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OLDER FICTION
Allen, Josh

Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shock

192 pp. | Holiday | August, 2024 | Trade ISBN 9780823456321 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780823459278 $11.99
(2) YA Illustrated by Sarah J. Coleman. In the harrowing world of these thirteen creative short stories, bicycles can be demonic, your classmates might be zombies, and a fortune cookie might contain more than a harmless slip of paper. In a third collection of scary tales, Allen (Out to Get You; Only if You Dare, rev. 9/21) taps into the "what-ifs": what if, instead of your feeling like the invisible middle child, everyone truly forgot that you existed? What if, instead of your growing out of being afraid of creatures in the dark, those very creatures were just waiting for you to turn out the light and take your time hopping into bed? What if nobody in your new class believed that your old house was haunted by a ghost girl who wanted to chop off your fingers? Coleman's grayscale illustrations match the mild horror of the narratives, which, while not particularly gory, are not for the faint of heart. (Many of the stories' endings imply that the child protagonists die horrible deaths.) The dark fates and creepy buildups will appeal strongly to young readers who love to indulge their fears, and the stories are compelling enough to be read in one or two sittings. Fans of Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (rev. 2/82) will have a great time reading this collection -- although, maybe, a hard time falling asleep.
Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

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