Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

[Clo]

Did anyone else read these books as children?

I found them in my school library when I was 7-ish, and read all of them. Scared the living daylights out of me, and sometimes I still think of the pictures! I was reminded of the books this morning, and thought, "I cannot be the only one who was traumatized by these."

An example of the BEAUTIFUL, INSPIRING artwork:

(SPOILER)

Also, all the stories can be found on YouTube. "The Window" scared me a lot as a kid.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Oh, man. Haha. I totally found a digital copy of the books like a year ago because I looked them up.

I think the first two were pretty good, but the third one just got silly and not so scary.

[Raistlin]

With the exception of the artwork, most of the stories are pretty lame and unmemorable.

[rubah]

I always liked the story of the mexican dog/sewer rat and that of Wendigo.

[Clo]

With the exception of the artwork, most of the stories are pretty lame and unmemorable.

Because they're written for people under 10. Things for children usually are lame to people who sometimes act like adults/might be adults/claim to be adults. The images really are the "what the smurf" aspect to this.

If you want something for adults which is unsettling, maybe try creepypasta, which is mostly lame, or maybe short stories like "I Have No Mouth, But I Must Scream" (I think I have the title right).

And I don't remember the Wendigo. Wasn't it something about people being dropped from the sky by a creature?

[rubah]

carried up into the sky, actually. In a blizzard.

[~*~Celes~*~]

i think one of the worst ones for me was the one with the girl who got bit on the tongue by a spider or cheek or something, and the eggs hatched out of her skin that and the one about the butcher shop or something and the sewer rat thing rubah mentioned.

[Raistlin]

With the exception of the artwork, most of the stories are pretty lame and unmemorable.

Because they're written for people under 10. Things for children usually are lame to people who sometimes act like adults/might be adults/claim to be adults. The images really are the "what the smurf" aspect to this.

My point being that there were much more detailed, interesting horror/thriller stories, even marketed towards kids. Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Fear Street come to mind.

[Clo]

I'm not familiar with Are You Afraid of the Dark?, but Fear Street is marketed toward early teens.

[Pheesh]

You guys didn't just read Goosebumps like normal kids?

[Raistlin]

I read a ton of Goosebumps! But I recognize that most of those would now be considered pretty lame as well.

Crystal: Are You Afraid of the Dark? was a TV show on Nickelodeon. It was pretty big when we were young.

[Bunny]

You guys didn't just read Goosebumps like normal kids?

I was never a normal kid.

I'm not familiar with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Are You Afraid of the Dark? was one of my favorite shows growing up though.

[fire_of_avalon]

Hell yes I did! My sister has the first one somewhere and I read it about a year ago. Still gave me the heebie jeebies.

[Pheesh]

I read a ton of Goosebumps! But I recognize that most of those would now be considered pretty lame as well.

I think they still have the desired effect on the target audience though (assuming they're still read by kids now days, I have no idea if they're still big or not). It's not really fair to say that the stories are lame when you're well over age bracket they're intended for.

[Clo]

I agree with what Phil says! It matters to the target audience!

And I'm glad someone else was creeped out by them, foa.

I missed out on Are You Afraid of the Dark? because I had no cable or satellite as a kid, but I think I heard a lot of the stories at sleepovers (and we did Bloody Mary! Bloody mary, bloody mary, bloody mary...)