Living Ghosts & Mischievous Monsters by Dan Sasuweh Jones

This is a collection of 32 scary stories, collected and shared by Dan Sasuweh Jones, Ponca Nation. Each story is one to six pages in length with illustrations by Weshoyot Alvitre, Tongva. Stories are prefaced by their origin information (tribe, extra details) and are shared with the permission of those entities. Some stories are mildly creepy and others are downright shiver-inducing. They are a mixture of generations-old stories handed down to more contemporary experiences as told by individuals Mr. Jones has interviewed while traveling across the country in his research.

Readers who are fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark will enjoy this book, as will students of Native American culture. This is a great introduction to the horror genre and will not stay on the shelves very long.

The author’s introduction provides his insight as well as detailing his respectful omission of stories that are not to be shared outside particular tribes. Other sources and further reading are helpful for those looking for more information. Highly recommended.

The Witching Hour (Midnight)

The Witching Hour is part of the Midnight) series of scary stories, which are similar in length to the Goosebumps series, but intended for teen readers. The Witching Hour focuses on Rosie, a teenage girl who moves to the town of Middleton shortly after Mackie, a star played on the high school football team, has died in an accident. There is speculation that Mackie’s best friend Omar may have been at fault in the death. Rosie befriends Omar and tries to help him overcome his grief, which isn’t an easy task, as many in the town believe that it was Omar’s fault.

How does Rosie deal with all the unexplainable things that keep happening? How does she and Omar cope with  Mackie’s ghost?  What can they do to stop the haunting?

This short, easy to read book will appeal to teens who like ghost stories.