This collection of short horror stories contains characters and settings from elementary and middle school with images by award-winning illustrator Steven P. Hughes. Each story, a few pages in length, derives from that which nightmares are made of: faces peeling off as masks, ghosts’ pleas for help, messages from the dead, vampires, blood-sucking hummingbirds, body-wasting t-shirts, human-consuming tar, and eyes falling out like baby teeth. A change in font distinguishes one reoccurring story thread in which the author of a book, donning the same title as this, uses a living ink to gather story ideas from the nightmares of his readers.

Szpirglas has authored many other books, fiction and nonfiction, spanning from early readers to adult texts, many award-nominated and within recommended lists. Book of Screams is a 2023 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection (commended). For student writers exploring the elements of short stories, Book of Screams could be a source of exemplars and inspiration.

Other End Matter: Teacher resource
Images: B&W illustrations
Bibliography: No
Index: No

Evaluator: Jennifer W., Literacy Educator And Administrator, BC Books for Schools

JEFF SZPIRGLAS is the author of multiple books in the Countdown to Danger series. In addition to his choose-your-own-path titles, Jeff has written award-nominated non-fiction books and several terrifying novels and horror collections for middle-grade readers, including Tales from the Fringes of Fear and Tales from Beyond the Brain. With his wife, Danielle Saint-Onge, he is the co-author of the Orca Echoes books X Marks the Spot!, Something's Fishy and Messy Miranda. He's worked at CTV Television and was an editor at Chirp, chickaDEE and Owl magazines. He has twin children, two cats (the cats are not twins) and one dog. In his spare time, he teaches elementary school. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario. Visit him online at www.jeffszpirglas.com.

Jeff Szpirglas' profile page

Steven P. Hughes is an award-winning Canadian illustrator whose clients include the Globe and Mail, Reader's Digest and Scientific American. He graduated from Sheridan College with a BAA in Illustration. He lives in Bolton, Ontario, with his wife and their two dogs.

Steven P. Hughes' profile page

• Commended, Junior Library Guild (JLG) Gold Standard Selection

“A collection of scary short stories that run the horror gamut.”

School Library Journal

“This well-paced, rather disturbing, and very creepy collection will appeal to a wide variety of readers.”

Kirkus Reviews

“This chilling collection of short stories is a perfect choice for middle-grade readers who crave a good scare. It cleverly combines spine-tingling tales with a wraparound story that adds a layer of mystery and suspense…A great introduction to horror for younger readers. It’s both entertaining and suspenseful, leaving you guessing until the very end.”

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD)