School Library Journal
Gr 4 Up This collection of 13 extremely brief stories contains only two or three that are moving or believable. At the end of the book, there is a suggestion that readers tell the tales to their friends. Unfortunately, the stories are too complex and too wordy for young children to retell. Gorog uses a different style for each tale as if each were written by a different author, and this draws attention to the writing rather than the plota flaw if these stories are intended for retelling. And if intended for reading only, most of these ''chilling tales'' are too short to permit any real tension to develop; the plots are thin, with disappointing or obvious endings. No sense of period or place is established, nor is an eerie mood sustained. The simpler, more direct Maria Leach stories (The Thing at the Foot of the Bed Dell, 1977 or Whistle in the Graveyard Penguin, 1982) are better for retelling and have excellent notes on their origins. Wendy Dellett, formerly at Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Library, Washington, D.C.