Illustrated by Carolina Godina
4 stars
Delightfully creepy and well written. Nice variety of story structures including poetry, short stories, an epistolary, a play, chat fiction told through text messages, metafiction, and even stream of consciousness from a family dog.
In terms of kid’s horror, I think this one hits the mark well for middle grade readers. It definitely leans into the dark and unsettling camp with a bit of body horror at the end. Even reading this as an adult, I was legitimately creeped out at times. While some of the stories felt predicable for an adult reader, they were still well-written and interesting to read.
Each story is paired with a wonderfully spooky black-and-white illustration.
Nice variety of creepy elements such as ghosts, creepy dolls, imaginary friends, vampires, zombies, and monsters. Much of the unsettling vibe comes from feeling lost or trapped, not knowing what’s going on, or what to do next, which I think works well for the middle grade audience.
I especially enjoyed “Hide and Don’t Seek”, “You’re It”, “Once Upon a Time”, and “Superstition: The Play”.
A nice range of themes, styles, and scare levels. Perfect for thrill-seeking kids looking for a good scare and those tasting the horror genre to see what they like.