If kids still gather in tree houses to speculate over the covert invasion of monsters, then the Monster Mania series should earn a place in their clubhouse library. In these short but jam-packed volumes, the division between fact and fiction is decidedly blurry, and while that might irk educators, it makes for deliciously fretful reading. Blood-spattered parchment provides the backdrop for a splashy layout featuring everything from period art to movie stills to moody original graphic novel style art. The kitchen-sink organization, loaded with sidebars and info boxes, is assisted by a chapter structure alternating a "Scary Story" (most of them allegedly true) with basic facts on detecting and dispatching. Puzzlingly, Witches doesn't touch on Wiccan tradition at all but features plenty of sad stories from Salem. The international flavor of the tales lends the series a sweeping feel, and back matter, including time lines that don't skimp on pop-culture landmarks, is uniformly solid.

Each book in the series provides a broad overview of a different monster. Topics include how to recognize the creature, how to kill it, and historical purported monster sightings. The busy design includes short paragraphs of main text and many text boxes competing for room with captioned photos (including movie stills) and illustrations. Timeline. Glos., ind.