Spooky stories covering multiple subgenres, plus some added attractions.Few horrific tropes or creepy conventions are overlooked in Duplessie's debut. The stories are arranged into six sections: "Short Frights for Dark Nights," "Anatomical Anomalies," "Five Minutes in the Future," "Be Careful Who You Trust," "The Dark Web," and "The Unearthly, the Ghoulish, and the Downright Monstrous." Some of the best entries are grounded in familiar setups, but Duplessie is careful to avoid repetition. The stories' relatively short lengths and the crisp, direct writing style make this volume inviting for even reluctant readers, but it doesn't shy away from the truly terrifying and grotesque. That said, the grisliest events are often described with poetic elegance rather than gratuitous violence: "His face collapsed like an empty paper bag." The stories frequently conclude with the suggestion of frights to come rather than graphic depictions. One ends with an overly curious girl getting sealed up in a brick wall. Another foreshadows the murderous power of a cellphone. Highlights include the eerie "The Reaping," in which the prick of a rose's thorn triggers a spate of bloodlust, and "Chamber of Horrors," which features a murderous iron maiden. Each story ends with a bonus in the form of a QR code and instructions to "scan the code for a scare"-if readers dare. Short, eerie poems are peppered throughout; there are even a handful of riddles. Most characters read white; names cue some ethnic diversity.A fresh, generous, wide-ranging compendium of frights. (Horror. 13-18)

Gr 8 Up —Scary stories have been part of the human experience since the beginning; they tie directly into our fears and can be extremely varied from person to person. This short story collection explores more general horror concepts like being lost alone in the woods, having a doppelg&8;nger, or someone scary showing up at your door. The collection also provides a variety of modern and unique scares: revealing what's really in the box of an unboxing video; a stalker from your livestream chat finding you in real life; or even a glitch in VR that can kill you. This book includes an add-on to each tale that is very distinctive. At the end of every story, readers can scan a QR code which will take them to a brief jump-scare video directly tied to the story they just read. For a majority of younger horror fans, these two concepts will wind together, drawing them deeper into the fandom, and perhaps provide a natural step towards enjoying more adult horror. However, for seasoned horror fans, these short stories are much more predictable and lose their edge. VERDICT This debut collection will go down as a young horror fan's ideal example of scary. It will jump off shelves during spooky season, and word-of-mouth should keep it in constant demand, year-round.—Adam Fisher