Tales From Outer Suburbia (short stories) (YA Fic)

AUTHOR: Shaun Tan (Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2013

Fifteen illustrated short stories set in the Australian suburbs. Stories include: The water buffalo -- Eric -- Broken toys -- Distant rain -- Undertow -- Grandpa's story -- No other country -- Stick figures -- The nameless holiday -- The amnesia machine -- Alert but not alarmed -- Wake -- Make your own pet -- Our expedition -- Night of the turtle rescue

PLOT (Eric): Eric is a foreign exchange student (the pictures make him seem alien-esque) comes to stay. Some of his behaviour seems very strange, but Mum just says "Maybe it's a cultural thing." But they're not really sure if he's happy or not. It's only when he mysteriously leaves that they find his thank-you gift.

REVIEW: Quite a charming collection of short stories, some humorous, some haunting and thought-provoking.

AGE: middle primary school to junior highschool.
GENRE: various
REVIEW: 5 stars

Series: Anthony Horowitz Horror (Fic)

AUTHOR: Anthony Horowitz (Aust) PUBLISHED: ~2000 SERIES: Anthony Horowitz Horror, by Orchard Books

PLOT: ("Scared"):
Contains three short stories. 1) Scared: Nature gets its revenge on an insolent teen boy. 2) A Career in Computer Games: A boy who does nothing but play computer games becomes trapped in one. 3) Howard's End: When Howard has a fatal accident, he thinks he's tricked his way into heaven. But has he?

Interestingly, all characters are rude, disrespectful, insolent, delinquent - perhaps some good moral lessons ;)

REVEW: They are similar to The Midnight Library series in that each book contains a few short stories.

AGES: Suggested for 11+ because of the horror themes.
GENRE: Horror, Thriller.
RATING: 5 stars.

Series: The Midnight Library (Fic)

AUTHOR: Nick Shadow (UK)
PUBLISHED: 2004
SERIES: The Midnight Library

PLOT: for example: "The Whisperer" contains three short stories. "The Whisperer" is about a "haunted" computer which writes for the user and predicts the future, eventually predicting the user's death (which comes to pass). "Gabriel" is a demon in disguise as a teenager. A girl (who has a crush on him) suspects he is a vampire, but she discovers the truth when he 'eats' her soul. "Fast Forward" is perhaps more predictable. A tween boy sees a fortune teller at a fair. After he wishes he were old, he travels through a haunted train ride. When he emerges he is indeed an old man and dies of a heart attack.

REVIEW: Each book contains two or more short stories in the Goosebumps vein, although in some ways, they are a little more sophisticated. Both series contain similar horror themes: haunted/possessed items/houses, fantasy horror (vampires, zombies), religious horror (voodoo, demons, etc). Similar to the Anthony Horowitz Horror series.

AGES: 10+. This, of course, depends on the individual child. If a child currently enjoys Goosebumps (without being overly frightened by them), you could recommend this series.
As always with horror, knowledge of the child is important. Some children are more imaginative (some may call it 'sensitive') than others and reading horror fiction may lead to nightmares.

GENRE: Horror, Thriller.
RATING: 4 1/2 stars.