Half-Minute Horrors

Half-Minute Horrors

by Susan Rich (editor)

Waktu edar : September 1st, 2009 Waktu membaca : September 2011
Hal paling berkesan : The unexpected creepyness of a short story children anthology.

Prior to reading this, I expected this to be an anthology of short horror stories aimed at children. I was partially right on both count. What I didn’t expect was how short those stories were and how creepy some of them are, considering this is a children’s story.

Half-Minute Horrors is literally a collection of horror stories so short that you can spend only half a minute to read one. This collection of horror stories were comprised of many versions. There’s the classic short stories. And then there’s also one page drawings, comics, limericks, and poems. The only similarities between them is they were all really short, some more than other.

I confess that I did enjoy some of the stories, and I’m creeped out by them too. If you have read Goosebumps series by R.L.Stine, you know how some of them go. Even though they are all really short, there’s almost always a twist ending at the end. It’s clearly aimed at children though, so it’s not gonna be very frightening, even though some of them are a little bit too creepy for children. Some of them were classic stories, like the creepy babysitter or things in the closet. Some were random and abstract stories like the one titled The Chicken or the Egg by Jerry Spinelly. And some of it doesn’t make any sense whatsover. Some classic stories that I love were In Hiding by Kenneth Oppel, The Legend of Alexandra & Rose by Jon Klassen (which is actually just one picture, but a creepy one nonetheless) , One of a Kind by Sarah Weeks, and A Very Short Stories by Holly Black. Some of the good abstract one were Grand Entrance by James Patterson, Chocolate Cake by Francine Prose, and Easy Over by Frank Viva. There’s everything in here. There’s aliens, ghosts, murder, werewolves, and a lot more. I can’t tell you what’s the story’s about though, because it’s so short so doing summaries is just a waste.

I enjoyed reading it, and it literally took me just half an hour to read the whole thing since they’re so short. It’s an enjoyable 30 minutes though, so it’s not a waste of your time. Some really well know author is contributing too, like Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, and Holly Black. But be warned though that this is a children’s book so adjust your expectations as much. It’s very enjoyable though.