MODULE 2: SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

1. Bibliography
Schwartz, Alvin. 1981. SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK. Ill. by Stephen Gammell. New York, NY: Scholastic. ISBN 0590431978


2. Plot Summary
This is a collection of folktales retold by Alvin Schwartz. The book is divided into five topical chapters. The first contains stories designed for the storyteller to scare the listeners with an action or voice inflection. Several of the stories end with the storyteller loosing a scream. The second chapter’s tales contain ghosts and other haunted beings. There is a haunted house, a ghostly wolf, and a love story that ends tragically. The third chapter is a conglomeration of tales about odd occurrences and strange happenings. One of the tales is about a family in which the father and the two sons are transformed into alligators each evening. Chapter four is folklore from recent times. For example, it contains the tale of the Hook. A pair of lovers on the way home from a date hear a story about an escaped murdered with a hook for a hand. They hear a strange noise on the door of the car but dismiss it. When they arrive home, they find a hook hanging from the door handle. The final chapter contains stories that start in a creepy fashion but end with a comic twist. A woman receives an eerie phone call about a viper coming. The viper that is coming is a “viper who has come to vash the vindows”.

3. Critical Analysis
This book begins with an explanation from Alvin Schwartz. He relays the origin and need for the scary and strange tale. He claims that people like to be scared since they aren’t in any real danger. This seems to be proven true by the box office success of SAW III, a 34.3 million dollar opening weekend and SAW II, a 31.7 million dollar opening weekend. (Information from: http://www.hollywood.com/news/Box_Office_Analysis_Oct_30_Saw_III_Cuts_Wide_Swath/3575102)
The collection is divided into chapters. The first page of each chapter provides a one or two sentence explanation of the tales to follow and why they are linked. This is helpful for the reader. S/he knows what to expect from the tales. Also, without this information it could be difficult to figure out why some of the tales are grouped together.
The format of the folktales follows the standard pattern with slight exception. The plots of the tales are quickly stated, and the action is fast paced. The resolution for each tale is reached quickly. The endings are fantastic and mystical in nature. They are not necessarily realistic, but they are believable. They follow the natural progression of the story.
The exception seen is in the setting and the character personality. For the most part the stories have a nondescript setting—in a house or on a dirt road. It is not in the distant past or in an interesting location. The characters are not necessarily evil or good. They are simply part of the story. For example, in ALLIGATORS the father and sons turn into alligators each evening. When the mother discovers this, no one believes her. She is sent to the state hospital, and the rest of the family is never seen again. None of these characters are evil or good; they just exist and have a story to tell.
These stories would make excellent read alouds. Each is short and concise. The reader’s attention is quickly grabbed by the quick action and excellent word choice. There is little description and set up. The first chapter is devoted to tales that should be read aloud. At the end of each tale, the reader is given suggestions about how to end the story in the most effective and scary manner. For example, at the end of the first tale, the reader is told to grab the person next to them and scream “You got it!”. This could make even the novice storyteller a master of the scare.
These tales would appeal to children. However, it is the opinion of this reviewer that they would appeal to children as entertainment but not as scary stories. In this day and time, children are exposed to all types of supernatural acts and imagination—for example, Star Wars series and Harry Potter series. While these stories may have been scary to children many years ago, they are tame by today’s scare factor standards. This reviewer read several of the scary tales to a six year old girl who laughed and enjoyed them but was not scared.
All of the tales are very enjoyable and entertaining, but this reviewer’s favorite was the fourth chapter. It is called OTHER DANGERS. This reviewer had heard every one of the four tales as a child. When I first heard them, they were presented as factual tales; perhaps something that happened a few towns away. It was fun to read and relive those memories of childhood. Most adults who have heard these tales as a child would enjoy this chapter. It brings validation to the fact that one should have never really believed the stories completely.
At the end of the book, Alvin Schwartz provides an extensive notes, sources, bibliography, and articles about the featured materials. This section of the book could be invaluable if one as designing a folklore unit. This would be a great starting point.

4. Review Excerpts
From New York Public Library: "A fine collection of short tales to chill the bones of young and old with interesting notes for folktale buffs."

Winner of Arizona Young Reader’s Award 1987
Library of Congress Children’s Books
Buckeye Children’s Book Award

5. Connections
Biography of Alvin Schwartz
Alvin Schwartz: Information from Answers.com

American Folklore site:
http://www.americanfolklore.net/favicon.ico

This book could be a beginning for an intermediate student grades 6-8 unit on Urban Legends. Students could use www.snopes.com in order to research past and present urban legends.

Students could map each urban legend instance on a large map of the world. Is there a pattern? Can one draw any conclusions about geography and urban legend?

Other stories by Alvin Schwartz
MORE SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
SCARY STORIES 3: MORE TALES TO CHILL YOUR BONES
IN A DARK, DARK ROOM AND OTHER SCARY STORIES
CROSS YOUR FINGERS, SPIT IN YOUR HAT
CHIN MUSIC
FLAPDOODLE
A TWISTER OF TWISTS, A TANGLER OF TONGUES TOMFOOLERY