Review: Hide and Don’t Seek by Anica Mrose Rissi

Hide And Don't Seek Published by Quill Tree Books on August 2021
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 224
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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If you’re feeling brave, turn the page.
A game of hide-and-seek goes on far too long…
A look-alike doll makes itself right at home…
A school talent-show act leaves the audience aghast…
And a summer at camp takes a turn for the braaaains…
This collection of all-new spooky stories is sure to keep readers up past their bedtimes, laughing, gasping, and looking over their shoulders to see what goes bump in the night.

This fun throwback to the Scary Stories series is perfect for the new generation.
I remember being so enthralled by the original series, the short stories of terror and fright, reading late into the night long after my parents told me to go to bed.
Hide and Don’t Seek does not disappoint! My 13 year old self is giddy.

Within these pages are poems, short stories, moral tales and hauntings full of surprises. I really enjoyed the different formats the stories took, how they were each creepy and scary without being gooey or too over the top. Poems, one story is in the form of letters, they were all different but equally parts of a cohesive collection meant to make you just on the edge of uncomfortable. I like the slight chill that crept up my back as I was reading, the faint noise I would hear and have to convince myself that it was only the wind.

That’s what so fun about this book is that it is slow and creeps up on you, into your bones and before you know it, ten stories in, every noise you hear is someone rattling the door knobs.

Some stories are stronger than others but all were fun to read and it’s easy to see how kids can bring them in and read them to friends and totally creep each other out. I loved especially the illustrations no every story, the ships pencil drawings that were dark and sinister as well as simple and clean. It was the perfect blend.

I’m going to recommend this book to some of my friends who had Scary Stories growing up and have fond memories of reading them under the covers. I’m glad we have a new anthology to add to our collection.