Photo by Stephh922
If you have never read the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, you should. They were a childhood reading staple like Goosebumps, which I considered writing about. But those books didn’t creep me out quite as much as Alvin Schwartz’s. I still have the Scary Stories books on my shelves. It was circa 5th or 6th grade when I got them. These books are gems. I read them to my English students in Japan. Scary Stories is a combination of funny and creepy. I am still not sure what audience he was aiming for — it’s definitely not made for very young kids. Why does Schwartz’s creation win out over Goosebumps?
Let’s start with those illustrations he used, shall we? Those things looked like they were drawn by Edgar Allan Poe on an opium binge. They are still scary. The illustration for the story “Harold” was awful. Vlad the Impaler would have a full sized print on his wall. That impaled scarecrow/human still bothers me when I look at it. It looks like it will come off that stick any minute and murder you. The strange, skeletal figures he scatters across his books were also nightmare-inspiring. The one that gets to me is the picture of the spiders all over the girl’s face. I hate spiders and the thought of dozens of tiny ones pouring out of my face is horrifying. If Schwartz’s stories didn’t make you sleep with the lights on, his illustrations would do the trick.
Some of the stories were pretty silly. Other were downright macabre. “The White Satin Evening Gown” made me afraid to wear dresses for a while. I didn’t want formaldehyde soaking into my skin and killing me. “The Rings on her Finger” was pretty messed up — a thief pitches headfirst into the grave he just robbed, killing himself. There were many disturbing ways to die in these stories. Getting locked in trucks, murdered, shot in the head, and poisonings are just some the ways the characters kicked the bucket. That is pretty messed up for a kid’s book. It wasn’t any wonder the books sent chills down my spine.
You also had plenty of ghosts and other scary creatures to read about. My favorite story was “The Cat’s Paw”. It wasn’t really terrifying; I just liked the idea of being able to turn into a cat. It didn’t end well for the cat but the story was still interesting. “What Do You Come For?” really freaked me out. A lonely old lady just wants some company on a cold night. She gets more than she bargained for when a corpse rolls down her chimney. Yeah, I would rather be alone, thanks.
The stories don’t scare me now. I actually giggle a little when I read them. They are scary when you are kid, though. The illustrations are still psychotically amazing. I definitely enjoyed reading (scaring) my former students in Japan. Make sure you read or reread these books for Halloween!
