Don’t Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
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- Create Date：2021-08-12 06:51:32
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jonathan Maberry
- ISBN：0062877682
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Featuring stories from R。L。 Stine and Madeleine Roux， this middle grade horror anthology， curated by New York Times bestselling author and master of macabre Jonathan Maberry， is a chilling tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark。
Flesh-hungry ogres？ Brains full of spiders？ Haunted houses you can’t escape？ This collection of 35 terrifying stories from the Horror Writers Association has it all， including ghastly illustrations from Iris Compiet that will absolutely chill readers to the bone。
So turn off your lamps， click on your flashlights， and prepare—if you dare—to be utterly spooked！
The complete list of writers: Linda D。 Addison， Courtney Alameda， Jonathan Auxier， Gary A。 Braunbeck， Z Brewer， Aric Cushing， John Dixon， Tananarive Due， Jamie Ford， Kami Garcia， Christopher Golden， Tonya Hurley， Catherine Jordan， Sherrilyn Kenyon， Alethea Kontis， N。R。 Lambert， Laurent Linn， Amy Lukavics， Barry Lyga， D。J。 MacHale， Josh Malerman， James A。 Moore， Michael Northrop， Micol Ostow， Joanna Parypinksi， Brendan Reichs， Madeleine Roux， R。L。 Stine， Margaret Stohl， Gaby Triana， Luis Alberto Urrea， Rosario Urrea， Kim Ventrella， Sheri White， T。J。 Wooldridge， Brenna Yovanoff
Flesh-hungry ogres？ Brains full of spiders？ Haunted houses you can’t escape？ This collection of 35 terrifying stories from the Horror Writers Association has it all， including ghastly illustrations from Iris Compiet that will absolutely chill readers to the bone。
So turn off your lamps， click on your flashlights， and prepare—if you dare—to be utterly spooked！
The complete list of writers: Linda D。 Addison， Courtney Alameda， Jonathan Auxier， Gary A。 Braunbeck， Z Brewer， Aric Cushing， John Dixon， Tananarive Due， Jamie Ford， Kami Garcia， Christopher Golden， Tonya Hurley， Catherine Jordan， Sherrilyn Kenyon， Alethea Kontis， N。R。 Lambert， Laurent Linn， Amy Lukavics， Barry Lyga， D。J。 MacHale， Josh Malerman， James A。 Moore， Michael Northrop， Micol Ostow， Joanna Parypinksi， Brendan Reichs， Madeleine Roux， R。L。 Stine， Margaret Stohl， Gaby Triana， Luis Alberto Urrea， Rosario Urrea， Kim Ventrella， Sheri White， T。J。 Wooldridge， Brenna Yovanoff
Reviews
Integral
，
I love Alvin Schwartz' Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark trilogy and Don't Turn Out The Lights really does them justice。 Like any short story anthology， some of the stories were hit and miss with me， but for the most part I really enjoyed them all。 The audio book is really well done too。 I love Alvin Schwartz' Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark trilogy and Don't Turn Out The Lights really does them justice。 Like any short story anthology， some of the stories were hit and miss with me， but for the most part I really enjoyed them all。 The audio book is really well done too。 。。。more
Kristen
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2。5🌟
Jonathan
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Masterful tributeI grew up on Alvin Schwartz's books as well as a couple of authors in this collection。 This is a great collection of stories in that urban legend， campfire ghost story motif that Alvin Schwartz did his Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trilogy。 It's paced well and the breaks between different styles of horror is handled expertly。 I don't even think there was a weak story in the collection。 Masterful tributeI grew up on Alvin Schwartz's books as well as a couple of authors in this collection。 This is a great collection of stories in that urban legend， campfire ghost story motif that Alvin Schwartz did his Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trilogy。 It's paced well and the breaks between different styles of horror is handled expertly。 I don't even think there was a weak story in the collection。 。。。more
Brad McLelland
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Such great fun！ Some seriously spooky tales in this collection。 I recommend turning off all the lights and reading these aloud with your family or friends。
Beenee Reads
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I only bought this book for Sherrilyn’s story so I can’t say what the others are like， but hers was interesting。Very short and told in rhyme， it’s definitely not the usual as far as I’ve read from her。I like the ending though because I too have such siblings！
Rachel
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TL;DR: This book in a nutshell was a disappointment。 Think "Buddy the Elf thinking he's going to meet the real Santa at the mall" level disappointment。 I was ready to rip some fake beards off， lemme tell you。 WELL this was hideous。 And not even in a good way。 Honestly， the stories were bland and dumb。 Mostly I found myself wondering why many of these writers even bothered。。。or if they bothered at all。 The writing was flaccid - most of the time the authors seemed to be parroting back a half-ba TL;DR: This book in a nutshell was a disappointment。 Think "Buddy the Elf thinking he's going to meet the real Santa at the mall" level disappointment。 I was ready to rip some fake beards off， lemme tell you。 WELL this was hideous。 And not even in a good way。 Honestly， the stories were bland and dumb。 Mostly I found myself wondering why many of these writers even bothered。。。or if they bothered at all。 The writing was flaccid - most of the time the authors seemed to be parroting back a half-baked version of what the great horror writers of old had already refined。 The characters were actually pretty interesting。。。until the endings of most of the stories left me scratching my head and wondering what the heck was the point of this tale？ I found myself speed-reading the stories just to find one that was actually worth my time， and I have to say I didn't really find any。 And oh， scariness factor？ Pfft。 Some were chilling in the beginning， I'll grant you that。 Actually， most of the stories did appear very promising at the start （again， since they are reusing tropes and ideas that truly gifted authors had used to spin their lurid， knock-your-socks-off， delicious creations） and built up in me a sense of anticipation， of feeling like "Oh wow， this is scary！ Gosh， I wonder what's going to happen？" Well。 I'm here to tell you that usually what happened was either the bad guy was vanquished （which， in my opinion， SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN A SCARY STORY because it defeats the whole purpose of the tale）， or the kid was taken by whatever demon/possessed thing was haunting them。 Now that last one IS what I am looking for in a scary story， that's true。 BUT - and I kid you not， I don't think there was ever a story that didn't have this effect on me - I always found myself wondering， but why THIS ending？ This makes NO SENSE。 I'm not even scared。 。。。As I'm looking back over this review， I'm realizing that I might not make much sense。 Sure， you'll say， a scary story isn't supposed to have a point， it's supposed to be scary。 Well， you know what's truly scary？ A story that gives you chills。 That has a plot。 Because if it has a plot， I'm not spending my time looking for plot holes and inaccuracies， I'm spending my time getting one of the best good ol' scares of my life！（I'm not gonna even talk about that one story where every sentence rhymed， but it wasn't written in a poem form so it just sounded like a bored kindergartener repeating the warning their paranoid grandma told them because she hadn't taken her pain meds and this little brat was screaming in her ear and she wanted to shut him up。）（Not a word about that one） Okay。 You know what？I'm so mad about this that I'm going to write a story that's about at the writing and reading level of the whole anthology just to give you a peek into what kinds of stories dwell within those decidedly-unscary pages。 AHEM There once was a boy named Mark。Who looked for scary stories on a lark。 He looked at his feetSo shiny and sweetAnd realized they glow in the dark。 *bow* thank you。 。。。more
Jennifer
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Short reads。 Some creepy。 Some suspenseful。 Nothing explicit or gory。
Mouses house of books
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this book gave me everything i wanted， i got strong "goosebumps" and of course "scary stories to tell in the dark" vibes。 i will say this books reads a tiny bit older than "scary stories to tell in the dark"。 this book is something i can see myself re-reading again， would love to read "scary stories to tell in the dark" and "dont turn out the lights" back to back just so i could really see how much alike they truly are。 i ended up flagging my favourite stories thinking there would only be 2 mayb this book gave me everything i wanted， i got strong "goosebumps" and of course "scary stories to tell in the dark" vibes。 i will say this books reads a tiny bit older than "scary stories to tell in the dark"。 this book is something i can see myself re-reading again， would love to read "scary stories to tell in the dark" and "dont turn out the lights" back to back just so i could really see how much alike they truly are。 i ended up flagging my favourite stories thinking there would only be 2 maybe 3 but there ended up being 10 stories that I really liked。 -the carved bear-the golden peacock-the neighbor -the painted skin-the green grabber-hachishakusama-light as a feather， stiff as a board-the ghost in sam's closet-the garage-the tall ones 。。。more
Elizabeth
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Delightfully creepy。
Danielle Wood
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I loved these spooky tales！ There were some really good ones and they weren’t TOO scary！
Linda Munro
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This is a collection of short stories meant to be told around the campfire， or at a pajama party。 It is a book geared towards youthful readers。It took a while for me to think of some of the tales we told during the age of youth， so many， many moons ago; but I believe these would definitely be enjoyed by youngsters。Good ideas for tales to scare their friends。
Robert
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Kudos for attempting a tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark， but so many of the stories were just going through the motions。 Pretty rudimentary writing -- and maybe that was part of the goal -- but with only a couple stories leaving some semblance of memories of the tale after finishing， it's a quick read but not much else。 Kudos for attempting a tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark， but so many of the stories were just going through the motions。 Pretty rudimentary writing -- and maybe that was part of the goal -- but with only a couple stories leaving some semblance of memories of the tale after finishing， it's a quick read but not much else。 。。。more
Amber Terry
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I've wanted to read this for months now （it's only been out for months， actually） and overall， it didn't disappoint。 Creepy stories and eerie illustrations in the same style as the freaky illustrations in the Scary Stories books。 I've wanted to read this for months now （it's only been out for months， actually） and overall， it didn't disappoint。 Creepy stories and eerie illustrations in the same style as the freaky illustrations in the Scary Stories books。 。。。more
Liberty Anderson
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It was very interesting because it scared me， but it wasn't scary enough to give me nightmares。 But the plot changed a lot so it was great if you don't like reading long books。 It was very interesting because it scared me， but it wasn't scary enough to give me nightmares。 But the plot changed a lot so it was great if you don't like reading long books。 。。。more
Max Hadraba
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this book is such a good book to read if you like scary stories
Addison
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good
Poetniknowit
，
This collection was great。 If you go in understanding that:A） these stories are written for middle grade kidsB） they're written using the same plot formulas as the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark booksC） you're not an adult with overly high expectations。。。 Then you're going to really love this collection。 And I did！ Some of the gimmicks in the stories were immediately identifiable， but upon reading them I wasn't annoyed in the least bit。 I felt nostalgic， as many of these tales captur This collection was great。 If you go in understanding that:A） these stories are written for middle grade kidsB） they're written using the same plot formulas as the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark booksC） you're not an adult with overly high expectations。。。 Then you're going to really love this collection。 And I did！ Some of the gimmicks in the stories were immediately identifiable， but upon reading them I wasn't annoyed in the least bit。 I felt nostalgic， as many of these tales captured the very essence of their predecessors。Most are written with a twist， some meant to be read aloud to friends in hopes of spooking them。They're all bite sized and I really enjoyed it。 。。。more
✦BookishlyRichie✦
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3 STARS！！！I’ve had a big issue for the past couple of years with Middle-Grade horror being too light and even though I think this is classified as YA because of mentions the use of curse words and alcohol， these felt like they were purposefully written for children but watered down EVEN more， which I hate。 If you’re going to write any type of horror， whether it’s MG， YA， or Adult， if you’re aim isn’t to scare the crap out of someone， what’s the freaking point？I understand these were written as a 3 STARS！！！I’ve had a big issue for the past couple of years with Middle-Grade horror being too light and even though I think this is classified as YA because of mentions the use of curse words and alcohol， these felt like they were purposefully written for children but watered down EVEN more， which I hate。 If you’re going to write any type of horror， whether it’s MG， YA， or Adult， if you’re aim isn’t to scare the crap out of someone， what’s the freaking point？I understand these were written as a tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark， but Scary Stories… was pretty damn gruesome， the illustrations were twisted and gory， and a lot of the stories were pretty scary。 I’d say out of the 35， a good 10 were actually spooky and none managed to SCARE me （my 10 yr old cousin listened to the audio with me and said none scared her at all）。 I know I might seem like I’m being a little hard on this collection but like I said， if you’re going to write horror， your aim better be to scare someone， especially kids because the ones that LOVE horror， want to be scared。 I’ve written 2 MG horror novels， with a third one on the way， and so in this instance I know what I’m talking about。 Anyway， if you’re looking for Soft Horror， this is perfect for you。 If you’re looking to be scared， read the original Scary Stories Treasury。 Also what the hell was R。L。 Stine's story？？？ I was legit sitting there like wtf is this LOL***Stand out stories for me:The Tall OnesThe GarageTag， You're ItThe NeighborThe Bottle TreeWhistle by the Graveyard The Weeping WomanThe Knock-Knock Man ***update*** I just checked and this supposedly is marketed as YA & MG， but I still stand by what I said。 I said what I said。 lol– R。 。。。more
Victoria
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Decent read！ The stories were short and fun and I'd definitely recommend it。 Decent read！ The stories were short and fun and I'd definitely recommend it。 。。。more
Toriin
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Slow
Dorothy
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This is a fun scary book with multiple short stories that I feel like kids would love to read to each other and try to scare each other with。
Shorty
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This is a really fantastic collection of some really wonderful short stories that I enjoyed immensely。 Some were great， and some were better than this。 One was even like， WTF， DUDE。。。？？？ That was awesome lol。 （I’m lookin at you， Mallerman。 That was NUTS。 And yes， I still loved it。 Do it again please？）Anyway， I had a really great time listening to these stories by all the authors， and I wasn’t bored once。The complete list of writers: Linda D。 Addison， Courtney Alameda， Jonathan Auxier， Gary A。 Br This is a really fantastic collection of some really wonderful short stories that I enjoyed immensely。 Some were great， and some were better than this。 One was even like， WTF， DUDE。。。？？？ That was awesome lol。 （I’m lookin at you， Mallerman。 That was NUTS。 And yes， I still loved it。 Do it again please？）Anyway， I had a really great time listening to these stories by all the authors， and I wasn’t bored once。The complete list of writers: Linda D。 Addison， Courtney Alameda， Jonathan Auxier， Gary A。 Braunbeck， Z Brewer， Aric Cushing， John Dixon， Tananarive Due， Jamie Ford， Kami Garcia， Christopher Golden， Tonya Hurley， Catherine Jordan， Sherrilyn Kenyon， Alethea Kontis， N。R。 Lambert， Laurent Linn， Amy Lukavics， Barry Lyga， D。J。 MacHale， Josh Malerman， James A。 Moore， Michael Northrop， Micol Ostow， Joanna Parypinksi， Brendan Reichs， Madeleine Roux， R。L。 Stine， Margaret Stohl， Gaby Triana， Luis Alberto Urrea， Rosario Urrea， Kim Ventrella， Sheri White， T。J。 Wooldridge， Brenna Yovanoff。Adam Verner and Hillary Huber are the narrators of the audiobook version of this novel。 They were splendid。 Thank you Harper Collins for using such wonderful talents。 If you love horror novels， and you don’t mind short stories， please read or listen to this novel soon。 You will probably love it as much as I did。4 stars 。。。more
Korkort
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"The Funeral Portrait" by Laurent Linn - 5/5 - I wasn't sure about this one at first because I was simply not in the mood for a medieval type story but the writing drew me in and I ended up really enjoying it。"The Carved Bear" by Brendan Reichs - 5/5 - Enjoyed the ending。 Smart girl。"Don't You See That Cat？" by Gaby Triana - 5/5 - I really enjoyed this！ Perfect spooky story for an elementary/middle school aged kid。"The Golden Peacock" by Alethea Kontis - 5/5 - Really enjoyed the Ancient Greek ti "The Funeral Portrait" by Laurent Linn - 5/5 - I wasn't sure about this one at first because I was simply not in the mood for a medieval type story but the writing drew me in and I ended up really enjoying it。"The Carved Bear" by Brendan Reichs - 5/5 - Enjoyed the ending。 Smart girl。"Don't You See That Cat？" by Gaby Triana - 5/5 - I really enjoyed this！ Perfect spooky story for an elementary/middle school aged kid。"The Golden Peacock" by Alethea Kontis - 5/5 - Really enjoyed the Ancient Greek tidbits （especially since I just finished The Song of Achilles and Galatea）。 The story itself was really nice and simple。"The Knock-Knock Man" by Brenna Yovanoff - 2/5 - The first page or so was really good then the cuts started。 There was no build up and the constant cuts were super annoying （it's short enough as it is）。 Like the writer didn't want to bother with a proper build up and wanted to get this over with as soon as possible。"Strange Music" by Joanna Parypinski - 5/5 - Gave me flashbacks of band class。 Very good story。 The high school cringe was all mine and nothing to do with the story。"Copy and Paste Kill" by Barry Lyga - 3/5 - Too short to judge properly。"The House on the Hill" by Micol Ostow - 2/5 - CLICK。"Jingle Jangle" by Kim Ventrella - 4/5 - I really like Granny's sacrifice at the end。 Made for a nice ending。"The Weeping Woman" by Courtney Alameda - 5/5 - Retelling of La Llorona。 No complaints here。 Enjoyed it。"The Neighbor" by Amy Lukavics - 5/5 - Unexpected in a very good way。"Tag， You're It" by N。 R。 Lambert - 5/5 - Stupid title but great story。"The Painted Skin" by Jamie Ford - 5/5 - Pervert gets what's coming to him。"Lost to the World" by John Dixon - 5/5 - A bit too short but I liked it。"The Bargain" by Aric Cushing - 5/5 - Very good story。 I like the Day of the Dead info。 It adds a little extra something。"Lint Trap" by Jonathan Auxier - 4/5 - This was nice。 Only problem is that it was extremely obvious the writer was talking down to the reader。"The Cries of the Cat" by Josh Malerman - 3/5 - Meow！ Meow！"The Open Window" by Christopher Golden - 5/5 - Pretty good。 Ending was kind of blah or maybe I'm just tired。"The Skelly-Horse" by T。 J。 Wooldridge - 2/5 - That's how it gets you！"The Umbrella Man" by Gary A。 Braunbeck - 2/5 - I'm blaming low score on the fact that I'm sleep deprived。"The Green Grabber" by D。 J。 MacHale - 2/5 - Too bloated to be good。 Reminded me a lot of the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter。"Brain Spiders" by Luis Alberto Urrea and Rosario Urrea - 4/5 - I liked it。 Just didn't like the mentions of fidget spinners etc。 Stuff like that really ages a story and makes the reader roll their eyes。"Hachishakusama" by Catherine Jordan - 2/5 - Eh。"Light as a Feather， Stiff as a Board" by Margaret Stohl - 3/5 - Not bad but have heard it before。"In Stitches" by Michael Northrop - 5/5 - Very short but pretty good。"The Bottle Tree" by Kami Garcia - 5/5 - Very unique。"The Ghost in Sam's Closet" by R。 L。 Stine - 5/5 - Stood out from the rest in a great way。 Reading this was like taking a drink of springwater after having nothing but tap all day。 What a pro story。"Rap Tap" by Sherrilyn Kenyon - 4/5 - Cute。"The Garage" by Tananarive Due - 2/5 - This writer is more suited to writing for adults than children。 There was a completely different vibe to this one than the rest。 It's good that they are trying to branch out but this was a very poor attempt and writer has clearly never read middle-grade stories before。 Not a bad story overall but threw me completely off as I was expecting middle-grade so two for effort。 Maybe would have been higher if I'd read it in a different more adult collection。"Don't Go into the Pumpkin Patch at Night" by Sheri White - 3/5 - Okay， I guess but too short。"Pretty Girls Make Graves" by Tonya Hurley - 5/5 - Really enjoyed this a lot。 A bit more mature than middle-grade I think or maybe the writing was just that great so I didn't really mind。"Whistle Past the Graveyard" by Z Brewer - 4/5 - Reminded me of something I read long ago but don't actually remember what that was。 At least memory's coming back bit by bit。"Long Shadows" by James A。 Moore - 5/5 - I really like this a lot！"Mud" by Linda D。 Addison - 2/5 - Weird and disturbing。"The Tall Ones" by Madeleine Roux - 5/5 - I liked this so much！ Wish it were longer！ 。。。more
Nicola Hall
，
This was a really good group of stories， creepy and spooky in all the right places 🖤😎A truly excellent tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark。 The characters were all well written and the stories were full of action， friendship， ghostly happening and evil beings 🖤Totally worth the read！！
Em Burns
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DNF’d。 Stopped after the story about the beggar woman。 Rated 4 stars because it was creepy enough that I knew if I kept reading I’d end up with nightmares 😅 Definitely not for the faint of heart like me。 Fantastic writing， and much scarier than Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark！
Sandy Ayres
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I fell in love with this book！ Now I'm looking up each of these incredibly talented authors to read other stories they have written。 I fell in love with this book！ Now I'm looking up each of these incredibly talented authors to read other stories they have written。 。。。more
Devin
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3。5 stars。 My favorite stories were:Strange Music by Joanna ParypinskiJingle Jangle by Kim VentrellaThe Painted Skin by Jamie FordThe Green Grabber by DJ MacHale
Melissa Arenson
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This was an excellent tribute to scary stories to tell in the dark！ The stories have a similar vibe， but most of them do lack the special atmosphere and unique plotting that the original collection had。 Regardless， the updated content will surely be more appealing to children of this time。
Robin Amstutz
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I loved this book， highly recommend。 All the stories reminded me of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark。 The artwork did too！
Dedra
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