Night Frights: 13 Scary Stories, by JP Stamper, was published by Scholastic in 1993. It was the first collection of scary stories my oldest son ever read. When I asked him for a list of books that I could review for Throw-Back Thursdays, this one was in his top 10. He said he remembered us reading these stories out loud, and that they were creepy-scary-cool to him when he was in grade school.

The stories are all short -- perfect length for younger readers. They range in subject from old classics like Bloody Mary and a headless specter looking for its missing body part to more original scary tales. The stories are scary, but nothing is age inappropriate for middle grade age children. The stories are short enough to make them great to read outloud, or for grade school students to read by themselves.

I can see why my son remembers this book. I enjoyed re-reading the stories. They are truly creepy and fun to read, even for an adult. My favorite is the sixth story, The Corpse's Revenge, a taleabout grave robbers who get a big surprise.

J.B. Stamper has written several books for middle grade readers, including five Magic School Bus stories and three Tales for the Midnight Hour story collections.
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