REVIEW: Monster Mashup

Monster Mashup
Author: MJ Ware

I'm on a bit of an MJ Ware read-a-thon this month after noticing (much to my embarrassment) that a free book I downloaded in 2012 by the author still had not been read and reviewed seven years later. Yikes! I need to keep better track of the content on my Kindle! After reading that particular book (enjoyed it too!), I'm continuing on and reading several other books by this author. I love a good spooky story....and MJ Ware's slightly creepy reads for kids are entertaining and fun to read! Even for this 50 year old grandma!

Monster Mashup gathers 12 short stories....all appropriate for kids ages 9+. The tales are spooky, but not graphically so. They remind me a bit of Goosebumps books....a bit of scary, implied gore and weird stuff....but nothing inappropriate for middle grade kids. A couple of these stories also appear in other books by MJ Ware (Bloody Marcy, No Way Out, Hobgoblin Horror, and Steven: Space Stowaway) and Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb is a short story that inspired the book-length tale by the same name.

The first 3 stories deal with mirrors and monsters. Great stories for any kid (or adult) who has ever seen anything weird in a reflection....or wondered if mirrors could be a portal to someplace else. The rest of the tales deal with various misadventures....investigating an old house, sneaking on a ship to Mars, finding out the real value of your friendship, visiting an old man to hear his war stories, mugging leprechauns for spare change, breaking into a mortuary, putting up with little brothers, and clearing out grandpa's room.  The final story, Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb, was lengthened into a novel. I just read it -- fun read! I highly recommend both versions!

I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection. My favorite is Hobgoblin Horror. :) Two kids visit an old veteran in a nursing home. He's a bit of a curmudgeon, but he tells great stories. The kids don't realize that his latest story is completely true.....and dangerous!

The front cover for this book is just awesome! Halloween has been my favorite holiday since I was a young child....and the cover art looks very very Halloween-y. :) Very colorful and eye-catching!

All in all, a nice collection of slightly spooky tales for kids. A fun, quick read! And I read and reviewed this one within two days of downloading it -- not 7 years! eek!

This book and others by MJ Ware are available for free download on Amazon. Enjoy! Read and review -- support indie authors! :)