Terrifying Tales was a fun listen with some great narrators. The tone between the stories is very pleasingly diverse. While some of the stories fall oTerrifying Tales was a fun listen with some great narrators. The tone between the stories is very pleasingly diverse. While some of the stories fall on the silly side of horror, others are very serious and go all in on the horrific. Each one does have a scary vibe, which made it a good fit for the collection. These are all really short, so I am trying not to hold that against them, because that often can be a bit of a turnoff for me when stories end too abruptly. I'll just briefly share my thoughts of each story.
"Mr. Shocky" by Michael Buckley --This one goes there about what's scary. It's about an imaginary friend who has some fiendish plans for Tyler's younger brother because he moved on and forgot him. My mom said I had an imaginary friend. I don't remember, but it's pretty common. Well, what if they were real and they could turn dark? I found the tone rather mature, but not in a bad way. This book gave me something to think about, and it takes imaginary friends in a direction that I found unique and I enjoyed. 4 stars.
"Licorice Needles" by Nikki Lofton --Wow, talking about going hard. Wicked witch stories really scare me. I liked how this is very much rooted in the reality of a pre-adolescent, which being authentically unnerving. What if your reading tutor was using you to enact some harmful magic spells on other kids who get on her naughty list? And how do you explain that your English tutor might be a malevolent witch? That's Jeremiah's dilemma. The ending is pretty shocking. 4.5 stars.
"The Blue-Bearded Bird-Man" by Adam Gidwitz--I'm an Adam Gidwitz stan for real! I love his fractured fairy tales with a dark, Grimm (wink!) edge. I was so glad that his narrator from the Grimm series is back on board for this story. This is a different telling of Bluebeard. I will say that I enjoy this story, but I also liked how it felt slightly different and has a humorous spin. It's pretty gory and dark too. I will say if you like happy endings, you'll like this one. 5 stars.
"Don't Eat the Baby" by Kelly Barnhill--I had some trouble with this book because Arne acts so dumb at times. I always remind myself that I am reading middle grade books and to not be so hard on the characters when they make really bad choices, however, this guy was sloooww on the uptake. Seriously, why did so much damage happen before you did something? I understand how much he wanted a brother, but it got to the point of things being super-duper obvious. Anyway, the ending saved it for me. After all that, he pulls out some smarts. I did love the narrator and how he nailed the humorous aspects of the novel. 3.5 stars.
"My Ghost Story" by Dav Pilkey--I didn't like this one too much. It was way too short and kind of silly. It was a bit on the nose for me. 2 stars.
"Marcos at the River" by Daniel Jose' Older--This is the most somber of the stories and feels very much like magical realism. I loved the cultural aspects and the fact that the narrator beautifully captured Abuela's accent. It was sad but satisfying at the same time. 4 stars.
"Co"Manifest" by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown--Historical and Gothic in feel, the atmosphere is on point. It is about one's sins catching up with them. This ones for the fans of BBC productions and dark Victorian tales. 3.5 stars.
"Disappear" by RL Stine--A "be careful what you wish for" type of story in which a boy meets a magician and learns that we shouldn't ever put people on pedestals. It was on the funny side, but has a satisfying, and twisted ending. 4 stars.
"Coconuts" by Rita Williams-Garcia--There's something about this story that hit me hard. It's about cultural clashes between generations, but it's also about dysfunction. The malignancy that the mom directs towards her son about his disconnection from her Jamaican culture, instead of taking the time to sit down with her son and strengthen their bond and find some understanding there. That was more scary to me than what was the object of fear in the story. 4.25 stars.
The Mandigore" by Claire Legrand--What an end to this collection. Whew! The most scary story in the volume. I didn't love the ending, but I was along for the ride. It has some great easter eggs for science fiction of the 2000s nerds. 4 stars.
Final thoughts: I enjoyed listening to the audiobook because the narrators were all great. I absolutely love middle grade horror, so this volume only makes me want to read more. I'm glad my library had this available through Libby....more
I love middle grade/juvenile horror books, and I'm always on the hunt for good and scary ones. This came up on a list, and I was thrilled that my librI love middle grade/juvenile horror books, and I'm always on the hunt for good and scary ones. This came up on a list, and I was thrilled that my library had the audiobooks. Now comes the sad part. While I liked this book, I was disappointed. It wasn't quite scary enough for my tastes. I have read one of Katherine Arden's adult fantasy novels The Bear and the Nightingale, so I know she can write genuinely scary books. This was stopped short of living up to the promise of freaking animated Scarecrows. There's a couple of eerie scenes that had the potential. However, it didn't do it for me. Having said that, the story was interesting. I also liked the theme of a young person working through grieving a deceased parent. My father died when I was about thirty, and I know how hard that hit me. People really don't know what to say or how to act when you lose a loved one. I imagine it's even worse for a child. Ollie's solution is to withdraw from life so as not to deal with how others treat her in the aftermath of her mother's death.
I really loved the bond and moments between Ollie and her dad, and the flashbacks to them as a family. To me, that was the real heart of the story. I also liked the friendship of situation that springs up between Ollie, Brian and Coco. They really helped to support each other, and their different strengths made them stronger together. That kind of friendship has the potential to last forever. I think that I would have rated this much higher if the balance was better between the character interactions and quiet moment within the books, and the horror elements. I do have to say the storyline is interesting and I have been waiting to read a book that integrates scarecrow folklore into a story. The diary entries from the past were atmospheric and did have a spooky feel. So while I was disappointed on the scare factor front, the emotional resonance, character development and interactions definitely impressed me. I'll definitely continue this series.
I like creepy, scary reads and this qualifies. It's the kind of story that I can't describe too well without spoiling future readers. I'll keep thingsI like creepy, scary reads and this qualifies. It's the kind of story that I can't describe too well without spoiling future readers. I'll keep things general and say that this is about a girl who is far more special than she could ever imagine, and how she comes to terms with that. This story was made for the graphic novel format. The imagery is very powerful and instills dread and the shudder factor in me. It's beautifully drawn and inked, but icky. It definitely has an American Gothic kind of feel, which is defined here. American Gothic is so distinct to America that those of us who are American can understand it without really having it defined. However, I love looking at literature and the theory behind it, so it was nice to refresh myself. I was looking at the writeup on American Gothic and not surprised many of my favorite classic American writers wrote in this genre: Hawthorne, Poe, Irving. So yeah, I went off on a tangent in not trying to spoil readers.
There are elements in this storyline that harken to the darker aspects of America, that fear of other that is so damn strong that it shuts down human rationality and leads to horrible acts. I could cite many examples. This book also taps into that claustrophic aspect of small town living that makes a person want to escape to the big city and happily deal with the negatives of that lifestyle. It also delves into the dark aspects of religion that cause people to harm others, but also that evil can hide behind the facade of religion. A lot of content in this book, now that I think about it.
Suffice it to say this is one that I enjoyed, but I wouldn't read before bed because I am a very visual person and I would have this stuff in my head all night, which doesn't make for sleeping well. I will continue reading this series....more
This short novel reads like a fable, ripe with Russian culture and built on the foundation of well-known and more obscure Russian folklore. Two childrThis short novel reads like a fable, ripe with Russian culture and built on the foundation of well-known and more obscure Russian folklore. Two children in a small village in Russia called Miersk face the knowledge that the Blood Prince, a huge, demonic wolf, is coming their way and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Underneath all the fable elements, there is a strong theme of the alienation of childhood from adulthood. Children are rarely heeded, listened to, or taken seriously. Through a benign sort of emotional neglect, adults leave children to build their own worlds and societies among themselves to fill an emotional void. I'm speaking in generalities. There are plenty of wonderful parents who are intimately involved in their children's lives. There are also parents who mean well, but are weighted under by the cares of life. You can see that dynamic in this book. Pasha's father is in the shadow of his own father, a dominant and opinionated man who dismisses Pasha's concerns as being ridiculous. Other than when he is needed for chores, it appears as though Pasha is left to his own devices. Whereas Lisette's father has been soured by the loss of his beloved wife and therefore neglects his daughter and his infant son when he's not raging and yelling at Lisette. Pasha and Lisette form a friendship of necessity that becomes true as they muster their courage to save their village from the Blood Prince.
I admit I rushed through reading this because I had to return it back to the library that day. I feel that I had taken my time, I would have been better able to bask in the richness of Russian culture on display. Russian culture is my thing. I have an absurd attraction to it and the language. Some might argue that mistakes were made, but I felt it was well done. There are some very lovely and magical moments that would make for a striking animated film that I hope will be made some day. Baba Yaga plays a prominent role and while she's generally regarded as a villain, she's a huge help to the people of the village, perhaps for her own reasons.
I think I would have given this a higher rating if it had been a little deeper and richer. I am probably asking too much, since this is a children's book. For what there was, it was a lovely little fable....more
The Ocean at the End of the Land straddles the line of magical realism and fantasy, in my opinion. There is a good dose of reality, and did that reallThe Ocean at the End of the Land straddles the line of magical realism and fantasy, in my opinion. There is a good dose of reality, and did that really happen mixed in with some very visually stunning imagery. It's also quite sober and heartbreaking in a subtle, literary fashion.
I think there is a reason that adults continue to read stories with children as the main characters. We never truly detach or divorce ourselves from our child selves. It's therapeutic to look back at that time through the viewpoint of a child character in books and to work through the issues from our own childhood.
That is why I did connect very well with the narrator of this book. I remember vivid the powerful mix of fear, curiosity, joy and the intensely visceral assimilation of all sensations from my childhood. Also in some of the bittersweet experiences that the narrator has. Not in a small way, our parents are godlike figures to us. They live on pedestals and glimmer like gold, until they don't. Until something reveals their feet of clay. However, even as children, we want to keep believing in the purity of their perfection, because we can't not believe. That dose of reality finally takes effect as we near adulthood, if we're fortunate enough to hold on to that innocent view of our parents until then..
I felt the pain of this young boy as his family is nearly torn to shreds by the arrival of a very old, very cruel force. I felt his uncomfortable situation of being the only one in his family who sees through her seemingly benign facade. At the same time, I felt great comfort in knowing that Hattie and her family are there to protect and even coddle him, when his own family fails. I loved the way they take him in and feed him delicious, satisfying food that made my mouth water as I read this book.
I like that we don't quite get all the answers for who Hattie and her family are. We just know that they are old, very old, and they have enormous power. However, they are not invulnerable.
Gaiman succeeds as he typically does in tempering the truly sinister with the sweet comfort of the familiar and childlike. He knows how to use just the right phrasing to convey this duality in his storytelling. Even though this is an adult book, I feel that it speaks to the young girl in me.
I can't say much more about this book because my mind is not very clear right now, and I read this last week (and there have been some busy days for me), but I can say that this was an enjoyable reading experience. It accomplishes much in the short span of pages, and leaves this reader with even more to ponder and to ruminate on.
This is the first book by Gaiman I've read in print. I've been getting his narrated audiobooks from the library (and enjoying them tremendously). His writing stands up to both media formats, but I have a feeling that I will probably get this to listen to as well, because I love his soothing voice and the manner in which he uses that voice to better illustrate his words on the page for an auditory experience.
Courtney Crumrin has a very informative preface by Kelly Crumrin, addressing the inherent scariness of childhood. It gave me something to think about.Courtney Crumrin has a very informative preface by Kelly Crumrin, addressing the inherent scariness of childhood. It gave me something to think about. I know I was a kid that loved reading scary books, although I admit I did get a bit too scared a time or two. One part of his commentary that hit me hard was that he felt the collective conscious of children picked up on the real monsters that prey on children in the world. I didn't like to think about that, because I hate the idea of children being harmed or suffering. However, I can see some logic to his comment that childhood nebulous fears might be a manifestation of a subconscious awareness of what real children face.
With that thought-provoking beginning to this graphic novel collection, I had some higher expectations but also that this volume would 'go there.' It did. I'm not sure how I feel about some of the plot elements. I stand strongly against children being harmed or killed, and there is one aspect that felt so wrong to me in this book. I kept wondering why Courtney didn't use the power she gained over the goblin for a different result. I do feel that there was a bit of nihilism to this graphic novel, and that's something I just can't go for. Courtney has had a tough life, and her parents are beneath contempt. I can see things from her viewpoint and accept that she didn't get a very good moral foundation for her life, and that certainly affects her choices. I did cheer for her that she pursued her baby sitting charge into the Goblin Market, even though she did it for selfish reasons. The result of that didn't hit me with the right note, although the faerie enthusiast in me loved a look at the inhabitants of the Market, not to mention the changeling folklore and a talking cat (not sure I want my own cats to be able to talk, since they'd probably cuss me out). One thing I did like about this novel is how it addresses the situations that kids face everyday: bullying, isolation and ostracism, and parents who aren't sufficiently involved in their day to day sufferings (for whatever reasons). Of course I hope most parents are better at parenting than Courtney's but I acknowledge that good parents can have so much going on that they don't have the energy to address issues that seem so trivial like being mildly bullied or feeling like a social outcast. I was bullied and I know how that felt. I know my mother cared, but how much could she do, day to day? And children are very creative in their cruelty. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and get through it. In a lot of instances, parental interference can make it worse, although there are certainly times when a parent definitely needs to step in.
I didn't like Courtney's dabbling in witchcraft at all. I have an aversion to witchcraft, so that's part of it. I don't have an issue with magic in the abstract sense, but I really dislike the use of spells to control people (which is the crux of my dislike of witchcraft), which is what Courtney was doing. At least, the author shows the negative results of this, and has Courtney's Great-Great Grand-Uncle step in.
One of the things I wasn't keen on with this book was the ambiguous and somewhat unresolved and rather dark endings. Yeah, yeah, that's the whole theme of this book, I know. Maybe this is going back to the overall theme of the inherent darkness of childhood. I am more of an upbeat ending girl, even as a fan of horror. I think you can have horror and still get a sense of hope, and in the case of Courtney's situations, I don't feel that much hope, even when the original crisis is somewhat resolved.
Will I continue to read this series? Probably, but not back to back. It's a bit to dark to pile these on one after another. I wish this was in color, but I did like the drawings and the manner in which the character personality is conveyed. And I loved Courtney's hair so much!
Overall, this was pretty good, but I didn't love it, for the reasons above. It's definitely an appropriate choice to read in the month of October for an atmospheric and horror-esque book. Or just anytime if you like books that are dark in theme with younger characters.
I think that this book is for readers over 11, more or less okay for the middle grade/juvenile age group....more
I literally cannot get enough of Clay and Jeremy. This book is jammed packed with them both. Oh, my heart couldn't hardly stand reading about young ClI literally cannot get enough of Clay and Jeremy. This book is jammed packed with them both. Oh, my heart couldn't hardly stand reading about young Clay and his survival struggles as a young wolf. Expect Clayton fan art soon. I think this was some of Kelley Armstrong's best writing, how she showed the world through a young Clay's eyes. Clay is my favorite character in her books if you hadn't noticed. Seconded by Jeremy. I do love Elena, but I love these two the most of all.
Reading Jeremy's backstory with his terrible, awful father, and the difficult life he had trying to navigate around a father who hated him because he was different, and trying to follow his grandfather's stipulations. Jeremy and Clay were the real family, in my opinion. I do love the fact that Jeremy and Clay have Antonio and Nick and the other pack, to a lesser extent as well.
While I am a cat person, I adore wolves. I love reading books about wolf characters. It's such poetic writing, and it shows the brutal, but beautiful natural world at its most elemental. The manner in which Armstrong writes her werewolf dynamics is very real world and brutal, and shows the ugliness of human nature through the lens of werewolf fiction. The idea of a human having a wolf nature is so intriguing to me, I continually gravitate back to these books.
One of the smartest things that Armstrong did was to keep Elena out of this book. I say that because in the overall story, it's more about Elena, and you don't get a sense of Clayton having a world or life without Elena. While it's obvious that she is so centered in his life, this book shows who and what Clayton is, intrinsically. His extreme loyalty, and how pragmatic but elemental he is in what he feels and does. It was such a pleasure to read about young Clayton and how he grew up into the amazing man that he is. Is Clay perfect, nope. But is he a perfectly fantastic character? Yes. Definitely in my top ten of all time favorite characters in literature. Jeremy might not make the top ten, but he definitely makes the top thirty or forty.
I think I read this audiobook faster than I've ever read one, or if I have, there are few that I've read this quickly. I was so captivated with it. I decided to read No Humans Involved next, just for more Jeremy time....more
"Coraline" continues my love affair with Neil Gaiman's books on audio. I love his voice so much. It's soothing but also keeps my mind focused on the s"Coraline" continues my love affair with Neil Gaiman's books on audio. I love his voice so much. It's soothing but also keeps my mind focused on the story. I think that he endows his words with all the emphasis, power and creative energy they should have. He's really great with different voices as well. "Coraline" might be a short book on audio, but it's so rich and fulfilling.
I freely admit I had ghoulish tastes in books when I was a girl. I read every scary or dark fantasy novel in the children's section, and some multiple times (The Gruesome Green Witch I'm looking at you!). I would have loved this book if it had been written when I was a young girl. It's nicely scary and intense, but also suitable for a child (and adults like me). The "Other Mother" seethes with menace, and the use of subtle details (like her button eyes, penchant for eating beetles, and hair that waves as though a breeze is blowing although it isn't.) There are even gruesome touches, such as the fact that some of the inhabitants of the world the "Other Mother" created are barely formed, gelatinous blobs. I agree with another reviewer who said that they admired how brave Coraline was (and she's brave in the real sense, doing something in spite of her fears). She's really an awesome young girl (but also realistic in her flaws).
I think that Gaiman has a sense of childhood that has not faded with his age. He understands the joy and the disappointments of it. Coraline is a young girl surrounded by adults, and that's a tough situation. She seethes with physical and mental energy, and while appropriate in development for her age, she's also mature and capable of taking care of herself to a degree. But like any other child, she yearns for the love and attention of parents who care about her. Luckily, she is able to see through the "Other Mother" and realizes that her parents are exactly what she needs and not a figment of her imagination with a menace beneath the wish fulfillment.
I would have to give this one 4.5 stars because it doesn't quite meet the high standards of The Graveyard Book in comparison. But it really is an outstanding book. The movie is pretty good, if you get a chance to watch it. I saw it first, and I plan to re-watch it and compare it since I watched it years ago and I'm just now reading the book.
If you can get this on audio, I highly recommend it....more
Danielle The Book Huntress
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