Shivers, Scares, and Chills - Vonnie Winslow Crist - ★★★.½
AUTHOR: Vonnie Winslow Crist SERIES: Shivers and Scares, #2 GENRE: Middle-grade Horror Short Stories. PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2024 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade paranormal short story collection intent on delivering shivers, scares, and chills to its readers. Meets this promise to a great extent. A good spooky season option for the target age group. This book comprises twenty-seven works: 24 stories and 3 poems. The collection pays homage to the Father of American Gothic, Edgar Allan Poe. (In fact, its release date, 7th October, happened to be the 175th anniversary of Poe’s death.) Every tale hence begins with a quote from a Poe classic that inspired the story. Many stories even contain a secret connection to Poe’s works, which is revealed at the end in a detailed note. I wish I were a Poe fan to appreciate all this better. Most of the tales contain some or the other creature. These range from ordinary animals such as dogs, toads, and spiders, to extraordinary