Favorite Scary Stories of American Children

I borrowed this book from my cousin's friend when I was ten years old in the fourth grade. Most of the stories was good, but I don't recommend this book to young readers. My favorite story is Bloody Mary. Because of that story, I couldn't sleep. I thought she was going to jump out the mirroir at midnight and kill me, and I start seeing her. Or it was my imagination. I know it wasn't. I do recommend this book for readers.

Richard and Judy Young, professional storytellers based at Silver Dollar City, Mo., collected the favorite scary stories of American children. The authors admonish tellers to tell these stories responsibly in the introduction. There is a table of contents, but the twenty-three stories are in no apparent order. The illustrations are simple ink drawings with blue accents. They are not integral to the stories. Most of the tales are American or European in origin and a few are from Asia brought here by immigrants and soldiers returning from Viet Nam. The stories are mostly quite short and easily told as written. The stories are divided into three groups: for ages 5 or 6, 7 or 8, and 9 or 10. The older group could also enjoy reading the stories. The source notes, though brief, are detailed. The authors list the history of the tale and in many cases who they first heard it from. The "Afterword for parents, teachers, and librarians" discusses the importance of storytelling and what to be careful of when telling scary stories. There is a useful guide to pronunciation. Karen Woodworth-Roman

I have three children, ages 8-2. The oldest two enjoy me telling "scary" stories around the campfire. Some stories were just too scary to tell them. These are just right for their ages. Scary enough to make them huddle close, but not so scary that they have bad dreams or are too scared to go to the camper alone! The stories are also short enough that they can be committed to memory easily enough. Thank you!

It was good. My favorite story was Wam Slam Jenny Mo-Jam

This book offers a wonderfully broad selection of stories from a variety of traditions and cultures, from the whimsical to the truly spooky. It is an excellent book to have along on camping trips or other excursions with the kids, and sports the unique feature of an age code to indicate which stories are appropriate for what age group.Read these out loud! They're meant to be told!