More Tales to Keep You Up at Night by Dan Poblocki

What worked:

This is not a fluffy kid’s book that mutes its scariness. Creepy, terrorizing situations are developed and the short stories don’t always let characters live happily ever after. Characters constantly disappear throughout the book leaving readers to wonder what’s happened to them. A girl finds mysterious gifts left in her room with each package accompanied by notecards displaying words like LISTEN, BREATHE, and SEE. Readers will tell her not to follow the cards’ commands but of course, she doesn’t listen. In another chapter, four kids decide to visit five cemeteries in one night so that obviously doesn’t end well. Maybe characters should call the police but a chapter titled “Dummy” squashes the idea. Four kids just want to enjoy some lemonade and tea at a cabana but inexplicable violence destroys those plans. Each story in the book is shocking and disturbing.

The author skillfully manipulates language and descriptions to tingle the spines of young readers. A boy delivers secret envelopes to the door of an exterminator and hears shuffling sounds beyond the door. The results are lethal. There are shadows lurking just out of sight in other scenes and deep darkness holds untold dangers. Unresponsive adults aren’t much help while others are downright treacherous. Creep Castle’s slim twisted passages are covered with scattered debris along with slashed canvases and smashed lightbulbs. A door in a pizza shop has a tattered sign saying, “Abandon all Hope, ye who enter here…” An elderly man’s skin is “papery and thin and moist”. The overall atmosphere of the book will keep readers uncomfortable and anxious.

The book is a collection of short stories but they’re all connected by the tapes. The first recording seems very similar to the problem Gilbert encountered with his brother so he assumes the other tapes must hold clues that will help. Connections with the ensuing tales and tapes aren’t as easy to see so readers may treat them as mysteries to solve, looking for clues that might help Gilbert. Some of the tales have stories within stories which add another layer of compelling, horrifying dread. Later recordings begin to reveal what’s actually happening and start to bring everything together. The author even includes a creative twist by inserting himself into the plot. A nice touch from all the stories is they end in ways that make readers wonder “So what happens next?”

What didn’t work as well:

It may be frustrating to read about all thirteen tape recordings and try to piece everything together. The connections are challenging to identify so it might be best to enjoy them simply as creepy, terrifying stories. The author will eventually share how everything is related and bring it all to an eerie resolution.

The final verdict:

Middle-grade readers often have a love for scary things so they’ll probably love this book. It’s not for younger kids though. The mystery behind the tapes is revealed among the recorded stories and readers will try to piece together clues that will end terror. Overall, I recommend you give this book a shot.