Faces in the Dark

Gr 3-6-A collection with surefire appeal for fans of strange and spooky tales. Most of the selections are original, with the exceptions of Vivien Alcock's creepy ``Siren Song'' and an adaptation of Sid Fleischman's The Ghost on Saturday Night. Settings and time periods vary, but many of the stories share a straightforward narrative style reminiscent of classic British horror fiction. Unusual phenomena or action are described in a matter-of-fact tone that leave readers wondering just how much might be true. This uncertainty lingers in the mind and is the book's real source of scariness (mercifully, blood and gore are absent). There is tongue-in-cheek humor, too, especially in the two tales set in the U.S. The colorful cartoons sprinkled liberally throughout the text underscore this, defusing any real terror in even the creepiest narratives. These stories would be excellent choices for telling aloud. All in all, an entertaining anthology that should find a home in most libraries.-Mary Jo Drungil, Niles Public Library District, IL