by Julie Winterbottom (Author)
A deliciously creepy book for kids who love ghost stories, monsters, spiders, and more! Combining fact, fiction, and hands-on activities, Frightlopedia is an illustrated A-Z collection of some of the world's most frightening places, scariest stories, and gruesomest creatures, both real and imagined.
Discover Borneo's Gomantong Cave, where literally millions of bats, cockroaches, spiders, and rats coexist--in pitch darkness. Learn about mythical creatures like the Mongolian Death Worm--and scarily real ones like killer bees, which were accidentally created by scientists in the 1950s. Visit New Orleans's Beauregard-Keyes house, where Civil War soldiers are said to still clash in the front hall. Plus ghost stories from around the world, a cross-cultural study of vampires, and how to transform into a zombie with makeup. Each entry includes a "Fright Meter" measurement from 1 to 3, because while being scared is fun, everyone has their limit.
A 2017 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.
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Gr 3-5--This A to Z guide to terrifying topics, ghost stories, and frightening historical events and occurrences contains all the standard scary stuff, plus more. Along with spiders, haunted houses, and zombies, readers will encounter flesh-eating plants, the Paris catacombs, and xylophobia (fear of forests). Most entries are two to three pages in length (the ghost and monster sections are considerably longer), with a large, readable font; a header for the type of entry ("Petrifying Plants," "Creepy Creatures," "Ghost Story," or "Horrifying How-To"); and accompanying illustrations and photography. Images range from realistic to exaggerated to cartoonish. Several of the items reference mythological monsters or creatures (e.g., Vetala from Hindu myth and Tikoloshe from Zulu legend). These appear without source information or adequate cultural background. Each record is rated on a three-point "Fright Meter" to help readers decide if it is the right amount of scary for them. This is a unique text feature, but the metric seems subjective. The "Horrifying How-To" sections provide tutorials on how to torment others, including how to make fake spiders on toilets, create faux bat bites, and host a seance (adult supervision recommended). VERDICT An intriguing assortment of creepy stuff with the added bonus of hands-on activities to terrorize family and friends; consider just in time for Halloween.--Ernie Cox, Prairie Creek Intermediate School, Cedar Rapids, IA
Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.