Very fun, scary and descriptive short stories I will implement into my creative writing course when we tackle suspense writing. Love that the stories aren't too gory and actually take a new spin on the classic scary/suspense tale.

This is a fantastic anthology of scary stories! I enjoyed all of them and found a few new authors that I will have to read more of!

There is something for everyone in this collection. It might bring back memories of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. I never read those but I would still like to. I gave this a 3.5 stars out of five stars, I really enjoyed a lot of these short stories.

Don't Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark edited by Jonathan Maberry

HarperCollins, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-0062877673

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook




Don't Turn Out the Lights is an anthology of stories by a variety of diverse horror writers, mostly of YA horror, inspired mainly by their nostalgia over Alvin Schwartz's notable collections of urban legends and folktales, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (writers include Linda Addison, Amy Lukavics, Courtney Alameda, Tannarive Due, Kami Garcia, and R.L. Stine). Schwartz's writing was spare, providing just the bare bones of the stories he shared, and Stephen Gammell provided terrifying black-and-white pen and pencil drawings to accompany each one It is unfortunate that the artist for the book is not credited, so far as I can tell. Nobody can be Stephen Gammell, but the interior illustrations suggest the artist studied his style. The artwork is outstanding and integrates well into the design of the book and the storytelling.

Unlike Schwartz's collections, there aren't a lot of jump-scares or gruesome rhymes: these are tribute stories rather than an attempt to recreate his work. As expected in a collection of 35 stories, each by a different author, some are better than others. Some stories stick closer to Schwartz's style and choice of subject, with the feeling of a folktale, such as T.J. Wooldridge's "The Skelly-Horse", or "Jingle Jangle", while others, like "The Funeral Portrait" were more reminiscent of Poe. A few manage to stick to the urban legend feel of the original while updating it for tweens today, like "Tag, You're It," by N.R. Lambert, which plays on social media anxieties, and "The House on the Hill", which brings mystery emails and cell phones into play in a tale of peer pressure and surveillance in a haunted house. "The Neighbor" managed the fine line of evoking Schwartz's tales in a contemporary context beautifully. Editor Jonathan Maberry's introductory essay was very interesting, as he did not grow up with the stories but read them as an adult.

One of this book's greatest faults is its length.. The original Scary Stories books were relatively short in length, with plenty of white space and relatively large print on each page. Stories were usually very short and heavily illustrated. Don't Turn Out the Lights is over 400 pages long, with most stories obviously intended to be read on the page instead of told at a campfire.  While the Scary Stories books are read by kids as young as third grade, the length of the book and of the stories suggests to me that Don't Turn Out the Lights is aimed at a slightly older audience of tweens and middle-schoolers, and also the adult audience feeling the same kind of nostalgia for the Scary Stories books that the authors did. Recommended for grades 4+.

Contains: gore, violence, body horror, murder




NetGalley temporarily provided a review copy of this book.

This middle-grade horror and dark fantasy anthology is jam-packed full of amazing stories by some of the hottest names in horror fiction, including Tananarive Due, Josh Malerman, R.L. Stine, and more. This collection, as it says in the subtitle, is a tribute to the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series that many of us loved growing up and had a profound effect on who we are now as adults. It even includes creepy illustrations. The stories are diverse in setting, genre, style, authors, and characters. Some stories were stronger than other, but overall the collection is a true delight! If you have any spooky kids in your life, this would make a great gift.

As with any book of short stories, there will be those that you love, want to read to your students year after year at that spooky time of year and there were others I didn't feel that way about.
Jonathan Mayberry does an excellent job overall paying homage to the great Alvin Schwartz with this compilation of frightening tales. I felt that the stories could have been fewer and truly the amazing ones that will live on in my memory should have been allowed to shine a bit more. Tales like "Lint Trap" and "The Open Window" and "Brain Spiders" I believe could be read to upper elementary/middle school level students like my 5th graders, but there are some I wouldn't recommend for that age group.
The true purpose of the book, I believe is for teachers to carefully curate passages and read aloud stories to students especially at this particularly frightening time of year. If you are a teacher, I would not hesitate to recommend, using it in the classroom multiple times this year myself. At the end of "Lint Trap," the students in my class looked at me wide eyed and silent unbelieving what they just heard. It allows for inferences and mysteries with the abrupt endings that imply the worst. "Copy and Paste/Kill" was a particular good one for introducing inferences.
Recommending to students, however, I am less hesitant to do as the themes of some stories are upper middle school/high school in nature. Overall, a great quick read that had me pulling from it multiple times.

I would say this title is 3.5 stars. Most of the stories were well thought out and appropriate. Some talked down to the reader which I cannot stand. Some didn’t fit with the collection. I think a lot of authors didn’t dig deep and write a good short story. Some just phoned it in and collected a paycheck. I think this is less an ode to “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” and more of a nod to Goosebumps and funny/scary stories.

The thing is, there is probably no way for any book to live up to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. It’s not fair to even set up that expectation: Scary Stories holds such a specific reading-under-the-covers-with-a-flashlight niche in the hearts of many of us that we can’t look at it objectively — it doesn’t even matter if there are better books or worse books, there is only one Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
So clear your mind of Scary Stories going into Don’t Turn Out the Lights, and you will enjoy some delightful chills and thrills. For instance, in “The Neighbor,” where a lonely boy finally finds a friend — but nothing is what you expect. Or in “Tag, You’re It,” which turns your Instagram into a thing of terror. Or in “The Open Window,” where reality gets so twisted up that you literally don’t know which way to run. There are urban legends, haunted house stories, possession, and all the other spooky usual suspects rendered in 21st century takes by a host of contemporary authors, and I think it’s a perfect Halloween surprise for kids who like being a little scared by storytelling. Recommended, in spite of the fact that I will always be Team Scary Stories.
(And I am almost afraid to say this, and IT’S JUST MY OPINION, but I think the illustrations by Iris Compiet might be superior to the originals.)

Six word summary: Tons of perfectly spooky short stories!

Loved: I loved the variety of the stories. While I would have loved even more variety in cultural lore, I enjoyed what was included! I think there will be several stories in this collection for every reader, especially for young fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the dark! Also, the illustrations are top notch and very reminiscent of the books that inspired this collection!

Favorite Stories:
The Funeral Portrait by Laurent Linn
Knock Knock Man by Brenna Yovanoff
The Neighbor by Amy Lukavics
Tag, You're It by N.R. Lambert
The Open Window by Christopher Golden
The Green Grabber by D.J. MacHale
Brain Spiders by Luis Alberto Urrea and Rosario Urrea
The Bottle Tree by Kami Garcia
Rap Tap by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Recommend for: Middle grade students looking for spooky books who have read all the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books already!

Reminds me of: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark -- obviously! :)

Verdict: Read it! Especially now during spooky season!

*Disclaimer* - I received an early copy of this title for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think this was a good homage to the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series--which I LOVED as a kid. I think with any anthology you're going to love some and not others, and this one was no different. But I loved to overall atmosphere of this book--Perfect for an October read.
The following stories I enjoyed the most:
The Carved Bear by Brenden Reichs
The Golden Peacock by Alethea Kontis
The Neighbor by Amy Lukavics
Pretty Girls Make Graves by Tonya Hurley

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel this is obvious of most anthologies, but I'll say it anyways; the quality of the work varies. Some of these scary stories were spooky, creepy, and well written. Others? Not so much. Overall, I feel like this was a decent tribute to <u>Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark</u>. Some of the stories were quite long, but some were under two pages and managed to be just as terrifying as their muses. I know middle grade and upper elementary students will eat this up just as they did the other Scary Story books, but I can't be pressed to give it more than 3 stars just because some of the stories were so lackluster, cheesy, and downright unmemorable.

Scheduled to post 9/22/20.

Another fun anthology, DON'T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS excellently captures that spooky, creepy, giddy feeling I had when I first read Scary Stories, complete with nightmare fuel illustrations. Not all of them, but really. Stephen Gammell is pretty hard to best in that regard. Still. Some of those illustrations I quickly turned the page on because I was pretty sure it was looking back at me.

The stories themselves run the gamut, centering in on children between the ages of 8 and 12 although there were a few that ran a bit younger. But they definitely gave me that nostalgic feel but at the same time appealing to the age-appropriate kids reading the book. Brain Spiders was particularly shuddersome and had me on the verge of a gag the entire story. The neighbor was another one that really stuck with me because it really plays with the concept of time (without broaching time traveling) and reality. Big fan. The House on the Hill actually made my brain start spinning with my own story idea about a house that doesn't let people go. 

It's just such a huge mix of stories that span the world with a diverse cast of authors, you'd be hard-pressed to not find anything worth reading in here. It brings me joy that there's room on the shelf for this kind of horror still and that kids still want to read it. These kinds of books formed my childhood and not going to lie, this kind of made me want to write my own middle grade horror, and I don't write middle grade!

5

Such a fun, spooky book that gives the same feel of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark". Each story is given a creepy greyscale water color drawing. Each story is short and spooky, perfect for fall!

I loved Scary Stories as a kid and was SO excifedfor this anthology. While I love the shorter short stories, the more traditional length ones felt like they went on for too long. The opening story "The Funeral Portrait" was incredibly creepy as was "The Cries of the Cat". Although nothing will live up to the original, I oove reading new stories inspired by them.

The most successful callback to Alvin Schwartz’ books I’ve seen in a while. The chills evoked by these short stories ( written by Well known authors) will remind you of the feeling you had as a child listening to campfire tales.

Creepy stories written by popular authors in the vein of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. This book is a must-have for any middle school classroom, and I will definitely be using several of these as read-alouds around Halloween.

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

When I saw this book as an option for a read and review, I jumped at the opportunity. With Halloween coming up shortly, what better time to read scary stories?

Just like when I was a kid, the first thing I did was flip the pages and look at the illustrations, trying to see if I could guess the contents of the stories to come. The black and white illustrations capture the imagination, just like the originals did in the Schwartz collections.

After flipping through the pictures, I grabbed my popcorn and drink, turned down the air conditioner, crawled all the way under a blanket, flipped off the lights, and began to read. Although it's much easier to read in the dark with an iPad, something is lost when you're not holding a book and flashlight.

Some of the stories were excellent, some less than excellent. but It's always the case when you have a book made of works from several different authors. Overall, the collection hits the target on paying tribute to one of my most well loved books from childhood.

5/5 stars, and a fitting tribute to something that brought back some great memories.

2.5 Stars

I can’t tell you how much it kills me, absolutely kills me, to rate this book as just “ok.” Everything about it should have been 5 stars – A great author as editor? Check. Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark? Check. A fantastic stable of writers? Check. And yet… This anthology really missed the mark for me.

My issues mostly lay with the unevenness of the collection. The book is marketed as YA horror and some of the stories are, but some are written to a very young middle-grade market. Like its predecessor, the stories in Lights can be read to yourself or aloud to others, but so many are missing that – Boo! ending. You know the one I’m talk about – the one that makes you look behind you, over your shoulder to see what’s waiting in the darkness. Many of these tales just… end. They leave you feeling incomplete and wondering what the heck happened. I feel one of the greatest faults lies with adult horror authors not knowing how to write to a YA audience. It is my opinion that they feel they need to write down to teens and they don’t give them the credit they deserve as readers. One of the most glaring examples of this was in The Cries of the Cat by Josh Malerman. I adore Malerman and the premise he had was a creepy one, but it felt so watered down that it lost its way.

Having said all that, there are some standout stories in this collection:

The Neighbor by Amy Lukavics – Dennis makes a new, unwanted friend with the little boy he sees across the street.

Tag, You’re It by N.R. Lambert – Nick keeps getting tagged in photos by someone who seems to be physically getting closer and closer.

Lint Trap by Jonathan Auxier – Jasper’s family moves into a new house and he starts talking to the children who live in the dryer in the basement.

Brain Spiders by Luis Alberto Urrea & Rosario Urrea – What happens when the kids in class start bullying the new girl from another country?

Mud by Linda D. Addison – Maurice fights his mother about taking baths and she sends him off to his grandmother’s house for an unforgettable sleepover.

The Tall Ones by Madeleine Roux – Estrella tries to convince the new boy in town that the town’s customs and traditions must be honored or else something may happen to him and his family.

I think there are enough stories in here that make checking out this collection worthwhile. It would be a good pick for a library check-out for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for making this digital ARC available for me to review. Don’t Turn Out the Lights releases on September 1st 2020.

This spooky compilation is going to be a hit with kids who love a good jump scare. It's going on my list of recommended seasonally scary stories!

Oh, this takes me back. Reading the introduction by the editor I was brought to my own introduction to Scary Stories from the 90s when I started teaching and my kids loved them. I thought I should know what my fourth graders though was scary and I was surprised by how truly creepy some of these stories actually were. I don't know how I missed them before that. I think I just missed the demographic age wise. Back to Jonathan Maberry and the introduction he wrote. Getting people to write more stories in this short, creepy style was brilliant! I read a few every night just before going to sleep.

My favorites
The Carved Bear. Scary toys are always a hit. Truly evil toys? Even better.
Copy, Paste, and Kill. Not what you were expecting.
The House on the Hill An updated haunted house story.
Jingle Jangle. An old tale that doesn't end at the end.
The Neighbor. Sad and a twist I actually didn't see coming.

I just realized I could go on and on as I stare at the table of contents. Just read it. Pick your own favorites.