The Puppet's Payback and Other Chilling Tales

June 1, 2020
Twelve chilling tales from the grande dame of the ghost story. A goodly number of Hahn's 20-odd novels deal with the supernatural, especially spirits, and here she collects some of her shorter tales. Matthew skips school to enjoy the spring weather, which turns on him. Killing time in an arcade until he can go home, he sees a sinister stranger who then gets on the bus Matthew must ride home. Meeting Vince that dark night changes Mathew's life forever (and he may well "live" that long). Jenny buys a haunted dress and solves a murder from the 1920s. In the title story, Jeremy, bullied by students and a particularly mean teacher, has the bad luck to end up with a cursed puppet...but even curses sometimes turn out to be beneficial. Two of the tales have sports themes, and others are historical spookers, so there is something for every fan of paranormal page-turners. Characters default to white. Four of the tales were previously published in 1990s-era anthologies. In an afterword, Hahn explains why she writes ghost stories and includes one she wrote as a high school senior (reworked as "Trouble Afoot" for Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters, II, 1996, and also reprinted here). Unearthly tales sure to tingle the spines of fans new and old. (Horror/short stories. 8-14)

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August 1, 2020

Gr 3-5-Hahn returns with more chilling tales for young readers, this time in short story form. This collection of 10 stories ranges from ghosts to witches and everything in between. Hahn's tales are typically gut-wrenchingly terrifying, often with grotesque monsters and an abundance of horrifying detail; but the stories included in this selection tend more on the side of creepy, eerie incidents. These stories are more accessible for sensitive readers who are still looking for a scare, but are not ready to delve into more ghastly selections. The format would work well for read-alouds, as many of the stories are short enough that they could be shared in a group. Hahn also includes a non-horror story that explains how she became a writer, particularly one of ghost stories, which will be of interest to young readers and could be used to inspire young writers in a classroom setting. VERDICT This collection of short spooky tales is accessible for more sensitive readers, but will still find fans with Hahn's regulars and horror aficionados alike. A suggested purchase for most middle grade collections.-Ellen Conlin, Naperville P.L., IL

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August 1, 2020
Grades 4-6 For her first gathering of short fiction, the goosebump queen offers 10 mostly ghostly tales?four previously published in collections from the 1990s and so probably hard to find now. All feature young (or young-ish) folk in cemeteries or other atmospheric settings, often finding eerie items like a child's Little Blue Jacket or an antique flapper dress with an oddly indelible red stain ( The Real Thing ). Some victims come off second best in their encounters with the supernatural, like one errant schoolboy who steps off The Number Seven Bus with a vampire and another who becomes The Thirteenth Pigeon after incautiously harassing an old lady in the park. More often, though, they emerge sobered but unscathed. Hahn closes with a valuable afterword in which she not only ruminates about why she writes scary stories, but also includes the text of one she originally created in high school so that readers can compare it with the much improved version here. For readers who prefer their chills skin, rather than bone, deep.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)