Want a good scare? Try reading about severed heads that blink, killer viruses that eat their human host, and real-life werewolves (just for starters)! Scared yet? That's okay - feeling scared is natural and useful. Want to know more about these and other fears? Pick up this one-of-a-kind book, an illustrated investigation into all the stuff that's frightened us out of our wits for centuries and the gruesome, gory, gut-churning science behind it. What makes our skin crawl and our spines tingle? Why do we shiver? Why do scary movies make us scream? Uncover the truth behind such scaremongers as King Kong, UFOs, vampires, mummies, ghosts, haunted houses, and many more. First-person and historical accounts and expert scientific opinions make this the ideal book for both skeptics and believers - and anyone who loves a good old-fashioned scare. The comic-book style panels and bite-sized freaky facts mean that you can gorge on or just nibble little bits of scary stuff.
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From School Library Journal
Grade 4–7—This book cleverly weaves together the supernatural and the scientific in an entertaining read that answers questions about ghosts, UFOs, vampires, werewolves, and how long a decapitated head can remain conscious. Examples depicting such things in classical fiction and popular movies are seamlessly interjected between the factual explanations. Each page is filled with detailed black-and-white illustrations, emphasizing the sometimes-humorous, yet often-macabre descriptions. This should appeal to kids who love scary stories, while introducing them to hard science and critical thinking in the process.—Donna Atmur, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Any kid who can’t help but watch scary flicks with all the lights out is going to get a chilly charge from this hand-sized horror handbook. Author O’Meara—represented in the black-and-white comic-book-style artwork as a creepy narrator with a goatee and unusually sharp teeth—uses classic tales of the macabre to introduce scientific concepts. Jekyll and Hyde are linked to psychoactive drugs, vampirism is connected to the rare blood disease porphyria, werewolves are blamed on hypertrichosis, and so forth. If this sounds too technical, don’t worry—O’Meara is most gleeful when zinging around Freaky Facts (who knew a heart has enough pressure to blast blood 30 feet into the air?). The downside is the occasional confusing setup or layout, but the upside is that everything from real-life monkey-Frankensteins, modern-day mummies, killer viruses, and the life cycle of maggots is attacked with gruesome gusto. O’Meara dispels some rumors while he’s at it (Bigfoot, King Tut’s curse), and even adds in his personal UFO and ghost encounters for bonus shivers. Grades 5-8. --Daniel Kraus
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Book Review: Are You Afraid Yet?,
This review is from: Are You Afraid Yet?: The Science Behind Scary Stuff (Hardcover)
If you work anywhere near a library (or have children of your own), I don't have to emphasize the fact that there are tons of kids who flock to the frightening. If it has werewolves, zombies, or any other of the classic horror cast of characters, it's gonna get circulated like mad. Are You Afraid Yet? The Science Behind Scary Stuff goes well beyond simply exploiting the spooky, describing (as the subtitle suggests) the scientific processes behind fear. An entertaining little book that has appeal to spare.
A slightly sinister version of the author narrates Are You Afraid Yet?, gleefully jumping from one macabre topic to the next. And there is plenty of material. Name a classic horror tale, from Frankenstein to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and this book touches on it - sometimes to describe the real-life inspiration for these tales, sometimes in an attempt to explain the biology behind the horror. Along the way readers will discover why maggots develop on rotting flesh, the scientific explanation for why monsters are ugly, why old houses sometimes seem to be haunted, and scores of other spooky miscellanea. Black and white illustration plays a prominent role, with titles, illustrations, and even comic book style interludes mixed in with the text, upping the reluctant-reader appeal. The tone is always one of instruction. Gruesome details are provided by our narrator, but always with an eye for the science behind them. There is a section on beheading, for instance, that will leave you feeling like a minor expert on the subject. In addition, Mr. O'Meara's informal style of writing will likely appeal to many young readers who are looking for an alternative to textbook dreariness. From front to back, a pleasure to read. Content, illustrations, and style combine to make Are You Afraid Yet? a highly recommended nonfiction selection.
5.0 out of 5 stars
are you afraid yet,
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This review is from: Are You Afraid Yet?: The Science Behind Scary Stuff (Hardcover)
The book arrived fast. I've been passing the book on to my family. It's a quick read and has interesting information.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for this age group,
This review is from: Are You Afraid Yet?: The Science Behind Scary Stuff (Hardcover)
Gross, gruesome, gory and then some. Also, fun, fact-filled and fantastic. Certainly something I would gobble up when I was 9-12 and don't mind if I sneak off with the book at my age now and enjoy it.
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