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 beings such as aliens, werewolves, and kelpies. The assortment is quite varied. However, some of the titles give out spoilers, as they reveal the identity of the creature in the tale even when the story keeps it a suspense till the end.

The book is aimed at readers aged nine and above. The stories might seem simplistic to older readers but to tweens, the tales ought to deliver better. The human protagonists of these stories are always children, and they don’t necessarily get happy endings, which further adds to the horror appeal. I liked a majority of the endings, but some either fell flat or were cut off too abruptly.

The length of each story is quite short, between 1-3 pages, so this book ought to work excellently for readaloud sessions, whether during sleepovers or around camp fires. Just as the author did in the first book of this standalone series, 'Shivers, Scares, and Goosebumps', this collection also includes action hints for “jump scares” to further increase the spook factor while narrating. Of course, this will be useful only to those who have read the book (or the first book) beforehand and know about the existence of these hints. It would have been helpful to have a note mentioning the jump scare cues before the stories begin.

Every story comes with a B&W illustration sketched by the author herself. These further add to the eerie vibes. (If you want to be further creeped out, see the illustrations on your Kindle after switching it to Dark Mode – Brrrr!)

As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the three poems in this book, two were too short to be impressive, and the third one didn’t feel scary to me, possibly because I love the creatures mentioned in this poem. Of the twenty-four stories, nine stories reached or crossed the four star mark. Most of the rest hovered between 3-3.5 stars. My top favourites with 4.5+ stars were ‘Rabbits’, ‘Swimming Alone’, ‘Giggles’, and ‘Holly.’ These had a great build-up and a fabulous ending. ‘Redcap’, ‘Marbles’, ‘It Tickles’, ‘Black Dog’, and ‘Fairy’ earned four stars each.

All in all, this indie collection is a nice option for youngsters during this spooky season. Whether they read this book alone at night with a flashlight or they narrate these stories to their friends, the tales are bound to deliver as the title promises.

Recommended to tweens and younger teens looking for a spooky and quick read. Even better if they are fans of Poe.

3.5 stars, based on the average of my ratings for the stories. I didn’t rate the poems as I am not a poem person. Rounding up as the book might click better with the target age audience.

My thanks to author Vonnie Winslow Crist for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Shivers, Scares and Chills”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The digital version of this book is currently available free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.