With Halloween around the corner, shorter days and longer nights, shadowy figures and full moon nights let’s take a pick of some spooky stories.
The first choice has to be Dr. Seuss and his What Was I Scared Of? Imagine seeing a pair of pale green pants with no one inside them? What would you do?
Well...
I was walking in the night
And, I saw nothing scary.
For I have never been afraid
Of anything. Not very.
That’s when the unexpected happens and a pale green pants suddenly appears....
Complete with brilliant rhymes, this is one story you wouldn’t want to miss.
Next up is Coraline by Neil Gaiman, a must for those who love horror. Coraline and her parents have just shifted to their new home. Her parents are always busy working so most of the day Coraline is by herself. She is a self sufficient girl and finds her own entertainment. The first thing she does in her new home is to explore it. And that’s when she finds something shocking. She meets her Other Mother...in fact, her Other Father too, but, the only difference is they have buttons for eyes! The Other Mother does not want Coraline to leave, but Coraline knows she has to if her real parents have to be safe. She plots her escape...How? You will have to read to find out.
Monster mine
Are you scared of harbouring monsters under your bed? Well, Moin did. And, one night, he hears the monster threatens Moin that if he doesn’t draw the monster he will be turned into a suitcase! (Apparently, it is a monster rule!)Moin, who draws very badly, sits down to draw the monster with the description the invisible monster gives him. And hey! presto! the monster comes alive!
Now, Moin has a monster in his room, and he has to keep the monster from making itself known to his parents. And, as if those problems weren’t enough, he has to feed the monster...bananas.
Moin and the Monster by Anuska Ravishankar will take you on a banana-eating, singing, party.
Have you heard of the mythological Bakasura? He makes his appearance in the Mahabharata, and is a demon. He lives near the city of Ekachakra and forces the king to send him daily provisions. He makes a meal of the provisions and the men who bring them! Finally, Bhima finishes him off, much to everyone’s relief.
But, that’s Bakasura. Here we have Bookasura, The Adventures of Bala and the Book-Eating Monster by Arundhati Venkatesh and he is Bala’s problem. At home, his baby sister chews up his precious book. So, he finds refuge in his grandparents’ house with his valuable stash. And, that’s where he finds the book-eating monster. Bookasura chomps his way through some of his favourite books and Bala has to find a way to outwit this monster.
And for the last choice, here’s something mysterious and spooky as well. The Figure in the Shadows by Lewis Branavelt. This is the second in the 12 book series. Grandpa Barnavelt gifts Lewis a lucky coin which he uses as his talisman. Lewis feels he can do anything he wants to, even, get back at the bully Woody Mingo in school. But then, other things also begin to happen like mysterious letters in the dead of night and a strange shadowy figure that follows him around. And, finally, when he gets his revenge on Woody it’s like there is someone inside him urging to go further.
What could be happening?
