Scared Witless: Thirteen Eerie Tales to Tell by Martha Hamilton Beauty & the Beast

Scared Witless: Thirteen Eerie Tales to Tell Reviews

• 
  Samuel

  It's fine for what it is, and I liked the tips on how to tell the tales. That said, some of these are so simple, or the endings so limp, that your audience would have to be REALLY little kids to be entertained.
• 
  Teri

  blahh
• 
  Monster

  Scared Witless is a collection of and guide to telling “jump” stories. Fans of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark can kick it up a notch and go from readers to tellers of tales by taking some hints from storytellers Hamilton and Weiss. Stories range from the traditional to the entirely original, and each is followed with suggestions for telling the story to a group. Included in the collection is a fine retelling of “The Red Satin Ribbon” and a couple of groaners that don’t appear in Schwartz’s collections. Also included is an adaptation of a story that appears in a collection by folklorist Joseph Bruchac. Kevin Pope’s illustrations are more goofy than they are threatening, and reflect the general tone of the collection. The stories are short and enjoyable reads and many contain enough repetition that primary school children should be able to tell them with practice. Scared Witless is a fun book to look through, and an engaging tool for getting kids and adults to work together on listening and speaking. Recommended for school library media centers and public library collections. Contains: ghosts, extremely mild violence.
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  Renee Brown

  Great stories to teach shildren to tell. Thirteen easy stories suitable for Halloween or camp-fires. One story suitable for Valentines Day. Source notes & special instructions. 61 p. Contents: Unwelcome company -- The coffin that wouldn't stop -- Lost in the dark -- The boy who was afraid of plants -- The graveyard voice -- The hairy toe -- The terrifying trick -- The ghost with bloody fingers -- The red satin ribbon -- The strange white thing in the road -- The brave woman and the flying head -- The mysterious rapping noise -- The girl who scared herself.
  
• 
  Kyra Fowler

  This book had some very silly stories. However, they were a lot of fun as a read aloud! At the end of each story, the author provides suggestions of how to read or act out the story to get the most impact. PLus, each story is only about two pages long.
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  MJ

  Aimed at storytellers and elementary readers. Good stories with suggestions on how to tell them.
  
• 
  Earline

  A fun collection of 13 scary stories. While the stories aren't very scary, they are silly and I enjoyed reading the tips for storytelling. These would be perfect for reading to younger kids around a campfire.