16. Nightmare Hour: Time for Terror by R.L. Stine

NIGHTMARE HOUR: TIME FOR TERROR by R.L. Stine (Parachute Publishing, 1999)

GENRE: Horror

HONORS: Children’s Choices Award, Disney Adventures’ Kids’ Choice Award for Best Horror/Mystery Book

REVIEW:

Nightmare Hour is a collection of ten short stories designed to terrify young readers.  Tales include curious children being trapped inside a mysterious pumpkin patch, werewolves running a deserted inn that a young girl’s mother plans on purchasing, a boy that discovers a real reason to be afraid of clowns, and a young girl that wants nothing more than to be a witch, among others.  One particular story, “I’m Not Martin,” will give the heebie geebies to any reader that stayed overnight in a hospital.  A short introduction by the author precedes each of the stories, giving insight into his inspiration for the scary tales. 

OPINION:

This collection contains some great scary stories by one of the greatest authors in the genre, R.L. Stine.  There are so many twists and turns that it is nearly impossible to predict how many of the stories will end, keeping it interesting and suspenseful.  The book is a fast read, with the vivid illustrations on the title page for each story giving readers a teaser about the next tale and encouraging them to keep reading.  Tweens will love reading these terrifying stories about kids close to their age and the thrilling and entertaining twists and turns will especially interest reluctant readers.

IDEAS:

This book would be perfect for a library display about scary books around Halloween.  Also, it could be used in a program with tweens reading the collection and developing their own scary stories to share with each other.