Review Blog

Mar 08 2010

Half-minute horrors ed. by Susan Rich

HarperCollins, 2009.
(Ages 10+) Recommended. Subtitled Very small stories, very big scares, this is a collection of terrifying short stories that can be read silently or out loud in half a minute. It is a quality collection of dozens of chilling stories written by outstanding international authors like Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, Jerry Spinelli, Kenneth Opel, James Patterson, Jenny Nimmo, Margaret Atwood, Melissa Marr and Libba Bray.
Ideal for teachers to use on school camps or as a fun end of the day activity, this collection could also be used as a starter for encouraging creative writing of a horror story. The stories will also have immediate appeal to reluctant readers as most take up only a page or two. There are also illustrated stories that are equally haunting and quite challenging.
Pat Pledger