TALES FROM THE FRINGES OF FEAR

The Tales From Beyond the Brain (2019) team returns with 13 more scary stories.

In short, punchy stories, readers face dangerous insects and animals, time- and reality-breaking impossibilities, dangerous imposters, and more. Throughout the variety of the scares, body horror appears again and again—considering the edge-of-puberty audience, it’s a timely theme that’s likely to resonate. Although many characters face unpleasant (or at least ambiguous) ends, truly detailed gross-out bits come off as offbeat and cartoonish (such as a primordial ooze and a transformation prompted by pumpkin pie). Stylized black-and-white illustrations range from spot to full-page. They use line, light, and shadow effectively, highlighting frights in detail while also leaving plenty for readers’ imaginations to fill in. While some stories have a touch of modern technology in the horror, old-fashioned analog tech that modern kids won’t be familiar with repeatedly features as a sinister unknown. In the final story, the point of view shifts to first-person, leading to eventual fourth-wall breakage (that continues on into the acknowledgments, inviting readers to keep the scares alive in the real world). While physical and racial descriptors are largely absent, character names indicate Asian, South Asian, and Latinx characters; illustrations also depict characters as Asian and black in stories without textual indication; and one story based in Hebrew golem lore includes anti-Semitic bullying that confronts a rabbi’s son.

A spine-tingling collection that’s dead on for young horror buffs.