Gross, scary, frightening, silly, gory, creepy and well-told fully-documented tales are illustrated with black and white drawings of vague eerie tones which accentuate the gruesome detail. All stories were responsibly collected from contemporary American folklore. An extensive, thought-provoking bibliography is included. Solid scariness usually told by memory on overnights, camping trips, and at Halloween from generation to generation has a validity that the trendy horror or macabre of other recent books cannot match. (9 years and older)

This spooky addition to Alvin Schwartz's popular books on American folklore is filled with tales of eerie horror and dark revenge that will make you jump with fright.

There is a story here for everyone -- skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth; a ghost who takes revenge on her murderer; and a haunted house where every night a bloody head falls down the chimney.

Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories -- and even scary songs -- all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark.

If You Dare!