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Reviewed by: Lisa Rice, Middle School Librarian Title: The Haunted States of America
Author: Society of Childrens' Book Writers and Illustrators Illustrator: Solomon Hughes
Publisher: Godwin Books
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 4-8 Genre/Type of Book: J horror, scary stories, short stories
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Some stories are scary!
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I love the horror genre and was intrigued by the title and the cover.
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
"It was the perfect night to be terrified, pitch-dark with a cold wind." -Holly, page 127
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Review:
This anthology is written by 52 authors from across the United States, writing short scary stories from their home state. Each story has an accompanying picture, and each story is about 3-4 pages in length. While most are spooky/scary/horror stories, there are some fun surprises and reminders that everything that goes bump in the night is not necessarily bad! Many are based on old wives' tales, urban legends, fairy tales, and folklore. Some stories are really good, others are really creepy, and others, I'd skip, but the good news is, with short stories, you don't have to read them all!
I read the entire book straight through, and I am not sure that was the best way to enjoy this book. The stories are short, and it was a lot of short, spooky stories to read, 52 to be exact, and it got to feel a bit repetitive. I think it is a better book to read a little at a time. If I were using this book in a classroom, I would read one story a day, or when I had extra time at the end of class as the stories seemed perfect for that.
I appreciated how each author offered a little bit about their state- whether it was a famous location, a food known to that area, the climate, the activities- I definitely felt the vibe! For example, in the Colorado story, you take a trip back to the famous Stanley Hotel, of The Shining fame! The Arizona story has a prickly cactus that you definitely do not want to encounter! The Alaska story makes the reader feel like Alaska itself is one of the characters. The Pennsylvania story taught me about lawn jockeys, the small statue of a black boy holding a lantern aloft. The Rhode Island story addressed child labor laws- I did not realize that a lot of cocoa producers enslave kids (p.272), so on Halloween, try not to buy chocolate made with forced child labor. I was excited to read Ellen Hopkins' story (Nevada), but I didn't love her short story as much as some of her novels and was disappointed.
The book reminds me of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and for that reason, I think students who love horror will like this book. There are illustrations in the book, but I didn't like this illustrator's style. I felt like it was hard to make out what exactly was happening in some of the pictures. I would recommend this book for a school library and also a classroom. I can see some fun discussions and research happening after some of these stories, and hopefully a willingness to learn more about the "haunted" United States!
Number of party hats:
For more information about this book, see the publisher's website
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