(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. Seventh grader Gabe becomes the new owner of a wish-granting imp in a bottle. Unfortunately, each wish causes someone else's misfortune. Worse yet, if Gabe dies before selling the bottle, the Devil gets his soul. While Gabe is an unlikable protagonist for much of the novel, he eventually matures, risking damnation to save his friends. Grimly's signature off-kilter illustrations enhance the story's unsettling atmosphere.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) 4-6 Translated by Margaret Hunt. Illustrated by Gris Grimly. This selection of forty tales includes classics such as "Rapunzel" and "The Bremen Town Musicians," as well as lesser-known tales such as "The Singing Bone" and "Herr Korbes." Many of the Grimms' tales were meant to teach lessons, often through fear, and Grimly's spot and full-page black-and-white illustrations--plus several sepia-toned inserts--deftly accentuate the tales' malicious characters and ominous plots.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. The sixth volume in the anthology series brings us ten new spine-tingling tales from wide-ranging popular children's authors, including Rita Williams-Garcia, Adam Gidwitz, R. L. Stine, and Dav Pilkey. Many of the stories end with an uneasy twist that might genuinely scare younger or fright-averse readers; those looking for accessible chills will be pleased. Grimly's illustrations add an extra layer of creepiness.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. On Halloween night, a group of boys embarks on a journey to find their missing friend. Led by the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud, the boys travel through time to visit an Egyptian tomb, Notre Dame Cathedral, Mexican catacombs, and other locations that explain the origins of Halloween. Grimly's illustrations for this edition--black-and-white halftones and three color plates--are an appropriate match for the haunting and evocative prose (which some may find florid and sentimental).

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) YA Illustrated by Gris Grimly. With spindly lines; whimsical, off-kilter perspective; and a playful balance of dark and light, Grimly's ink drawings and watercolor plates give a comic gothic vibe to Doyle's unabridged tale of murder, Mormons, and revenge. Sherlock Holmes, in Grimly's art, is long, lean, and angular while Watson is his portly foil. It's a brilliant, if non-canonical, visual study in contrasts.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) YA Adapted by Gris Grimly. Illustrated by Gris Grimly. This graphic novel adaptation abridges Shelley's tale while staying true to its spirit. The inventive illustrations, in a muted palette punctuated by black, pinks, purples, and bilious green, are a mix of modern, nineteenth-century, and steampunk sensibilities. Grimly makes excellent use of format with dynamic shapes, sizes, and pacing of panels; the epistolary sections have an elegant (if difficult to read) handwritten look.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. Twelve-year-old Yorik Mortwell, former servant of Ravenby Manor killed by petulant young Master Thomas, returns as a ghost to protect his sister. His haunting is hampered by evil demons with their own motives for taking over the estate. Morbid and creepy, this gothic fantasy adventure challenges the concept of truth versus falsehood in a plot that moves (sometimes confusingly) between two worlds.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(4) YA Illustrated by Gris Grimly. Grimly (Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness) abridges and illustrates four more chilling Poe tales in this volume, leading with "The Tell-Tale Heart." Dynamic page design propels each story while contextualizing the sometimes challenging language. By the end, though, it feels like an awful lot of sameness; each tale may have been better served by an individual adaptation.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. This book of eighteen clever song parodies captures exactly the type of thing kids might come up with on their own. Grisly watercolor and mixed-media illustrations awash in appropriately putrid shades of brown and gray will definitely appeal to its target readers: those with a ghoulish sense of humor who are not easily grossed out by disgusting monsters or bodily fluids.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. This subversive fairy tale of an abecedarian is aimed at older readers who can appreciate the phonetic wordplay and metafictional winks. Rhyming couplets introduce one letter per line, while gruesome caricatures in shades of brown, beige, and dun relate the encompassing story: a brother and sister (and their wide-eyed pet gazelle) embark on a dangerous treasure hunt through the city sewers.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2008

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. The tale of the headless horseman, slightly condensed, is reimagined here with humor and vigor. Irving's challenging, boisterously florid language is most effective when read aloud, but Grimly's Halloween-hued panel and spot illustrations, with their emphatic movement and caricaturized figures, parse it into comprehensible tidbits. The comically amplified emotions and warm hues balance the text's horror, helping mute the scare factor.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. This story of two young monsters preparing for a visit from Santa Claws is best for those who like their Christmas creepy, as the monsters hang oozing "blistertoe" and smelly stockings, decorate a dead pine tree, and help make disgusting holiday treats. This irreverent rhyming send-up is accompanied by cheerfully spooky, spidery-lined illustrations, including imaginative mock advertisement endpapers (mail-order witch, anyone?).

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. Two monster neighbors (slovenly Bella Legrossi and persnickety Boris Kleanitoff) who don't get along each decide to throw their own Halloween party, but everyone they invite would rather attend Harry Beastie's party instead. Bella and Boris crash Harry's shindig and end up dancing together. The delightfully spooky illustrations and humorous, creepily detailed text will please monster fans.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(4) YA Illustrated by Gris Grimly. "The Black Cat," "The Masque of the Red Death," "Hop-Frog," and "The Fall of the House of Usher" are lavishly illustrated in horror-comics style. There's great stylistic variety in Grimly's macabre work--which includes full-page tableaux, framed panels, and spot art--but Poe purists will not be happy that their boy's stories have all been abridged.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. This anthology of short poems about fanciful creatures from myths and folk and fairy tales is organized around the notion that all the creatures are participating in a single circuslike carnival together. Pleasingly silly and informative, the anthology will no doubt entertain monster lovers of many ages. Quirky, comical illustrations add to the fun.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. This unattributed translation of Collodi's classic tale of the puppet who wishes to be a boy is accompanied by new artwork. The puppet's adventures will delight kids undaunted by the book's length. In Grimly's scratchy brown illustrations, the characters verge on the macabre, although the blue-haired fairy resembles a comic-book vixen.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gris Grimly. From man-eating plants and Frankenstein's monster to Medusa and a poltergeist, this museum has all sorts of marvelous monsters. The humorous poems describing them use a variety of lively rhythms, and the angular illustrations grandly bring them, and the group of school children trooping through the museum, to life. The amusing "Glos-Scary" provides background on the monsters.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley