First came The Thing at the Foot of the Bed. In 4th grade, I was obsessed with it, took it out of the library so many times, I’m surprised they didn’t just let me have it.
Then came Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark. Back then I used to take care of a couple of cute kids in the summer and we used to read them out loud and they loved them as much as I did.
So, scary stories have long held a place in my heart, so when I saw this on Netgalley, I jumped on it. A collection of eerie tales from Newfoundland, Canada, the 10 or so short stories are guaranteed to get a screech! out of the little ones (and maybe even the older ones!) accompanied by gorgeous illustrations. I’d love one or two of them for my wall! My favorite story was the ghostly ballerinas (so cute!) and the Old Hag (eeek!) and the blueberry picker was both heartbreaking and eerie. It takes me back to the days when I was a kid, huddled around the campfire listening to Gramps tell The Hookman story (and when they got home, they saw, hanging from the door handle, was a HOOK! *scream*)
Screech! concludes with several tips on how to come up with your own scary story, something I might just do to scare the little ones in my family while sitting around the fire this winter. Scary good fun, and it would be a great gift for younger kids, I’d say ages 7 and up, especially for kids who like a little bit of scary and might help them to enjoy reading.