Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. While the stories were all good, to me they were very YA. I read most of them, just not scary enough for me.

A delightfully creepy tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

If you’re anything like me, you were simultaneously fascinated by and terrified of Schwartz’s Scary Stories books. They were fantastic for scaring yourself silly, and many of them still send shivers down my spine when I think of them now as an adult (The girl with the green ribbon! That one where the head falls down the chimney!)

Don’t Turn Out the Lights is a satisfying homage to Schwartz’s work. Like all collections by multiple authors, the quality of the stories is a bit of a mixed bag, but mostly it’s a good crop of terrifying tales that accurately capture the spirit of the original collections.

There are a few that are too long to be an accurate fit, and I didn’t love the stories that incorporated too much modern technology or social media (which felt too disconnected from the very analog originals), but most of the authors got the feel of this so, so right.

My three favorites:
The Carved Bear
The House on the Hill
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board

The following is copied and pasted from my blog.

The subtitle and a somewhat lengthy editor’s foreword at the beginning of this book introduces it as a tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series, and as such, it’s sure to attract a lot of eager readers. Although the book as a whole is much longer than the immensely popular Scary Stories books, and most of the individual short stories are longer than Schwartz’s stories, too, it’s still similar enough in genre and appeal factors that I would absolutely recommend it to children who’ve already read (and thoroughly enjoyed) all of the Scary Stories books, especially if they’re ready for something slightly more advanced. The foreword also implied that this book is not just for kids, but since the protagonists are mostly preteens and the reading level is at an upper-elementary-school level, I expect that this book will be most popular with fourth and fifth graders.

As you would expect from a multi-author short story collection like this, the thirty-five stories vary widely in style and tone. They even vary a little in terms of target audience and sub-genre. For example, there are several stories like The Skelly-Horse by T.J. Wooldridge that describe a scary, ghostly creature without including much of a plot, but other stories like The Green Grabber by D.J. MacHale, The Neighbor by Amy Lukavics, and Lint Trap by Jonathan Auxier are much longer with detailed plotlines and, in some cases, twist endings. There are stories about cursed objects and stories about haunted houses, but then there are a few with sci-fi vibes like The Open Window by Christopher Golden and The Tall Ones by Madeleine Roux. Umbrella Man by Gary A. Braunbeck and In Stitches by Michael Northrop almost sound more like urban legends than literary short stories. And Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board by Margaret Stohl is based on the common slumber party game, but told in a narrative story fashion with its own characters.

My personal favorite was probably Pretty Girls Make Graves by Tonya Hurley. The main character Mona is an unpopular middle school girl who talks the cheerleaders into coming over for a sleepover by promising that they’ll do makeovers. Her mom is a professional makeup artist. She’s been forbidden to ever use her mother’s work makeup, but, lured by the promise of popularity, she sneaks it out of her mother’s room and uses it on all of her guests. But it turns out that she didn’t know as much as she thought she did about her mother’s job and what that makeup was for.

A close second was Tag, You’re It by N.R. Lambert, in which a boy is repeatedly tagged in online photos with a creepy doll-like creature. At first, he thinks the pictures are bizarre recreations of his own photos, but then he realizes that he’s in the background in all of them. The doll is stalking him and posting pictures of him. This continues happening even when he thinks he’s alone.

I can’t honestly say that I loved each and every one of the stories, but that’s beside the point. I can appreciate that this book contains enough variety that any reader who likes spooky stories will find at least a couple that match their personal favorite flavor of horror. While this book certainly won’t be topping my Best of the Year list, it’s well worth reading and absolutely deserves a space on the shelf in a library’s middle-grade fiction collection.

Do you remember that time when you were a kid underneath the covers with a flashlight, reading a scary story? Well, this book reminds me of that time in my life.

This book is a tribute to Alive Schwartz "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and does exactly that. If Schwartz books were apart of your childhood, I highly recommend this book. Jonathan Maberry, along with other well know authors like R.L. Stine execute this perfectly. From the images that correlate with each scary story, to that creepy feeling you get from the noise of a slight loose board; these stories will bring you chills.

Some of my favorites include "Jingle Jangle" and "The Ghost in Sam's Closet".

"He reaches for me and I'm sure he plans to pull out my intestines and wear them like a scarf, but instead he pats my head."

When my son was in middle school I bought him the set of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. After he read them I did too. Don't Turn Out The Lights is exactly the kind of story collection that I would have bought for him when he was younger and that he would still keep on his book case now that he is grown. Whether you have kids or are a kid at heart these stories are a spooky journey into otherworldly realms, sometimes with a moral to the story, such as being careful what you wish for in Jingle Jangle. One of my absolute favorites was "The Neighbor" when a lonely boy finds a playmate but all is not as it seems. Some reveal some hidden dangers in social media or text messages from strangers such as in The House On The Hill or the even more terrifying "Tag You're It" where a boy has a creepy social media stalker from which there is no escape. I also loved that each story has a spine tingling illustration. This was such a fun read and for me it was like a trip down memory lane and something brand new all rolled in to one.

I recently re-read the original SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK series and watched the film adaptation, so this new anthology was especially disappointing. For the most part, the stories included were too long and lacked any real scares or suspense. While the original SCARY STORIES series has held up for almost 40 years, most of the stories in DON'T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS date themselves immediately with too many cellphone app and music references. More than a few of the tales surprisingly lacked a real ending, choosing to end mid-action instead. That being said, as in the original series, the high point of the collection is the artwork. Iris Compiet's illustrations are phenomenal and make up for the lack of creeps within the stories. Unfortunately, the only credit she receives is tucked away on the copyright page; no mention of her art in the author bios or the editor's introduction & acknowledgments.

Favorite stories: "Jingle Jangle" by Kim Ventrella, "Lost to the World" by John Dixon, "Lint Trap" by Jonathan Auxier, "The Cries of the Cat" by Josh Malerman, "The Green Grabber" by DJ McHale

An enjoyably creepy book. Nothing too scary. None of the stories are bad but some are definitely better than others. The most memorable to me was Brain Spiders, for obvious reasons.

Don't Turn Out the Lights is the perfect tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Incorporating horrors best authors, this anthology is ideal for anyone who loved Scary Stories. The images are chilling and the stories will haunt your dreams for nights to come. Don't believe me? Read a story, turn out the lights, and see what happens.

This tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark will be a major hit. All the Scary Stories editions are still popular in my school and this are a great addition to the canon - so excited to purchase and then watch kids fight over it :)

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this collection in exchange for my honest review. Don't Turn Out the Lights is a beautifully done tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. It is edited by one of the masters of horror, Jonathan Mabery. There are a total of 35 original short stories written by an absolutely amazing assortment of authors, including some of my personal favorites such as DJ McHale, Josh Malerman, Kami Garcia, Madeline Roux, and RL Stine. Some of the stories are very short and some are a bit longer, but each story is manageable for a child to read in one sitting. These stories include ghost stories, urban legends, campfire tales, and creatures. Most of the stories are in the 3-4 star range. Only one story fell completely flat and was a 1 star story and there were a few 5 star stories. Altogether this was a highly enjoyable collection that I read in one evening. I really enjoyed that there were some very creepy illustrations throughout this book. I think that children will like being able to see some of the things being read about while they are reading. I definitely recommend this to older children who enjoy spooky stories, but also to adults who enjoyed reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. This collection will make you remember how you felt as a child when you first discovered a good spooky tale.

This is a very creepy collection of scary stories for young readers. It is a tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s very spooky anthology series “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.”

There are stories by some of my favorite horror writers from childhood, such as R.L. Stine and more contemporary ones such as Amy Lukavics.

The stories are all quite eerie and unnerving, much like the stories in Scary Stories to tell in the Dark, which creeped me out as a kid.

From haunted houses and ghostly hauntings, to creepy monsters and terrifying folk tale legends, it’s got a bit of everything.

Adding to the creepiness factor, are the chilling and gothic illustrations. They’re really quite nicely done and take the scare factor up quite a bit more.

My personal favorites were, The Neighbor by Amy Lukavics, The Open Window by Christopher Golden and Pretty Girls Make Graves by Tonya Hurley.

In the story, The Neighbor, Dennis makes a creepy new friend, who lives across the street. It has a nice twist at the end that I didn’t see coming.

The Open Window was quite an uncanny little story, which reminded me of an episode of the Twilight Zone. One night, Tyler hears someone calling him from outside his window and things get really weird after that.

In Pretty Girls Make Graves, Mona is a very unpopular girl who is bullied by the Cheerleaders in her school. One day, her mother suggests that she should call the cheerleaders over for a slumber party and Mona reluctantly agrees. Things go very wrong. The twist at the end is horrifying and clever.

I would recommend this book for all middle grade readers (and adults too!) who love spooky stories. They won’t be disappointed.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader’s copy for an honest review.