GENRE: Fiction/Children's Literature/Horror
MY GRADE: B
FROM PUBLISHER: Schwartz's three best-selling collections of scary folklore- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3, are made available in one book, each one in its complete form.
New artwork was given to these books for the 30th anniversary in 2011. You can see some comparisons here. If you want original versions avoid any with a publication date of 2011.
The July 2017 box set does contain the original artwork. Purchase here. The ISBN is 9780062682895.
If you want a hardcover version that includes all three stories with original artwork, it's here, here, here, and here.
An out of print paperback set containing three separate books of all three in the series can be bought here.
The face on the cover is from the story The Haunted House, from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
MY THOUGHTS: The stories were alright considering they were meant for fifth graders. Some are only one page long, some are two, and a few are a little longer. Some sort of end abruptly and leave you asking, "Where's the rest of the story?!" and some just really aren't scary and some seem really pointless.
There's a story from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark called The Babysitter and it's cleary a ripoff of the first 20 minutes of the 1979 film When A Stranger Calls.
There are only four stories that I really like: Cold as Clay. From Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I can't sing the praises of this one enough.
The White Satin Evening Gown From Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Perhaps one of the most unusual ways to die.
Cemetery Soup From More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Downright disgusting and cringe-worthy.
Harold From Scary Stories 3. Harold's a loveable scarecrow. He's a bad mofo and he knows it.
Just Delicious My eyes widened when I read a certain line and realized what she was about to do to make up for the piece of food she'd eaten.
Below are some of my favorite images from specific stories though none of the stories are favorites.
The Dead Hand
Sam's New Pet
Is Something Wrong?
You May Be The Next
The Bride
Here's an interesting article on the books, 14 Terrifying Facts.
I couldn't find an image online of the gobin thingie below so I posted my own photo of it. I sure like it. It's from page 105 of the bibliograpy section of Scary Stories 3.
