September 12, 2023 by Orca Book Publishers
Copy provided by Edelweiss Plus
Tanya loves the work of author Joel Southland, so when he is a guest speaker at her school, she's super excited to hear her favorite horror writer speak. He even signs a special bookmark for her that says "Stay scared!", but when the ink starts to shift before her eyes, she knows that something weird is happening. The ink seems to be doing strange things to her, and she sees creepy people following her. We then get to read several different stories that also talk about the creepy ink, and she has to find a way to extricate her from Southland's clutches. All of the tales seem to come back to the ink, that will swirl around a person and then smear itself on people and work its way into their body!
Strengths: This is one of those great, twisted story-within-a-story books that my students seem to like, but I find hard to review, like Poblocki's Tales to Keep You Up at Night.
Weaknesses: Did the school not do a background check on Southland before they let him speak to their students? And is he based on the middle grade horror writer Joel Sutherland? Need to know these things!
What I really think: I need Southland's Stories to Melt Your Mind for mystudents! I'll buy this one, but sort of wish it had a spooky glow-in-the-dark cover like Josh Allen's Only if You Dare and Out to Get You! Definitely purchasing, and my students will love it, but I'm failing utterly to write a good description!
Weaknesses: Did the school not do a background check on Southland before they let him speak to their students? And is he based on the middle grade horror writer Joel Sutherland? Need to know these things!
What I really think: I need Southland's Stories to Melt Your Mind for mystudents! I'll buy this one, but sort of wish it had a spooky glow-in-the-dark cover like Josh Allen's Only if You Dare and Out to Get You! Definitely purchasing, and my students will love it, but I'm failing utterly to write a good description!
From the publisher (who doesn't give a much better synopsis than I do!):
Tanya is a huge fan of horror author Joel Southland...AND he's coming to visit her school! Even though she is his biggest fan, she barely gets a chance to say hello. But he does give her a signed For Tanya. Stay Scared! Reading later that night, she figures it's just her eyes playing tricks on her when she sees the ink on the bookmark move a little. But when the ink slithers toward her, it's too late... As Tanya tries to get to the bottom of Southland's nefarious schemes, the book is broken up by nine other creepy tales, including one about middle-school horror movie fans who track down the scariest horror movie of all time, another about a kid whose "baby eye" is beginning to fall out, and yet another about a vampire suffering due to a virus that is keeping people indoors. A mix of squirmy, funny and downright terrifying, these tales will leave readers thinking twice about the things that go bump in the night.
September 19, 2023 by Scholastic Paperback
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Betty and Billy's parents have to both go on a business trip to London for their father's work, and because they have no other relatives to take care of them or their dog, Bellamy, their parents take them to their Uncle Wendell's creepy old house in the woods. They get lost, and are running late, so even though the uncle isn't around, the parents just drop them off with no one to take care of them. As one does. Luckily, their uncle shows up, but he is very odd and claims that a very valuable book has been stolen. Because of this, the dog has to stay in another house with his daughter Jesse, even though a daughter has never been mentioned. Billy and Betty soon find out that their uncle's house near the Wayward Woods is filled with all manner of creepy creatures, like manbats, bloodskeets, cannibal crows, cave locusts, and others. This leads them to comment that "Everything in this forest wants to kill us!" Many of the horrifying instances are tied to the missing book, but what else is going on at Uncle Wendell's house? How long can the two survive?
Strengths: Stine is a master of horror. He doesn't waste any time stranding Betsy and Billy in a creepy environment; they have a quest; the characters are deeply creepy. He even imperils their poor dog! From there, we have jump scare after jump scare, creatures that are probably going to haunt MY dreams tonight, and an ending that finishes things up... only to tell us on the last page that this isn't over! The font is nice and large, there's plenty of white space on the page, and I'm glad to finally get in on #1 of a series of Stine's books. I'll be looking forward to see what the next book brings.
Weaknesses: The cover is laughably bad. It's clearly designed to evoke the 1990s covers of Goosebumps books, so will definitely have parents buying the titles, but will actually students like the books? I'm undecided on this and will have to ask my students.
What I really think: Stine knows his stuff. From his new Stinetingler's story collections to rebooted Slappy titles, Stine can write goofy elementary horror (killer lawn gnomes) to riveting young adult horror novels with spot on historical details. Scariest. Book. Ever. comes right in the middle and is perfect for middle schoolers who want a murder mystery but can also appreciate scary books with paranormal creatures. I'll buy this; by the time the paper deteriorates because this is only available in paperback, I'll be able to retire. That reminds me; I need to cull the worst smelling Fear Street books that have been on my library shelves since the mid 1990s. Every year, I remove on or two.
Strengths: Stine is a master of horror. He doesn't waste any time stranding Betsy and Billy in a creepy environment; they have a quest; the characters are deeply creepy. He even imperils their poor dog! From there, we have jump scare after jump scare, creatures that are probably going to haunt MY dreams tonight, and an ending that finishes things up... only to tell us on the last page that this isn't over! The font is nice and large, there's plenty of white space on the page, and I'm glad to finally get in on #1 of a series of Stine's books. I'll be looking forward to see what the next book brings.
Weaknesses: The cover is laughably bad. It's clearly designed to evoke the 1990s covers of Goosebumps books, so will definitely have parents buying the titles, but will actually students like the books? I'm undecided on this and will have to ask my students.
What I really think: Stine knows his stuff. From his new Stinetingler's story collections to rebooted Slappy titles, Stine can write goofy elementary horror (killer lawn gnomes) to riveting young adult horror novels with spot on historical details. Scariest. Book. Ever. comes right in the middle and is perfect for middle schoolers who want a murder mystery but can also appreciate scary books with paranormal creatures. I'll buy this; by the time the paper deteriorates because this is only available in paperback, I'll be able to retire. That reminds me; I need to cull the worst smelling Fear Street books that have been on my library shelves since the mid 1990s. Every year, I remove on or two.
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