Customer Reviews

In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories (I Can Read! Reading 2)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

okay, so maybe this isn't a very good book for four year olds to be reading (it does have decapitations after all). I seem to remember being about eight years old when I first read it, that seems mature enough. 13-15 year olds are probably (hopefully) beyond this reading level, so scratch that. I wouldn't buy it for my six year old nephew, but I wouldn't buy it for my thirteen year old cousin either.

Think about it though. Most kids who read stuff like this LIKE to be scared. I read it and it kept me up at night. And all night long I thought to myself "why on Earth did I read that." But then I'd get up the next day and read another story, or read a similar book. It's the thrill of being scared.

And this book was a nice introduction to horror. Oddly enough, the story of the beheaded girl didn't chill me, but the story TEETH did. It just really freaked me out, guys with ridiculously big teeth, now that's spooky. As for being concerned with a child talking to strangers, well this story illustrates the DANGERS of doing such. So I don't see any harm there.

Anyway, overall I'd say that this book is pretty solid for a second or third grader, but not a kindergartener. Basically it should be viewed on a case by case basis. If you think your kid can handle it, and they're a fan of this sort of thing, then by all means get it for them. And if they have a nightmare, be a parent and console them. That comes with the job.

I'm nineteen years old, and I still remember the day I found this book in my school library when I was six. I was enamoured, and checked it out numerous times before another student lost it. I was a bookworm as a child, having read hundreds of books in a matter of years, and this book still stands as one of the truly unforgettable books I read in my youth. I believe it is the powerful imagery of the book that has stuck with me all these years, and made it impossible for me to forget.

Granted, it is not for everyone, and some children might benefit from reading it at an older age. I remember being slightly perturbed by some of the ideas and nuances presented in the book. However, I doubt highly that it would truly disturb any child that was mature enough to approach the book thoughtfully.

An initial parental reading might be something to consider.

I remember when I got this book. It was near Halloween and I had to go to Burlington coat factory with my grandma. I saw this book and asked her if I could get it. She said okay. I was eight years old. I took it back to her house and read it that night. My favorite story was 'The Green Ribbon'. I took it to school with me the following Monday so that my teacher would read it to us and she got excited when she saw 'The Green Ribbon' because it was a story she was looking for that was told to her when she was a child. I love this book and I recommend it to you, but I do think that if you're a parent, you might want to see if your child can handle some of these stories. Aside from that, this is a fine bit of literature and will be cherished by many people for years to come.

This book is pure nightmare material. On the other hand, kids love it. At a playgroup we discovered that four of the kids in the group both obsessively read or listened to this story and had nightmares about it. One was my 5 year old daughter. She had nightmares about it last year for months after reading it at Halloween. This year she had only to glimpse it on the library shelf for the nightmares to start again. It is well written, it certainly does the job of being spooky. I am sure you could cement a lot of new sight words into your child's head with this emotionally rousing easy reader. But do you want to? They don't get to be innocent for that long. I say, stay away from it for the 4-and 5-year-olds. Use with caution with 6s and 7s. Sensitive 8s should avoid it, too. I give it 3 stars because, while very well written, it is not appropriate for its target age group.

This is one of the first books I remember reading as a kid and it freaked me out so much! Looking back, the stories aren't anything to get even remotely scared about, but there is something great about this book when you're a kid. I must have read this book 15 times in one year. I still remember the stories, and I've even reminisced about it with my friends. A must have in any childhood.

I remember when I was about 4-6 I would read this book endlessly, and it would always scare the crap out of me, especially THE GREEN RIBBON. I couldn't go to sleep at night because of that story, and as a result, it sticks out the most in my mind. And now, looking back on the stories, they still seem scary! I'm 13 now, and don't scare very easily, but these stories scare me, and I love them! A few years ago my parents shelved this book, and I'm searching through many rooms (not dark, thankfully) to find it. I like the book that much, and I recommend this to everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY! HAIL ALVIN SCHWARTZ!!

I remember first looking at this book after my Kindergarten teacher had finished reading it. I loved it so much and I remember thinking it was the most wonderful book in the world. I had totally forgotten what the title of the book was and it wasn't until recently that I stumbled upon it and bought it. The stories are great and sometimes a bit humorous if you have a morbid sense of humor that is. Anyway, I now read it to my little brother and he loves it. This is one of those scary story books that's scary, but not too scary to keep kids up at night. It's an excellent investment to make and it's something I'm almost positive a child will treasure forever.

I thought it was a good book but I don't think it should be for little kids in pre-school because it was a little too scarey for them. I especially liked the story about the little kid who has a ribbon around her neck and when alfred untied it her head fell off.

My 6 year old son loved this book so much he couldn't put it down! It was very refreshing to find a book that is different from the usual happy-sappy children's books. It was spooky enough to keep him interested but not so scary that it frightened him.

I wouldn't read most of these these stories to a large group of kids, but I remember loving the book for the very fact that it wasn't afraid to be scary. Time after time I'd read a halloween book where the ghost turned out to be "cute" or "silly," and it would disappoint me tremendously. I thought the Green Ribbon was actually sort of funny (it never says her head was CUT off, it just needed the green ribbon to keep from FALLING off). I don't think it could actually "desensitize" kids - learning to deal, emotionally, with things that scare them (especially imaginary thins) is something they're going to have to do sooner or later, anyway. That said, the book is not afraid to be a bit morbid or scary (despite a couple of stories that are meant to be jokes), and probably TOO scary for a lot of younger kids to handle. Read it yourself before you read it to kids (it'll only take a minute) and use your better judgement.