All Hallows' Eve: 13 Stories [Hardcover]

Grade 6 Up–A collection of 13 stories that will thrill and chill readers. Each tale takes place on Halloween, and some stories are variations on familiar tales. Many are set in upstate New York, which lends a nice Ichabod Crane feel to the book. Well crafted, these spine-tingling selections rely on gotcha moments and old-fashioned suspense rather than gross-out horror. While all of them are enjoyable and worth mulling over, several stand out: in the creepy Morgan Roehmar's Boys, a girl acting the part of a knifing victim during a haunted hayride comes face to face with a long-dead child murderer. Pretending describes a first date gone horribly wrong. MARIAN features a teen driver who finds himself at the mercy of his car, and the horrifying My Real Mother describes an adopted teen who searches for her blood (and, as it turns out, blood-sucking) mother, while leaving behind a gruesome mess at her adoptive parents' home. The writing is crisp and concise and truly packs a punch. Fans of horror fiction and suspense will not be disappointed.–Elaine Baran Black, Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA
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Creepy and gruesome, these horror stories all take place on Halloween night when high-school characters bridge the gap between the living and the dead. "He opened the door, and a body fell out, a young woman with a bloody T-shirt and a knife sticking out of her back." Bodies are sawed into pieces and packed in plastic bags while a serial killer roams free. The grisly detail is sometimes funny, whether it's the threat to suck out a teen's brains through his eye sockets, or parents dressed as vampires offering their daughter's date a drink--A, B, or O-negative. The plots also have surprising twists and turns, with the trickster often outtricked. In a great story for readers' theater, two girls talk about their friendship in parallel narratives that present very different viewpoints of their relationship--which one will murder the other? Halloween fans too old for trick-or-treating will enjoy this, especially as a read-aloud. For more chilling tales, suggest Anthony Horowitz's^B Horowitz Horror (2006). Hazel Rochman
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"Creepy and gruesome...Halloween fans too old for trick-or-treating will enjoy this." (Booklist ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

A boy is trapped in a possessed car that has stalled in the path of an oncoming train. A girl is dragged into a crypt during a field trip to an eighteenth-century cemetery.A group of friends meet their fate after an unsettling visit with a backwoods psychic. And that's just the beginning. Celebratedauthor Vivian Vande Velde is at her spine-tingling best in this collection of thirteen scary stories, all of which take place on Halloween night. With tales that range from the disturbing to the downright gruesome, this is one collection that teens will want to read with the lights on. . . and the doors locked.

VIVIAN VANDE VELDE has written many books for teen and middle grade readers, including Heir Apparent, User Unfriendly, All Hallow's Eve: 13 Stories, Three Good Deeds, Now You See It ..., and the Edgar Award-winning Never Trust a Dead Man. She lives in Rochester, New York. www.vivianvandevelde.com 

Come in and Rest a Spell Dont be shy. Dont be afraid. Come on in. Granny doesnt bite. See, Granny has hardly any teeth left. I couldnt bite if I wanted to. Are you nervous because its All Hallows Eve? This is a spooky night. The dead walk, witches convene, a door opens between the world of the seen and the world of the unseen. And sometimes that door lets all sorts of evil onto the earth. No, no, dont leave. Im just telling stories. Silly old granny that I am. The night is cold and dark, and youve walked so far to get here, and I just want to help you. Eye of newt Mandrake root Tear of pity from a heartless soul . . . Granny is good at helping people. No one has ever complained. Let me guess what you need. Youre such a pretty young thing, with skin so soft and smooth, and your hair thick and dark, and your eyes clear, and your limbs firm and strong, and you even have all your teeth. Lucky, lucky you. Granny misses her teeth. What could a girl like you possibly need? What keeps you from being happy? Is there sickness in your family? No, no, dont answer: Granny is guessing. And Granny would have guessed, even before you shook your head, that you dont have the look of someone dealing with that particular sorrow. Are you needing money to survive? No, youre too beautiful to have done without meals or to be having no place to lay your head at night. Is there someone who has crossed you, someone you want to put a curse on? Maybe . . . but Granny thinks you probably know how to get back at people, so you wouldnt need magic for that. Granny guesses she sees a light in your eyes not fever, or hunger, or the thought of revenge. Granny guesses its love. Granny guesses youre in love with a boy who doesnt love you back. See! Grannys good at this. Granny can help. Wing of bat Tooth of rat Water that someone has drowned in . . . Is he handsome? Is he rich? Oh, yes, Granny knows the young man you mean. Granny thinks hes a fine choice. If Granny were younger, shed want him for herself. Granny has just the spell to bind him to you. Granny must mix this, and this, and a little bit of this. Yes, yes, it smells bad, but its just what you need. Drink it all. All. Yes, every last bit. He will love your face, and your form, and your voice, and the way you move. To be happy, he will need to see your eyes, to hear your laugh, to smell your scent, to touch your skin, to taste your lips. To be happy, he will need your happiness. He will find completeness only in you. Stain of blood Graveyard mud Dying breath of a murdered man . . . You may feel light-headed. Oops, Granny warned you. Here, take my hands. Granny will hold you steady while the spell works its way through you. Yes, youre perfectly right: He needs to drink down the potion that will tie him to you. Or should I say: to your beautiful, healthy, young body. Ill make sure he drinks that. The spell I just did? That lets us trade, you and Granny. Dont struggle. Its no use, and youll only bruise our beautiful ski