Don’t Turn Out the Lights by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Don’t Turn Out the Lights is a Middle Grade Horror anthology curated by bestselling author, Jonathan Maberry, as a tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
The collection is comprised of 35-scary stories penned by an impressive list of authors!
I know what some of you may be thinking, Middle Grade though?
I can assure you, quite of few of these stories legit creeped me out. They’re quick, fun and each one left me wanting to continue reading.
There really is something for everyone in this collection.
No matter what your fears are, you will find a story that works for you. Some things you may not even know you are afraid of until you read this book, like toys, for example.
Although I have always been afraid of certain toys, but I digress. There were a lot of stories in here that I really loved.
The standouts for me were: The Carved Bear by Brendan Reichs, The Golden Peacock by Alethea Kontis, Tag, You’re It by NR Lambert, The Cries of the Cat by Josh Malerman, The Umbrella Man by Gary A. Braunbeck, Brain Spiders by Luis Alberto Urrea and Rosario Urrea, and Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board by Margaret Stohl.
I did listen to the audiobook and highly recommend that medium. There are two narrators and they both did a fantastic job bringing every story to life.
Overall, this is a very solid collection with plenty of chills and thrills for readers of all ages. If you like to give yourself the heebie-jeebies, you should definitely pick this one up!
