School Library Connection Review of Scary Places

If you have young patrons who have a fascination with the macabre (and what librarian doesn’t?), owning these titles will make your library a popular place. Each book commences with an overview of the book’s topic, followed by a two-page spread containing a brief description of the location and a scary tale or two about 11 selected spooky places. Some accounts of ghostly happenings are more plausible than others; some are downright troubling, such as the description of treatment of the insane as late as the 20th century. All have illustrations that include drawings and photographs, along with an inset of factoids set off in a textbox with a skeleton border. Each book contains a glossary, bibliography, resources, and a map showing the locations of the haunted sites described…. This series will appeal to upper elementary and middle school grades and should motivate reluctant readers. Recommended.