A Dog's Breakfast

January 19, 2015
In the first of eight pseudonymously authored titles in the Nightmare Club series, originally published in Ireland, 12-year-old narrator Annie recounts a spooky story that was allegedly told at her annual Halloween sleepover. The subsequent tale revolves around a grouchy, impolite boy named Glen, who gets his just deserts after an encounter with a tiny implike man in the woods. McElhinney’s b&w ink illustrations bring an unsettling edge to the story as Glen discovers that he is gradually transforming into a pig, thanks to his rudeness to humans, animals, and tiny implike men. No, there’s no happy ending for Glen, although things work out pretty well for a hungry wolfhound named Bluebell. A quick, creepy diversion for readers who like stories with a bite. Ages 7–11.

November 1, 2014

Gr 2-4-Each book in this short, snarky, and slightly spooky series begins with a slightly different introduction by Graves in which she describes how the club works (friends gather to tell scary tales). The language and mood make these titles very similar to stories told around a campfire or by friends at a sleepover. Help! is about a boy with a teenage zombie brother locked in the attic, while Mirrored tells of a girl who switches places with her evil reflection. There are stories about a boy who gets turned into ham, a pet guinea pig that may have come back from the dead, and a Dr. Frankenstein-esque mad scientist. With the exception of Mirrored, none of the stories are particularly dark, so those desiring a truly frightening tale should look elsewhere. However, the lightly spooky nature of the selections combined with the brevity of the text and inclusion of illustrations makes this series a good choice for younger readers who aren't yet ready for R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" (Scholastic) or Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" (HarperCollins). The narrator's interjections are similar to those in Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark and Grimm (Dutton, 2010).-Jessica Ko, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Grades 1-3 This pseudonymous series is narrated by 12-year-old Annie Graves, who hosts an annual convergence of the Nightmare Club, a Halloween sleepover. Attendees recount their scariest stories for the group; the only rule is that the stories must be true. Book one is the story of a nasty little boy named Glen, who receives his karmic comeuppance at the hands of an imp he verbally abuses while lost in the woods. Not heeding the imp's warning that the next time he sets out to make someone else feel bad on purpose he would be transformed, Glen gradually turns into a pig, to the delight of the hungry dog he decided to kick. Simultaneously released book two, Help! My Brother's a Zombie, is the sad tale of sleepover guest Jack and his older brother Stephen, the aforementioned zombie. Creepy black-and-white illustrations add to the overall menace of these delightfully macabre stories, which are fast-paced and just silly enough to ward off actual nightmares.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)