What a delightful series!

I have never read books quite like these: they are collections of stories, but they're also celebrations of stories and of storytelling. Some of them include notes on how to tell them, orally, to a group of friends. Some of them include instructions for necessary props. This is folklore at its finest: memorable, spooky, silly, atmospheric. Poems and songs—complete with musical notation—help paint a more complete picture of these folkloric traditions. Creepy illustrations are icing on the cake.

Best of all, Schwartz includes excellent notes on the tales, their histories, and their variants. He cites the books from which he adapted them, and overall, he does a fantastic job of making a potentially dry explanation interesting for children.

Please note:
I enjoyed these books as a kid and binge-read the whole trilogy as a grownup. Consequently, I'm not confident in my ability to review the three volumes separately. Schwartz maintained such a high standard of quality throughout the series, and the tone of each book closely matches the others. Please consider this review as covering all three books. ( )

Zev, this one has the story with the girl who takes a warm bath after her face feels awful. It's called "The Red Spot."
Four stars of nostalgia. The review I left for the first book in this series, "Scary Stories to tell in the Dark" fits here, too. Some of the stories are still spine-tingling! These still do hold up after all these years. I hope kids delight in them as much as I did. ( )

3 / 5 ⭐️'ˢ

“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark & Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones” By Alan Schwartz and Artwork By Stephen Gammell

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A collection of folklorist Alvin Schwartz's most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time.

Some of us can’t resist the somewhat ghoulish need to be scared, and this book is just what we need for what ails us. Meant for children, adults will certainly appreciate content of this third book in the series. There are some excellent tales, and one, at least, is true. The notes on the background of the tales should not be skipped; they will add to your knowledge and appreciation of the scary tales in the book. And as to be expected by now, the illustrations by Stephen Gammell are scary in their own right, and add much to the stories. ( )