkloric heroes beset by a litany of Japanese monsters to delirious effect. Katherine Coville's illustrations are solid, if perhaps ill-suited to the horror genre.
November 23, 2019
This is a fun collection of 30 scary fairy tales from around the world. Most of them are about ghosts but there are other creepy creatures too, including a Werewolf, a golem, a witch, some weird pale lumpy thing and other bizarre things that go bump in the night. Most of the stories teach a moral or lesson. Often the bad person gets punishment at the end. The times and settings are greatly varied, from.japan to England, from the Gold Rush to modern days. These stories are suitable for kids and they offer clean scary fun. The book also has numerous black and white illustrations. Most stories range from three to five pages. And even though I'm an adult I really enjoyed reading these stories, as it's been a long time since I read any fairy tales.
October 8, 2024
The book that started my early love for folklore and horror, Short & Shivery is a collective work edited by Robert Souci. It contains numerous folktales and legends from around the world, each with its own special aspect of sending shivers down your spine.
Many of the tales are either obscure or well-known to enthusiasts. The ones that were familiar were a treat to hear them out again, namely Lavendar, Scared to Death and Jack Frost. The Others were lesser-known but nicely put. Compared to the later books in the series, this one was a little light on the spooks, maybe Gothic, but not totally creepy. Similarly the artworks are nice, but not as eerie as later ones had. Still, the first book is still well worth a read for some light horror and interesting folktales from across the globe.
Many of the tales are either obscure or well-known to enthusiasts. The ones that were familiar were a treat to hear them out again, namely Lavendar, Scared to Death and Jack Frost. The Others were lesser-known but nicely put. Compared to the later books in the series, this one was a little light on the spooks, maybe Gothic, but not totally creepy. Similarly the artworks are nice, but not as eerie as later ones had. Still, the first book is still well worth a read for some light horror and interesting folktales from across the globe.
March 30, 2022
Wonderful entertaining fantasy listening 🎶😬
Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi haunting horror ghost 👻 thirty short stories by Robert D. San Souci from all over the world 🌎. I would recommend this novel to anyone who reads fantasy horror haunting ghost 👻 stories. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of eye issues and damage from nerve damage caused by shingles. 🏡🔰😕😈 2022
Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi haunting horror ghost 👻 thirty short stories by Robert D. San Souci from all over the world 🌎. I would recommend this novel to anyone who reads fantasy horror haunting ghost 👻 stories. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of eye issues and damage from nerve damage caused by shingles. 🏡🔰😕😈 2022
October 21, 2017
Great anthology for a children's horror collection. I read this for the first time when I was 8 in 1999 and the stories are just as good this time around. Obviously simple and basic but still entertaining.
November 4, 2018
Excellent collection of retold ghoulish folktales and spooky stories from around the world. Sparked my imagination in a fun way. “Tailypo,” “Jack Frost,” and “The Skeleton’s Dance” left the deepest impression, but all were worthwhile. Recommended.
July 13, 2020
Some of these were fun and chilling but most of the book was dull. I enjoyed the illustrations. I liked Midnight Mass of the Dead, Scared to Death, The Adventure of the German Student, The Lovers of Dismal Swamp, and The Death Waltz.
July 28, 2025
I'm a fan of spooky stories, even those meant for kids. This one is full of fairly predictable ones. Some kinda scary, others just - ehhh. Someone unfamiliar with typical ghost stories/lore might appreciate this more.
July 1, 2017
I read this once when I was thirteen and again when I was in my twenties and I still loved it. Remains one of my favorite scary shirt story collections to this day growing up.
November 20, 2017
it was a great halloween book. spookie & short & shivery!!!
December 10, 2017
Well organized and written so that we could understand the stories after translation. Got this book in elementary school, signed by the author. Good fun read!
September 29, 2018
I loved it. It reminded me of trsditional fairy tales. Perfect for reading around a bonfire, or during the coldest winter night.
January 9, 2019
Still bomb!
Again, remembered fondly from my childhood. Nostalgia fucking me upppp and still spooky!!! Continuing on to read them all! 😌
Again, remembered fondly from my childhood. Nostalgia fucking me upppp and still spooky!!! Continuing on to read them all! 😌
May 6, 2019
I remember reading this in the sixth grade and absolutely LOVED it. I read this book over and over again with my friends, and it was endless fun!
June 12, 2019
Some of these stories were good and some were not.
October 11, 2019
Cute book filled with short , slightly scary folk tales . Quick read .
January 7, 2020
Five fucking stars
July 24, 2020
A good collection of quick, creepy tales from around the world. (Closest to home was Monterey, CA, which was cool.) A couple I particularly liked were “The Skeleton’s Dance” and “The Death Waltz.”
August 6, 2020
Great for kids and adults
Love this series! I've read this many times over the years and it never gets old. Worth the time and money!
Love this series! I've read this many times over the years and it never gets old. Worth the time and money!
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