REVIEW: More Short & Shivery

More Short & Shivery: 30 Terrifying Tales
Stories retold by: Robert D. San Souci

More Short & Shivery features 30 spooky tales from folklore and literature, retold by Author Robert D. San Souci. There are five Short & Shivery books. They are all great collections of scary folklore for kids. All stories are age appropriate and entertaining for middle-grade students. The illustrations by Katherine Coville and Jacqueline Rogers add a nice extra shiver to the tales.

More Short & Shivery offers up tales of terror from all around the world. Some of the tales are familar (like The Devil and Tom Walker) and retold for kids. In the back of the book is a list of sources for those who want to read the originals or discover more information about the stories and authors. I love the fact the book includes information on the origins of the stories! The source notes give a bit of background about the tale, the country it came from, and for some, the author that wrote the original story.

I love scary story collections like this. I read a lot of really, really heavy adult fiction and non-fiction and sometimes I just want some entertaining stories that allow me a night of peaceful, enjoyable reading. My favorite palate cleansers between more heavy reading are story collections like this one. Little shivery tales that always have a spooky surprise or creepy-cool ending. I loved these books when I was young....loved them when I read them out loud to my kids....and I still love them now. :) A story doesn't have to be gory, soul shockingly terrifying or violent in order to be creepy or scary. These tales chill to the bone without being too much. Great entertainment for camping, Halloween festivities or during sleepovers. I could also see these stories being used in the classroom for reading aloud, as an introduction to get students started on a creative writing project to compose their own spooky tale, or just as an entertaining book to enjoy during reading time.

This story collection includes:

Hold Him, Tabb!
The Witches' Eyes
The Duppy
Two Snakes
The Draug
The Vampire Cat
Windigo Island
The Haunted Inn
The Rolling Head
The Croglin Grange Vampire
The Yara
Me, Myself
Island of Fear
Three Who Sought Death
Sister Death and the Healer
The Mouse Tower
The Devil and Tom Walker
The Greedy Daughter
The Pirate
The Golden Arm
The Serpent Woman
Loft the Enchanter
The Accursed House
Escape Up the Tree
The Headrest
The Thing in the Woods
King of the Cats
The Dead Mother
Knock....Knock.....Knock
Twice Surprised

A great collection! Perfect for kids (and adults) who like entertaining, creepy stories. :)