Half-Minute Horrors

by Jerry Spinelli, Holly Black, Jonathan Lethem, et al.

Book Overview

How scared can you get in only 30 seconds? Dare to find out with Half-Minute Horrors, a collection of deliciously terrifying short short tales and creepy illustrations by an exceptional selection of writers and illustrators, including bestselling talents Lemony Snicket, James Patterson, Neil Gaiman, R.L.Stine, Faye Kellerman, Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Margaret Atwood, Jon Scieszka, Brett Helquist, and many more. With royalties benefiting First...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061833797
• ISBN13: 9780061833793
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

👍

As a sixteen year old some of them scared me (lol) so I gave the book to my eight year old sister who loves it.

Enjoyable quick read

As the title says, every one of these stories can be read in a half minute or less. I read the whole book in one setting. There should be something for everybody in here that enjoys horror. Give it a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Fabulous and quirky

This is a wonderful book of short, rather disturbing stories. I purchased this book to use during a middle school writing workshop that I run and both I and the students have thoroughly enjoyed the "half-minute horrors." I can't say enough about it! With such authors as Lemony Snicket and Margaret Atwood, even as an adult you will appreciate the stories. I would recommend this book to teachers who enjoy bringing out the quirkiness and talents in young writers and to middle school range students who will enjoy being spooked by the possibilities of things under their beds, hands looking for company, and spiders ready to take their own mother away. Absolutely LOVE this book!

Half-Minute Horrors

I love it. Most important the grandkids kids love it. Funny and clever stories. "Read (or let me read) another one!" Highly recommend.

Cute with a pinch of eerieness

I first bought this book because of an appearance by Lemony Snicket in it, which demonstrates his usual style of being funny and creepy at the same time. The rest of the short stories (and they're extremely short) share the same sort of feel, with some funnier than others and some creepier. It also provides stories with illustrations, which will appeal to younger ones, though I warn you that some stories are pretty dark humored. I would suggest children no younger than 6 or 7 reading this book. This book is in essence a much shorter version of the Scary/Haunted Stories series that have charmed people for years. This is also a cuter version. Overall, I enjoyed the book and so did my younger sister. Great for halloween time :]

Less is more

Over explaining the details of the plot is one of the biggest problems currently plaguing modern horror writing (and horror film making, for that matter). Chills thrive on ambiguity and mystery, and shining light into every corner of the story leaves no room for shadows. As any good writer of fearful fiction will tell you, no amount of description can live up to the shudder-inducing impressions a reader's imagination can piece together from a few dreadful hints. A concept too readily ignored by many writers, but happily embraced by the authors and artists at work here! With extremely limited page space, these scary scribes and scribblers work wonders, creating creepiness for kids that might even give a few adults nightmares. Not all of the stories are gems, of course, and a few of them are actually so dark I wonder about their inclusion in a book marketed to the 9-12 group. But barring the odd bit of unevenness, this is still one of the most refreshing horror anthologies I've read across in a while. If you're a horror fan, young or old, this is one collection that's definitely worth your attention!