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He has made SOME OF THE BEST SH*T EVER!

I love Stephen Gammel's illustrations. If I ever write a horror novel, even though it will be for adults, I want him to illustrate it.

Anyone love these books?

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

sounds interesting, what books has he written? i LOVE horror novels.

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Last night 'twas witching Hallowe'en
Dearest; an apple russet- brown
I pared, and thrice above my crown
Whirled the long skin; they watched in keen;
I flung it far; they laughed and cried me shame
Dearest, there lay the letter of your name!

Oh, I forgot to mention the books he wrote. Sorry about that.

Alvin Schwartz wrote books on folklore, old tales, superstitions, ect.

He is most famous for his Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark series.

http://www.amazon.com/Scary-Stories-Tel ... 798&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/More-Scary-Storie ... 798&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/Scary-Stories-Tal ... 798&sr=8-4

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

oh ok thanks!! i'm going to look up some stuff from him on Amazon

_________________
Last night 'twas witching Hallowe'en
Dearest; an apple russet- brown
I pared, and thrice above my crown
Whirled the long skin; they watched in keen;
I flung it far; they laughed and cried me shame
Dearest, there lay the letter of your name!

I can not recommend Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark books highly enough. I first read them when I was ten or so, and combined with the artwork by Stephen Gammel, they scared the bejabbers out of me. They still do. Rising Dead Man: you know the story in the first book about the ghost of the dead girl buried in the basement, and the picture that goes with it??? AHHHH!!! I'm freaking myself out just thinking about it!!!

Remember the picture in The Thing?


AAAAHHHHHGGGGG!!!

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

oh ok now i know who you guys are talking about sorry i'm a little embarrassed lol

_________________
Last night 'twas witching Hallowe'en
Dearest; an apple russet- brown
I pared, and thrice above my crown
Whirled the long skin; they watched in keen;
I flung it far; they laughed and cried me shame
Dearest, there lay the letter of your name!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! AHHHHH!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I think the third book was the creepiest.

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

Oh the memories! My elementary school had all three in addition to the the young reader's In A Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories back in the early to mid 1900's (all by Alvin Schwartz). However, in more recent times, the books have managed to end up on banned book lists for libraries and many schools no longer have them.

I, too cannot recommend these enough! They are excellent short stories, songs, and poems drawn from Schwartz's studies in anthropology. He would basically go around towns in the US and tell stories and ask other kids and people to share their stories with him. Hence, many have the urban legend vibe to them. However, the other ones are down right creepy and brilliant. That and the vivid and sometimes grotesque illustrations make the sorties to die for (sorry for the pun). He also included annotations as to where the sorties originated from.

I ended up buying the three book set on Amazon along with In A Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories a couple of years ago.

Give them a try. If you're older or an adult, enjoy them for what they are and try sharing them with a son/daughter or younger brother/sister.

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-Joel from Southern California

The thought of banning books makes me cringe, but I have to say that the pictures in those books could really freak out a smaller kid. I don't know about banning, especially for fourth and fifth graders, but kindergartners and first graders probably shouldn't be able to stumble on it.

Great books, though.

People have banned books for the word fart. I'm serious! You can't effin shelter a kid forever!

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

That really stinks. I mean it's foul, rotten, fetid. Banning books...*holds nose* Phewww! Makes me nauseous. It's putrid. It really, really reeks. Banning books, I'm talking about.