Branching into Chapters: Mister Shivers: Beneath the bed and other scary stories by Max Brallier, illustrated by Letizia Rubegni

Genre: Scary stories

Protagonists: Various

Reading Level: K

Series: There are currently four titles, with the last published in December 2022.

Originally reviewed in April 2021

Review: This title is part of the Acorn imprint, which is generally the same reading level as early readers but in a layout more similar to the Branches books. In my library they are located with the beginning chapters. This is one of the more complex titles, with short, brief sentences and paragraphs on each page along with illustrations.

The real draw of this series is that it is creepy. While it doesn't happen often, I will periodically get kids who want "really scary" books and besides the couple of Alvin Schwartz easy readers, In a dark, dark room, and the "Eek: Stories to make you shriek" series (almost completely out of print) there just isn't anything for younger kids to read on their own! Until Mister Shivers came along, that is...

The story opens with a note from "Mr. Shivers," explaining how he found a box with creepy artifacts and a book of spooky stories next to a dead rat on his porch. These are the stories in that book. There are five stories, including a haunted house, creepy doll, creepy statue, revengeful toys a la Toy Story, and others. Most of the creepiness comes from the telling and the spooky illustrations, which have a kind of Gorey-esque flair, in shades of browns and greys. One features a girl who is scared in her new house when something keeps scraping against the window. Her parents reassure her that it's just a tree, but the next morning she finds claw marks on the window - and no tree outside! Another child finds a hair in their throat that just won't come out and finally visits the doctor who pulls out - a dead mouse! and warns them not to sleep with their mouth open...

The children are a mix of genders and races. These aren't faux-scary like Notebook of Doom, but neither are they the really scary of Alvin Schwartz' Scary Stories to tell in the Dark. In short, they're just right for kids who want something "really scary" but are still learning to read.

Verdict: Once you've made sure that kids can really handle these and they're not going to get nightmares, pass them on to all your young horror aficionados with glee, having finally found something REALLY scary that they can read on their own!

Revisited: These have not been as popular as I'd hoped - when I try to give them to kids who turn down other options, they either turn out to be too scary (I have given up trying to figure out exactly what the kids want) or too short. However, although I don't often get someone to take them from my recommendation, they do check out regularly, so they're certainly worth purchasing, especially if you have a more logical young horror audience than I apparently do...

ISBN: 9781338318531; Published 2019 by Scholastic; Purchased for the library