Blaise Hemingway

Chills, thrills, and ghostly moments abound in this beautiful book, which has a high-quality touch along with a good dose of creepiness.

Thirteen spooky tales await to be unleashed in this lovely collection. Already the cover had me excited to dive into this one. The book carries a high quality feel, making it appear as one of those books which is kept on the 'special' shelf to be enjoyed for years. And it's not only the cover and binding which shines with that extra something. The illustrations are worth flipping through all on their own. Each one is nicely done and will have kids (and adults) thumbing through them time and again.

The tales are definitely for ghost story fans. These are not intended for more sensitive readers, but allow horrors and terrors to unfold...with some care, since it isn't intended for adults. Children do die unpleasant deaths, and the reader 'experiences' this with them. There is pooling blood and not just one evil, vengeful ghost. In other words, this is not necessarily a read for all middle graders, and I'd even tend to suggest it to a tween audience or, at least, middle grade readers who are accustom to a little more thrill and chill.

I was surprised how nicely put together these tales are. The language doesn't talk down to the audience, but rather might be a little 'high' for some. It has a literary feel, in some ways. Each story is well laid out, creepy, draws in, and grips the reader until the last sentence. The stories vary greatly too not only in plot but in settings, situations and time frames. Each one is different from the last, and each one holds its own type of scare. While some are more predictable than others, these tales do their job and will make small horror fans' hearts beat faster.

Readers ages ten and up who love chilling tales are sure to enjoy this book tremendously.

I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed snuggling up with chilling tales so much...my kids did manage to wrestle it from me and loved it too...so I'm leaving my honest thoughts.… (mehr)