Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (1989) - Plot & Excerpts
Perhaps the reason I've an affinity for dark & twisted art lies with a trio of books I read as a child. Alvin Schwartz is most known for his collection of folktales marketed towards children. His most famous books--Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones--were some of my most favorite reads as a lad, and when I recently happened upon my personal copy of SS3, I couldn't help but dive in. I went to the library and checked out the first two volumes (not sure why I only have the third?), then promptly drove home and leafed through the pages.It's impossible to continue without acknowledging Stephen Gammell's defining artwork. In fact, I'm going out on a limb and saying that it's Gammell's work that makes this collection so cherished (and challenged*, for that matter). I love the loose, spindly, flowy lines that add an ethereal feel to each work. Everything has the tone of something horrific waiting to be loosed upon your mind. I would love to see Gammell do some Lovecraftian illustrations. Yes, it is Gammell's work that shines in these books, and they've no doubt affected my subconscious. Allow me to wax on here. The illustrations are grotesque. Magnetic, whereby they repulse the reader, but attract as well. I feel as if Gammell has somehow captured the essence of a nightmare (or some hell) and then rendered it on us, and, in particular, young minds. Frankly I'm surprised these books are read by kids, as I can easily see them getting utterly creeped out and running for Mommy in the dead hours after midnight. Moreover, as I was rocking Avonlea to sleep the other night, I was reading the books and left them beside her crib after she went to sleep. Keisha brought them to me later as I was brushing my teeth and said, "You can't leave those in there. If I look over there and see 'em in the middle of the night I'd be freaked out."I guess I would, too. I have this fleeting fear whenever I wake up during the night. With the thick shadows and eerie softglow lights, coupled with the fact that I'm not wearing my spectacles, everything is blurred and skewed. My mind deceives me. My eyes tell untruths and distortions. I see monsters and things unknown in the darkness, sinister and evil, things that would fit perfectly alongside these horrors Gammell's illustrated.Still, there is more to these books than just the art. Schwartz writes in an easy to understand form, especially for children. To my understanding, the intention is for these things to be read aloud, and working with that assumption, these stories all do well. However, if one looks too closely as the sentences, well, one gets disappointed in the simplicity. It's anticlimactic at times, coming across as uninspired and flat out boring. This is not prevalent, nor is it epidemic, but the way these stories are told is very weak when compared with other folktales. (This seems fickle, as I'm comparing a children's book to adult, scholarly things, but what can I say?) Nevertheless, I did feel like Schwartz dropped the ball several times throughout these three books, but if you're reading them aloud, it's not too bad.If we look at the folktales and urban legends themselves, then these three books are a treasure chest of them. Each tale spans from 1-3 pages (most falling at just over a page) in length, and because of that, there are a multitude of stories. Many are familiar things, things we all know, things our grandparents swear are true. But there are more than enough unfamiliar ones, too. And to me, digesting a "new" folktale, especially one that's been around for years, is like cream cheese icing on a carrot cake. Delicious.I appreciate Schwartz listing a bibliography at the end of each book, as it's nice to be able to dig deeper (or see different tellings) for a story. When things are from oral tradition, Schwartz lists people involved, too, or areas he collected from. I also like how there are "alternate endings" or miscellany for the stories listed.These three books are delightful little reads. There's no doubt that they're heavily responsible for my taking to folktales, as I read these books for the first time in elementary school, but they're also probably responsible for my weakness for dark art. I'm glad to have stumbled on my copy of SS3 the other day, and even more glad to find the library's copies were in the stacks and not checked out. Halloween is the perfect time to read these books, and the RIP challenge just makes it more pleasant. If you've never read the stories Schwartz tells, then you're missing out. But even more, if you've not had your heart stopped by Stephen Gammell's horrid illustrations, you're really missing out. I strongly recommend remedying this as soon as humanly possible.-----*Not only was this series the most challenged during the 1990s, it was also the 7th most challenged between 2000-2009. I'm assuming
Warning: SCARY PICTURES. Do not click on this review if you don't want to be plagued by nightmares. I don't care how old you are. Fear transcends all age barriers.I'm a supporter of childhood literacy, but I beg you. Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not make the mistake of giving this book to your children. They will never forgive you. Think of all the therapy costs.When I was a little girl, I was terrified of the dark. I couldn't sleep without my rituals. All blankets had to be tucked in completely around me. All closet doors must be closed. Before bed, the room must be checked to for all odd-looking shadows that might morph into something terrifying when I open my eyes in the middle of the night.Above all, all toes must be secured, or else something will munch on them.It didn't help me when I was 12.I read 5 pages of this book, and I couldn't go on. I don't know if you've seen the drawings, but this book is absolutely fucking terrifying. If you have children, please, please do not give this book to your child. It will scar them for life.It took me years to summon the courage to open this book again. I was 16. I had just watched It. I couldn't sleep for 2 weeks afterwards for longer than 30 minute increments. I could barely stay awake in class. It was horrible. Surely, after surviving the horrors of Pennywise the Clown, I could...possibly? maybe? take on this book again?I was wrong.I got to "THE THING" before shoving it into the back of the closet (IF I CAN'T SEE IT, THE MONSTERS DON'T EXIST) and ran to the living room.Monsters won't eat you when you're with your parents.The artist for this book is Stephen Gammell. Thank you, Mr. Gammell. I hope you sleep well, you diabolical crafter of nightmares. Who knows how many children and adults you have scared. Who knows how many hours of terror and sleepless nights this book has wrought. Stephen King has nothing on you.I'm a grown-ass woman, and tonight, I'm still going to sleep with one eye open.
What do You think about Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (1989)?
I think I read these books on a near weekly basis between the ages of 9 and 11. My school librarian would joke about how often I checked them out again, telling me she should just give them to me because I was the only one reading them. I would read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark while waiting for new books to come along, and I fell in love with them. These stories, along with Goosebumps and Shivers books, were my first real introduction to horror stories.Now, over 15 years later, I'm re-reading them and I still love them. The stories are still kind of creepy, even though I remember exactly what happens in most of them, and I've read (and seen) scarier things. There's something about these kinds of tales that never gets old. I grew up loving scary stories told by flashlight or campfire, based on folklore, and it's always fun for me to revisit things like this to recapture the fun, minor frights I relished as a child.I can't wait to find out if my own child enjoys scary stories, so I can share these with the next generation.
—Madge
I'm not giving any stars here, only a warning: beware which edition of this collection you choose, for if you choose unwisely, you will be sorely ripped off in more ways than one. I chose unwisely. My edition is the 2010 "updated" version published by Harper Collins with new illustrations by Brett Helquist. To say that it's been sanitized for safe consumption is an understatement. The reason the original 1981 edition became an instant classic and a frequently challenged book in schools and libraries was for Stephen Gammell's ghoulish and nightmarish artwork. I cry foul and bullshit. You don't mess with perfection and genius. Without Gammell's drawings, this collection loses its bloody, beating heart and is barely worth the paper it's printed on. Who thought this was a good idea? I'm incensed, especially for all the kids who might pick up this book expecting to have the bejeebers scared out of them and wind up merely bored or slightly amused. Unforgivable!I was going to rant here about our ill-conceived, often hypocritical efforts to "protect" our children and censor their reading materials, but I'll save that for another day. Perhaps for when I write a real review for the real version of this book, the only one that counts, the only one that should be bought and gifted to any young person seeking his or her gateway drug into the realm of the macabre. This review has also been posted to: Busty Book Bimbo
—Trudi
Christina wrote: "No, but different illustrations? Blasphemy!"Exactly! I haven't read the one with the different illustrations yet either, but I don't think I'm planning to since I loved Stephen Gammell's illustrations just fine! :D
—Christina Wilder
