Alvin Schwartz

Stories of ghosts and witches, "jump" stories, scary songs, and modern-day scary stories.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

All those who enjoyed shuddering their way through Alvin Schwartz's first volume of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark will find a satisfyingly spooky sequel in this new collection of the macabre, the funny, and the fantastic. Is it possible to die -- and not know it? What if a person is buried too soon? What happens to a thief foolish enough to rob a corpse, or to a murderer whose victim returns from the grave? Read about these terrifying predicaments as well as what happens when practical jokes produce gruesome consequences and initiations go awry. Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories -- and even a scary song -- all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark. If You Dare!

Patrick Book

The stories aren't nearly as scary as the pictures, not as scary as I remember them. Oh well!

jess larry

2.5

there's nothing scary about this, but it was an easy read and i was quite entertained

I’ve reread this every few years since I was a kid. Perfect for September or October. 

Erik Wallace

Terry Deary

Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated books published in the United Kingdom and now from 2007 officially by Scholastic. They are designed to get children interested in history by concentrating on the trivial, unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in commercial terms. The books are written by Terry D... more »eary and illustrated by Martin Brown and Philip Reeve.

The Blitzed Brits

Gavin

I think these were the only history books I read until I was 20 years old. It sufficed!

Obviously it's not good for your only exposure to history to be the 100 most dramatic moments, the 100 most elite and unrepresentative people. (For each page of a regular history book I should imagine the lives of a thousand peasants.) But very few people have any grasp of history beyond this superficial roll call, so it didn't hurt me much to delay it.

Our need for "people's history" is great: it at least has a chance of being an accurate picture of the past. (Many particular instances of people's history are fatally false or misleading though, because the contrarianism and ideological heat of the topic draws parasites and shills.)

Natasha Alberto 

Kirsten Simkiss

It's been ages since I last read this book, but honestly, this book and the others in the series are absolute classics. This book, more than it's sequels, was beloved by nearly every child in my generation. This was THE horror story guideline for elementary schoolers. And I cannot stress enough how much I love Stephen Gammell's illustrations that are often more terrifying than the actual content of the stories. If you haven't read these books, please do so. While it's aimed at children, the illustrations, if nothing else, will make this book absolutely worthwhile for you.

The iconic anthology series of horror tales that's soon to be a highly anticipated feature film! This is a new edition of the complete original book. Stephen Gammell’s artwork from the original More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark appears in all its spooky glory. Read if you dare! More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a timeless collection of chillingly scary tales and legends, in which folklorist Alvin Schwartz offers up some of the most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time. And don't miss Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Scary Stories 3!

While not quite as memorable as the first book in the Scary Stories series, pretty much everyone has read these books. Even if you don't quite remember to stories, you can remember the spooky illustrations of Stephen Gammell which sell the stories. I seriously doubt that any kid my age didn't go through a phase in which they read and loved these books. These stories were the go to guidelines for campfire horror stories growing up. Even if it wasn't exactly the same, these stories were the building blocks. In it's own way, these books are absolute classics and I definitely recommend them.

Sean Valencia Monte

95% of these stories are either boring, feels incomplete, or don't make sense.

Jen Estrella

I wish I read this when I was a kid. I for sure wouldn't be able to sleep. The art though is an entirely different story. Click for images -->(view spoiler)[
  

  
  
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I think I'm going to watch the movie.

The iconic anthology series of horror tales that's now a feature film! Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a timeless collection of chillingly scary tales and legends, in which folklorist Alvin Schwartz offers up some of the most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time. Available for the first time as an ebook, Stephen Gammell’s artwork from the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark appears in all its spooky glory. Read if you dare! And don't miss More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Scary Stories 3!

Larisa Maria 

A person that was extremely important to me introduced me to this book, he read me some stories from it and I've been wanting to read it myself since then.
I don't regret doing it, I really did enjoy it but sometimes it did make me feel nostalgic. 
It was a good amount of scary and some stories did actually make me a little terrified.
Personally I really liked it.

Caitlin Miller 

Not what I was expecting, some stories were good others were not but I still had a good time. I enjoyed the illustrations

Are you brave enough for Scary Stories? Some boys and girls were at a party one night. There was a graveyard down the street, and they were talking about how scary it was. "Don't ever stand on a grave after dark," one of the boys said. "The person inside will grab you." "A grave doesn't scare me," said one of the girls. "I'll do it right now. . . ." Welcome to the macabre world of Scary Stories. Inside, you'll find alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and the supernatural, with spine-tingling illustrations by renowned artist Brett Helquist.

Lisa-Marie King

** spoiler alert **
           I found it a bit hit and miss with the stories. As I read it alone I missed the group ones out.

Eh. I think its a better book read around a campfire with a narrator adjusting the stories to the group. It might be scarier to a kid, though some could be good springboards for better stories.

I read it because it was a book being made into a movie this year.

Kerri McDonald

I read all of these books when I was a kid and absolutely loved them! I wish I still had my copies.

everlinet

Lovely scary stories, some funny, some a bit creepy. I would be terrified if I read this as a kid, now I only felt a bit chilled by some of them. The illustrations are nice, but I´ve got edition with newer ones - heard the old ones are better and more creepy.
A lovely read for pre-Halloween time for sure. I enjoyed it, a quick autumn read.

The iconic anthology series of horror tales that's soon to be a highly anticipated feature film! This is a new edition of the complete original book. Stephen Gammell’s artwork from the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark appears in all its spooky glory. Read if you dare! Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a timeless collection of chillingly scary tales and legends, in which folklorist Alvin Schwartz offers up some of the most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time. And don't miss More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Scary Stories 3!

Chelsea Breher

With the movie out this summer I felt the need to reread this gem from my childhood. It held up in its spine tingling eeriness that I felt during my childhood. The stories are creepy enough to stick with you after reading them, if they were to be read out loud I could see them being great campfire stories.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

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