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Bones: Terrifying Tales to Haunt Your Dreams
Spine-chilling, original ghost stories by some of today's best writers, including R.L. Stine, Richard Peck, Margaret Mahy, Todd Strasser, and more.
These bone-chilling stories by some of today's top writers may keep you awake at night! Just
o Skeletons don't always "rest in peace."
o Ghosts hate being ignored.
o Even cell phones can't be trusted.
If you mess with bones, you can get rattled!
These bone-chilling stories by some of today's top writers may keep you awake at night! Just
o Skeletons don't always "rest in peace."
o Ghosts hate being ignored.
o Even cell phones can't be trusted.
If you mess with bones, you can get rattled!
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
5 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Lois Metzger
16 books72 followersLois Metzger was born in Queens, New York City. Three of her five young-adult novels take place in Belle Heights, an invented Queens neighborhood that is boring on purpose to stand in stark contrast to the dramatic life of her characters. She has also written two nonfiction books about the Holocaust, and has edited five anthologies of original short stories. She lives near Washington Square Park in New York with her husband, son, and a tuxedo cat. Someone once told her that black-and-white cats were the best, which she thought made no sense. Now she's a believer.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 10, 2023
Picked this anthology up about a year ago for less than a dollar, and had it cost anything more I'd be upset. These stories not only have lame and uninteresting plots, nothing happens until the very end, and by then it's too late to care. As a huge R.L. Stine fan, I was super disappointed in his entry which seemed like he rolled out of bed and wrote it in about an hour. The fact that the editor's name is spelled incorrectly on the cover should've told me everything I needed to know about this terrible collection of stories. Avoid this at all costs.
November 21, 2021
The best stories are:
The Three-Eyed Man by R.L. Stine
YKN (You Never Know) by Todd Strasser
The Three-Eyed Man by R.L. Stine
YKN (You Never Know) by Todd Strasser
December 7, 2023
What I love most about short stories is that every word matters!
April 15, 2014
I think Metzger might have misunderstood what a scary story is.
Because even when you're writing for kids, a scary story is supposed to be scary. I want a story that made me feel uncomfortable reading it at night, a story that feels real and frightening. Do you think this does that for kids? Or, more on the point would be, do you really think you can't write that way for kids? Because if you don't think you can, I'd suggest you find old copies of Remnants. Those stories were really fucking dark, as well as about ten times more original and inventive than a single story found here. Somebody wrote a genuinely scary story for kids... and nobody freaked out. The world continued to spin as it does today. Hell, not even Scholastic minded. (Until they tried to write a gay character. Then they freaked out. But you get the point.)
Not a single story in this anthology is actually scary. Most of them aren't even mildly spooky. I can't imagine anyone, not even a very young kid, being genuinely creeped out by anything in here. And that honestly makes me a little sad - this is what we're giving our kids to make them enthusiastic about reading? Because I don't think this cuts it, if we want to make readers out of them.
Anyway, I might as well still do a story by story review:
YKN (You Never Know) by Todd Strasser: 1/5
What the fuck was this supposed to be? Nothing about this was scary. Nothing about this was even mildly, elementary-school-haunted-house spooky. You could've put this in an anthology about high schools (for kids, of course) and it wouldn't make a difference. The story was about a girl who gets texts from nobody that tell her to be a good person. I can just feel the impending doom, can't you? It also featured very unrealistic text slang (that's what the title is supposed to be), and a generally unrealistic high school. The kind ruled by cliques of fashionable girls. It's kind of eye-roll inducing. The main character was a member of one of these cliques, and while this could've had some potential for interesting commentary, Strasser doesn't do anything with it. She ends up feeling flat and unrealistic. Coupled with consistently awkward writing, this was probably my least favorite story in the anthology.
The Skeleton Keeper by David Levithan: 4/5
I'm a really big fan of David Levithan, in both his novels (Will Grayson Will Grayson, Every Day) and in his short fiction (Geektastic). So it figures that he'd deliver one of only two good stories in this anthology. The narrator was much better developed than in Strasser's story, and the voice was very well done. As usual, Levithan is good at very quick characterization, and his writing is smooth and efficient. The actual story, however, was a bit lacking. The premise is pretty cool, but it was such an anti-climax that I can hardly compliment it. I really did think that Levithan was going to do something actually scary, but he backed out at the last second, and that was disappointing. Nevertheless, the skill in the writing alone makes this a standout.
In For a Penny by Elizabeth C. Bunce: 1/5
This wasn't quite as bad as YKN, but it certainly comes close. The writing was ridiculously adjective and adverb-heavy, bogging it down and making it hard to read without getting distracted. Bunce certainly painted clear pictures, but they were so clear as to be distracting. The setting of the story was also pretty vague; I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be in the middle ages, or renaissance, or post-renaissance, and I couldn't tell if it was meant to be our world or an alternate reality. That vagueness was very distracting; I spent a lot of time trying to figure the world out. Thankfully, I didn't miss much in this, because there really wasn't much plot; honestly, this read more like a single event than a story, even a short story. It didn't help that there wasn't much character development, either - the story was flat and forgettable.
Growth Spurt by Nina Kirki Hoffman: 2/5
I really did think this story was going to be strong at first. The voice that Hoffman uses for her protagonist is strong and distinct. But unfortunately, that's all that the story's got going for it. It relied on a lot of cliches - an old woman gives a boy a potion in a reclusive room to fulfill his wishes, and it goes predictably wrong. Hoffman just rehashes the frame, without adding anything to it. This also made the story fail completely at being scary. How could I be scared, after all, if I know exactly where it's going? The main character also felt kind of like a cliche - a very vanilla, normal guy struggling with growing. The voice worked so well that I thought this story would work, but unfortunately, I can't say that it did.
Eyes on Imogene by Richard Peck: 2/5
Apparently, Peck decided to focus on the 'short' aspect of the whole short story writing business. Because man, is this thing short. Only six pages. This forced Peck to rush the plot in order to fit everything in, which made the scenes feel cut off and unnatural, the transitions choppy and awkward. He also failed to give it a decent ending; we never really find out what's going on, and we hardly move past the vague idea of what the threat is. And, finally, it was a rather cliched story about (what appears to be) a ghost obsessed with a pretty girl. The narrator of the story was different than what you'd normally see in that narrative - we get the perspective of the girl's little brother - but Peck doesn't do anything with it. The narrator is flat and unmemorable. The prose was alright, but other than that, this was a complete failure on more than one level.
The Three-Eyed Man by R.L. Stine: 5/5
Leave it to R.L. Stine to deliver the only really good story in this anthology. I really did think this would be bland and uninteresting during the beginning. But that twist at the end... holy shit. Some people are going to think it came out of nowhere, others are going to say it was unnecessary, but for me... man, it was exactly what this anthology needed. Something genuinely unpredictable and interesting. It was also by far the scariest story here - it wasn't genuinely frightening, but at least it made the attempt to be creepy and weird in a way that not a single other story did. It's probably the only one that didn't end on an anti-climax. Stine also does a great job of being concise with both his storytelling and his character development - under a less capable author, this might've felt rushed, but with Stine at the helm, he makes the rather brief length feel exactly right. And, of course the prose is great. Overall, this easily the best story in the anthology. By far, and without a doubt.
Bones by Margaret Mahy: 2/5
And... we're back to the same old shit. This did make a slightly more noticeable attempt to be spooky than a lot of the others in this anthology, but just like the others, it ended in an anti-climax. The characters, as well, were drawn only in broad strokes, and the writing was consistently awkward. Overall, there's not much to say about this story that I haven't already said about others; if you've been paying attention so far, you'll know exactly what it was like.
Overall, I can't recommend this anthology to any younger or older readers. R.L. Stine and David Levithan aren't enough to make it worth the other five. Unfortunately, I can't recommend a better horror anthology for kids, but if you want something to give a kid just in general, to be scary? Remnants. It may not be a 'horror' story in a lot of ways, but it's genuinely dark and scary. You'll find nothing of the sort here.
Because even when you're writing for kids, a scary story is supposed to be scary. I want a story that made me feel uncomfortable reading it at night, a story that feels real and frightening. Do you think this does that for kids? Or, more on the point would be, do you really think you can't write that way for kids? Because if you don't think you can, I'd suggest you find old copies of Remnants. Those stories were really fucking dark, as well as about ten times more original and inventive than a single story found here. Somebody wrote a genuinely scary story for kids... and nobody freaked out. The world continued to spin as it does today. Hell, not even Scholastic minded. (Until they tried to write a gay character. Then they freaked out. But you get the point.)
Not a single story in this anthology is actually scary. Most of them aren't even mildly spooky. I can't imagine anyone, not even a very young kid, being genuinely creeped out by anything in here. And that honestly makes me a little sad - this is what we're giving our kids to make them enthusiastic about reading? Because I don't think this cuts it, if we want to make readers out of them.
Anyway, I might as well still do a story by story review:
YKN (You Never Know) by Todd Strasser: 1/5
What the fuck was this supposed to be? Nothing about this was scary. Nothing about this was even mildly, elementary-school-haunted-house spooky. You could've put this in an anthology about high schools (for kids, of course) and it wouldn't make a difference. The story was about a girl who gets texts from nobody that tell her to be a good person. I can just feel the impending doom, can't you? It also featured very unrealistic text slang (that's what the title is supposed to be), and a generally unrealistic high school. The kind ruled by cliques of fashionable girls. It's kind of eye-roll inducing. The main character was a member of one of these cliques, and while this could've had some potential for interesting commentary, Strasser doesn't do anything with it. She ends up feeling flat and unrealistic. Coupled with consistently awkward writing, this was probably my least favorite story in the anthology.
The Skeleton Keeper by David Levithan: 4/5
I'm a really big fan of David Levithan, in both his novels (Will Grayson Will Grayson, Every Day) and in his short fiction (Geektastic). So it figures that he'd deliver one of only two good stories in this anthology. The narrator was much better developed than in Strasser's story, and the voice was very well done. As usual, Levithan is good at very quick characterization, and his writing is smooth and efficient. The actual story, however, was a bit lacking. The premise is pretty cool, but it was such an anti-climax that I can hardly compliment it. I really did think that Levithan was going to do something actually scary, but he backed out at the last second, and that was disappointing. Nevertheless, the skill in the writing alone makes this a standout.
In For a Penny by Elizabeth C. Bunce: 1/5
This wasn't quite as bad as YKN, but it certainly comes close. The writing was ridiculously adjective and adverb-heavy, bogging it down and making it hard to read without getting distracted. Bunce certainly painted clear pictures, but they were so clear as to be distracting. The setting of the story was also pretty vague; I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be in the middle ages, or renaissance, or post-renaissance, and I couldn't tell if it was meant to be our world or an alternate reality. That vagueness was very distracting; I spent a lot of time trying to figure the world out. Thankfully, I didn't miss much in this, because there really wasn't much plot; honestly, this read more like a single event than a story, even a short story. It didn't help that there wasn't much character development, either - the story was flat and forgettable.
Growth Spurt by Nina Kirki Hoffman: 2/5
I really did think this story was going to be strong at first. The voice that Hoffman uses for her protagonist is strong and distinct. But unfortunately, that's all that the story's got going for it. It relied on a lot of cliches - an old woman gives a boy a potion in a reclusive room to fulfill his wishes, and it goes predictably wrong. Hoffman just rehashes the frame, without adding anything to it. This also made the story fail completely at being scary. How could I be scared, after all, if I know exactly where it's going? The main character also felt kind of like a cliche - a very vanilla, normal guy struggling with growing. The voice worked so well that I thought this story would work, but unfortunately, I can't say that it did.
Eyes on Imogene by Richard Peck: 2/5
Apparently, Peck decided to focus on the 'short' aspect of the whole short story writing business. Because man, is this thing short. Only six pages. This forced Peck to rush the plot in order to fit everything in, which made the scenes feel cut off and unnatural, the transitions choppy and awkward. He also failed to give it a decent ending; we never really find out what's going on, and we hardly move past the vague idea of what the threat is. And, finally, it was a rather cliched story about (what appears to be) a ghost obsessed with a pretty girl. The narrator of the story was different than what you'd normally see in that narrative - we get the perspective of the girl's little brother - but Peck doesn't do anything with it. The narrator is flat and unmemorable. The prose was alright, but other than that, this was a complete failure on more than one level.
The Three-Eyed Man by R.L. Stine: 5/5
Leave it to R.L. Stine to deliver the only really good story in this anthology. I really did think this would be bland and uninteresting during the beginning. But that twist at the end... holy shit. Some people are going to think it came out of nowhere, others are going to say it was unnecessary, but for me... man, it was exactly what this anthology needed. Something genuinely unpredictable and interesting. It was also by far the scariest story here - it wasn't genuinely frightening, but at least it made the attempt to be creepy and weird in a way that not a single other story did. It's probably the only one that didn't end on an anti-climax. Stine also does a great job of being concise with both his storytelling and his character development - under a less capable author, this might've felt rushed, but with Stine at the helm, he makes the rather brief length feel exactly right. And, of course the prose is great. Overall, this easily the best story in the anthology. By far, and without a doubt.
Bones by Margaret Mahy: 2/5
And... we're back to the same old shit. This did make a slightly more noticeable attempt to be spooky than a lot of the others in this anthology, but just like the others, it ended in an anti-climax. The characters, as well, were drawn only in broad strokes, and the writing was consistently awkward. Overall, there's not much to say about this story that I haven't already said about others; if you've been paying attention so far, you'll know exactly what it was like.
Overall, I can't recommend this anthology to any younger or older readers. R.L. Stine and David Levithan aren't enough to make it worth the other five. Unfortunately, I can't recommend a better horror anthology for kids, but if you want something to give a kid just in general, to be scary? Remnants. It may not be a 'horror' story in a lot of ways, but it's genuinely dark and scary. You'll find nothing of the sort here.
November 1, 2023
Spooky stories for middle-schoolers and upper elementary readers. I preferred its companion book BITES, which I read right before this one, but it still has some good stories for the intended audience. Great for the Halloween season!
January 4, 2023
This collection of seven short stories is all about the strange, the unusual and haunting. It is at times funny and at times frightening. From a story about a cell phone that seems possessed but wants to make its owner a better person, to a box of bones that speaks to a young boy about the same age as the skeleton within, this collection is the companion to Bites Scary Stories to Sink Your Teeth Into and both are excellent reads. The contributors are:
Todd Strasser
David Levithan
Elizabeth C. Bunce
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Richard Peck
R.L. Stein
Margaret Mahy
This was a fun collection to read. Much like children telling ghost stories at camp or during a sleepover, these stories are intended to stir up the imagination and they do just that. Lois Metzger does an amazing job of compiling a collection that can be read again and again.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More.
Todd Strasser
David Levithan
Elizabeth C. Bunce
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Richard Peck
R.L. Stein
Margaret Mahy
This was a fun collection to read. Much like children telling ghost stories at camp or during a sleepover, these stories are intended to stir up the imagination and they do just that. Lois Metzger does an amazing job of compiling a collection that can be read again and again.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More.
February 16, 2011
This is a book of short stories meant to scare you. The one that was super creepy was by R.L. Stine (no surprise there). There was actually a super cute one in it called Growth Spurt where a boy wants to be taller and he gets what he wants. Being that I am used to the kind of horror stories by the likes of Stephen King, this ones (being geared for kids) were just meh. I am sure if I were 10 it might be a different story.
January 1, 2016
I feel like I would have enjoyed this book more if I were about 12-15 years younger. The short stories are easy to digest but, not quite that terrifying for an adult to read. They're more sort of creepy and strange than anything.
August 11, 2010
Not as good as its companion, Bites, but it had a few decent tales.
currently-reading-anthcoll
August 27, 2016an anthology with a Nina Kiriki Hoffman story? Of course I've read her story but not the others yet :>
March 17, 2011
Interesting selection of spooky shorts. Some very short. A few could have been longer and more developed.
Really enjoyed Bunce's and Hoffman's stories.
Really enjoyed Bunce's and Hoffman's stories.
February 28, 2015
This collection of short stories is a much more enjoyable read than it's companion, Bites: Scary Stories to Sink Your Teeth Into. Young readers should enjoy.
October 29, 2011
Cute stories.
October 12, 2012
For a horror book not scarey in the least
October 8, 2012
Read the first story, but not interested in continuing.
Upper elementary/Middle school
Upper elementary/Middle school
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews