Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
HarperCollins (2009), Hardcover, 160 pages
Description
An anthology of very short, scary stories by an assortment of authors and illustrators including Chris Raschka, Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, Jack Gantos, and Lane Smith.
User reviews
LibraryThing member sedelia
If you’re looking for a book to read aloud to your kids (or your classroom!) during Halloween time, this is the one to pick up. It includes various genres, such as short stories, haikus, comics, limericks, etc. Also, with monsters under the bed, possessed toys, alien parents, ghosts, and a
The stories are short (I think the longest one was a little over 2 pages), yet incredibly entertaining. Yes, there are some that I didn’t like very much, but for the most part, I was chuckling my way through Half-Minute Horrors. If you read it to younger kids, there is a good chance some of these stories will scare them, so if you’re worried about giving your kid nightmares or something, be sure to look it over. However, I definitely recommend including this book in your Halloween celebrations.
Show More
handful of other things, Half-Minute Horrors pretty much covers all the bases for creepiness.The stories are short (I think the longest one was a little over 2 pages), yet incredibly entertaining. Yes, there are some that I didn’t like very much, but for the most part, I was chuckling my way through Half-Minute Horrors. If you read it to younger kids, there is a good chance some of these stories will scare them, so if you’re worried about giving your kid nightmares or something, be sure to look it over. However, I definitely recommend including this book in your Halloween celebrations.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
A collection of very short horror stories written by an assortment of popular offers.
LibraryThing member mistywood
Half-Minute Horrors is a collection of 72 very short and very scary poems written by many popular children's authors. Many of the poems have illustrations which enhance the experience for the reader.
I enjoyed this book of poems, and so did my 10 year old son. These poems are scary, and some of the
Extension Activity: Lanterne Poem
1. Introduce children to lanterne poems, in which five lines form the shape of a Japanese lantern. Share an example, and let children recite it with you and clap out the syllables in each line.
2. Revisit each line and count the syllables together (in order, 1,2,3,4, & 1) Provide children with a simple line-byline patter to follow:
1 syllable
2 syllables
3 syllables
4 syllables
1 syllable
3. Invite children to use the pattern to create a new lanterne poem. You might suggest they choose another animal. Have them offer ideas for what the animal might be doing. List children's ideas on chart paper. Then invite them to see which words fit the pattern. (You might circle those that do to eliminate confusion.) Children might suggest:
The
fat fox
is running
around the red
barn.
I found this activity in the book:
Literacy-Building Transitioin Activities
Written by: Ellen Booth Church
(Scholastic)
I enjoyed this book of poems, and so did my 10 year old son. These poems are scary, and some of the
Show More
themes and content may be disturbing to younger children. Before I read any of these poems to a classroom, I would have parents look at them first. The book contains several poems I feel would be appropriate to share in the classroom, with parents OK first. Extension Activity: Lanterne Poem
1. Introduce children to lanterne poems, in which five lines form the shape of a Japanese lantern. Share an example, and let children recite it with you and clap out the syllables in each line.
2. Revisit each line and count the syllables together (in order, 1,2,3,4, & 1) Provide children with a simple line-byline patter to follow:
1 syllable
2 syllables
3 syllables
4 syllables
1 syllable
3. Invite children to use the pattern to create a new lanterne poem. You might suggest they choose another animal. Have them offer ideas for what the animal might be doing. List children's ideas on chart paper. Then invite them to see which words fit the pattern. (You might circle those that do to eliminate confusion.) Children might suggest:
The
fat fox
is running
around the red
barn.
I found this activity in the book:
Literacy-Building Transitioin Activities
Written by: Ellen Booth Church
(Scholastic)
Show Less
LibraryThing member delzey
Billed as a "collection of instant frights from the world's most astonishing authors and artists," Half-Minute Horrors lives up to its title by presenting super-short sudden fiction to middle grade readers who like a little creepiness. Just a little, not too much. A set-up, some sort of mystery,
And when I say a little creepiness that doesn't mean they can't be somewhat disturbing. There are implications of cannibalism, creatures laying in wait to swallow you whole, disembodied hands that come calling while you sleep... but all stopped right at the moment of impact so that the reader can quickly turn the page if necessary. Because the engagement is so short there isn't enough time to plant too strong a mental picture to disturb. Yeah, if you think about some of these stories long enough they can really delve into truly terrifying territory, but the reader interested in horror is going to feel cheated if the author or the story pulls its punch too much or too quickly. Many of these stories plant their final, fatal twist in the last line for maximum impact so that even the seemingly odd story suddenly can turn on a dime.
There are also some illustrated stories - I hesitate to call them comics, but some do take that format - which perform the graphic equivilent of their narrative counterparts. Perhaps only "Worms" by Lane Smith, a visually retelling of the gory old rhyme "The worms go in, the worms go out..." goes the furthest with its graphic depiction of life pre- and post-humus. Still, all good creepy fun.
One of the things this book reminded me of was a series of books I had as a boy called "One Minute Mysteries" which would set the reader up with a drawing room situation and some details that would allow a reader to guess what had happened. Only I could never guess correctly and instead of enjoying the mystery I found the books frustrating because they made me feel stupid. I suppose the idea of a minute mystery was meant for boys like me who (at the time) were struggling with reading, but that book sent me the wrong direction. Perhaps the lack of character and emotion was the problem, but I never really got into the mystery genre as a result.
There's no similar problem here with Half-Minute Horrors because the stories clearly spell out the (pending) doom, leaving the reader to invest as much emotion as their own fears permit. The various authors are all top-notch – M.T. Anderson, Adam Rex, Sarah Weeks, Holly Black, Jack Gantos, Jon Scieszka, Avi, and Lauren Myracle to name but a scant few –and include some generally regarded as adult writers, like Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Lethem, delivering on a wide variety of themes.
I realize this comes too late to incorporate into Halloween lesson plans, but I would hope that the audience for this kind of thing sees this as more of an evergreen title. I think for the reluctant reader the ability to whiz through dozens of stories at one sitting will make the book feel much shorter than its 130 pages, and for other readers the shortness of these stories can serve as a sort of palate cleanser between much larger books, a sampler platter of ghoulish delights.
Yuk, did I just write that last semi-blurb-worthy sentence?
Show More
and an unsettling cliffhanger of an ending are the norm here, almost all of them short enough to read in the promised half a minute.And when I say a little creepiness that doesn't mean they can't be somewhat disturbing. There are implications of cannibalism, creatures laying in wait to swallow you whole, disembodied hands that come calling while you sleep... but all stopped right at the moment of impact so that the reader can quickly turn the page if necessary. Because the engagement is so short there isn't enough time to plant too strong a mental picture to disturb. Yeah, if you think about some of these stories long enough they can really delve into truly terrifying territory, but the reader interested in horror is going to feel cheated if the author or the story pulls its punch too much or too quickly. Many of these stories plant their final, fatal twist in the last line for maximum impact so that even the seemingly odd story suddenly can turn on a dime.
There are also some illustrated stories - I hesitate to call them comics, but some do take that format - which perform the graphic equivilent of their narrative counterparts. Perhaps only "Worms" by Lane Smith, a visually retelling of the gory old rhyme "The worms go in, the worms go out..." goes the furthest with its graphic depiction of life pre- and post-humus. Still, all good creepy fun.
One of the things this book reminded me of was a series of books I had as a boy called "One Minute Mysteries" which would set the reader up with a drawing room situation and some details that would allow a reader to guess what had happened. Only I could never guess correctly and instead of enjoying the mystery I found the books frustrating because they made me feel stupid. I suppose the idea of a minute mystery was meant for boys like me who (at the time) were struggling with reading, but that book sent me the wrong direction. Perhaps the lack of character and emotion was the problem, but I never really got into the mystery genre as a result.
There's no similar problem here with Half-Minute Horrors because the stories clearly spell out the (pending) doom, leaving the reader to invest as much emotion as their own fears permit. The various authors are all top-notch – M.T. Anderson, Adam Rex, Sarah Weeks, Holly Black, Jack Gantos, Jon Scieszka, Avi, and Lauren Myracle to name but a scant few –and include some generally regarded as adult writers, like Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Lethem, delivering on a wide variety of themes.
I realize this comes too late to incorporate into Halloween lesson plans, but I would hope that the audience for this kind of thing sees this as more of an evergreen title. I think for the reluctant reader the ability to whiz through dozens of stories at one sitting will make the book feel much shorter than its 130 pages, and for other readers the shortness of these stories can serve as a sort of palate cleanser between much larger books, a sampler platter of ghoulish delights.
Yuk, did I just write that last semi-blurb-worthy sentence?
Show Less
LibraryThing member skullduggery
An anthology of very short (one or two page), sort-of scary stories by an assortment of authors and illustrators. Jon Klassen's Legend story/art was particularly hilarious.
Contents include: Something you ought to know / Lemony Snicket -- The chicken or the egg / Jerry Spinelli -- In hiding /
Contents include: Something you ought to know / Lemony Snicket -- The chicken or the egg / Jerry Spinelli -- In hiding /
Show More
Kenneth Oppel -- The old man in the picture / Richard Sala -- The babysitter / Erin Hunter -- Grand entrance / James Patterson -- Halloween mask / Sonya Sones -- Tenton / Tom Genrich & Michele Perry -- Nanny / Angela Johnson -- The legend of Alexandra & Rose / Jon Klassen -- What's coming / Arthur Slad -- An easy gig / M.T. Anderson -- Mr. Black / Yvonne Prinz -- The foot dragger / M.E. Kerr -- Trick / Adam Rex -- Hank / Dean Lore -- One of a kind / Sarah Weeks -- A walk too far / Gloria Whelan -- A very short story / Holly Black -- Deep six / Faye Kellerman -- The turn of the screw by Henry James, a novel as told by Lisa Brown in fewer than 30 seconds / Lisa Brown -- The attack of the flying moustaches / Pseudonymous Bosch -- Takowanda / Nadia Aguiar -- Heart stopper / Sienna Mercer -- Up to my elbow / Jack Gantos -- Four gleams in the moonlight / Stephen Marche -- The goblin book / Brad Meltzer -- Worms / Lane Smith -- The dare / Carol Gorman -- The ballad of John Grepsy / David Rich -- Soup / Jenny Nimmo -- The creeping hand / Margaret Atwood -- Wet sand, little teeth / Mariko Tamaki -- A thousand faces / Brian Selznick -- Chocolate cake / Francine Prose -- At the water's edge / Ayelet Waldman -- My worst nightmare / R.L. Stine -- The beast outside / Adele Griffin -- Unannounced / Alize Kellerman -- Kruder's Sausage Haus / Mark Crilley -- There's something under the bed / Allan Stratton -- Cat's paw / Sarah L. Thomson -- Horrorku / Katherine Applegate -- The itch / Avi -- The new me: a pantoum / Gail Carson Levine -- Always eleven / David Stahler Jr. -- Aloft / Carson Ellis -- Skittering / Tui T. Sutherland -- Stuck in the middle / Abi Slone -- All fingers and thumbs! / Joseph Delaney -- Don't wet the bed / Alan Gratz -- The final word / Brett Helquist, Josh Greenhut -- The shadow / Neil Gaiman -- A day at the lake / Lesley Livingston -- Whispered / Jon Scieszka -- A disturbing limerick / Vladimir Radunsky -- Through the veil / Alison McGhee -- the rash / Daneil Ehrenhaft -- When nightmares walk / Melissa Marr -- On a Tuesday during that time of year / Chris Raschka -- Death rides a pink bicycle / Stacey Godenir -- I'm not afraid / Dan Gutman -- The doll / Alice Kuipers -- Easy over / Frank Viva -- Them / Libba Bray -- Tiger Kitty / Joyce Carol Oates -- Inventory / Jonathan Lethem -- Shortcut / Michael Connelly -- Strawberry bubbles / Lauren Myracle -- We think you do / Barry Yourgrau -- The prisoner of Eternia / Aaron Renier -- In conclusion / Gregory Maguire. Show Less
LibraryThing member jkmurray
Lots of fun to read but can give you lots of goosebumps! There are many stories but about 1-2 pages per a story! A fun book to read if you love being scared!
LibraryThing member scote23
Short horror stories, some of which made me feel scared. This is not necessarily a hard thing.
LibraryThing member Adrian.Gaytan
I happen to stumble upon this book and I almost passed on it. But once I started reading and realized that there was a collection of various short spooky stories, comic strip and poems it was must have. The book is convenient because they provide quick stories about creepy, things that go bump in
Great to have for Halloween and type of genre when leading a literary discussion with kids.
Show More
the dark and much more. I must admit that some of the stories were not at all scary but it creates opportunity for the reader to be dramatic and they are discussion starters that can be used for a classroom. Some ot poems (haikus), were good because they were plentiful enough to share and discuss with a touch of mystery attached. Various different authors lend their stories for the book, and range from half to two page exerts. My favorite was "there is something under my bed", and the true critics (kids) thought it was a spooky and scary story.Great to have for Halloween and type of genre when leading a literary discussion with kids.
Show Less
LibraryThing member K_Rodriguez
A big number of scary short stories compiled into one good book. This book has many very short scary stories that you can read in about thirty seconds or less. I thought this book was very fun to read because it had so many different stories to enjoy and choose from. This would be a great book for
Show More
a read aloud activity during the month of October. Authors included in this book were Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, Lemony Snicket, and R.L. Stine. Show Less
LibraryThing member flying_monkeys
Super cute!
But don't be fooled, there are creepers in this little collection. My (adult) mouth dropped open in shock at the bleak tone of some of these flash fictions. See "The Legend of Alexandra & Rose" by Jon Klassen as my favorite example. That one was so utterly disturbing yet so honest about
Most of the "stories" are set in a bedroom (yes, including and especially the closet), a haunted house, or outdoors; I was somewhat surprised none of the horrors took place at school.
I would recommend this collection to any budding dark fiction lover, especially a youngling who wants to write horror as well as read it. These would be great discussion starters -- "What might happen next?" for example.
3 stars
But don't be fooled, there are creepers in this little collection. My (adult) mouth dropped open in shock at the bleak tone of some of these flash fictions. See "The Legend of Alexandra & Rose" by Jon Klassen as my favorite example. That one was so utterly disturbing yet so honest about
Show More
the almost psychopathic selfishness displayed by small children. *shivers*Most of the "stories" are set in a bedroom (yes, including and especially the closet), a haunted house, or outdoors; I was somewhat surprised none of the horrors took place at school.
I would recommend this collection to any budding dark fiction lover, especially a youngling who wants to write horror as well as read it. These would be great discussion starters -- "What might happen next?" for example.
3 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member aratiel
Nope, nope, nope, nope. I picked this up because I'm a sucker for short stories (in this case flash fiction, which is fascinating when done right), because of the dazzling array of authors, and because (I'm only a little ashamed to admit this) about all I can handle in the way of horror is that
But right from the get-go these stories were horrible and disturbing, more so than the relatively tame and somewhat silly cover art predicted. If 33-year-old me can't handle this, I know for a fact 10-year-old me would have begged my parents to take it back to the library immediately so that it didn't darken my house any longer than necessary. The stories in this collection are much better suited to the YA crowd because of their gruesomeness and intensity.
Show More
meant for younger readers. I am also intrigued by the recent popularity of "two-sentence scary stories," which can also be too much for me, but which, even I have to admit, are kind of genius.But right from the get-go these stories were horrible and disturbing, more so than the relatively tame and somewhat silly cover art predicted. If 33-year-old me can't handle this, I know for a fact 10-year-old me would have begged my parents to take it back to the library immediately so that it didn't darken my house any longer than necessary. The stories in this collection are much better suited to the YA crowd because of their gruesomeness and intensity.
Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
160 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
0061833797 / 9780061833793
Local notes
A collection of spooky short short tales and creepy illustrations by an exceptional selection of writers and illustrators, including Lemony Snicket, James Patterson, Neil Gaiman, R. L. Stine, Faye Kellerman, Holly Black, Melissa Marr, Margaret Atwood, Jon Scieszka, Brett Helquist, and more.
Super short tales, so not really enough time to get too scary. Some of the 'picture' tales are the best.
Aus trade pb edition.
Super short tales, so not really enough time to get too scary. Some of the 'picture' tales are the best.
Aus trade pb edition.