by R. L. Stine
Dingy di-ding, dingy di-ding . . .
Then, later on, you just may hear the first click.
But you’ll never hear the second click.
None of them ever do.
Haunted
Blood-Curdling Story
by Shel Silverstein
ILLUSTRATED BY SHEL SILVERSTEIN
No one makes me laugh like Shel Silverstein. I don’t know which is funnier—his poems or the crazy pictures he drew to go with them.
The first Shel Silverstein book I ever saw was called Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book. It had to be the strangest, most twisted ABC book ever written—definitely not for kids!
After that, I looked forward to each new book of his poems. You might not think of Shel’s work as scary. But here are two poems I love because they have twist endings—which isn’t easy to do in a very short poem!
HAUNTED
by Shel Silverstein
I dare you all to go into
The Haunted House on Howlin’ Hill,
Where squiggly things with yellow eyes
Peek past the wormy window sill.
We’ll creep into the moonlit yard,
Where weeds reach out like fingers,
And through the rotted old front door
A-squeakin’ on its hinges,
Down the dark and whisperin’ hall,
Past the musty study,
Up the windin’ staircase—
Don’t step on the step that’s bloody—
Through the secret panel
To the bedroom where we’ll slide in
To the ragged cobweb dusty bed
Ten people must have died in.
And the bats will screech,
And the spirits will scream,
And the thunder will crash
Like a horrible dream,
And we’ll sing with the zombies
And dance with the dead,
And howl at the ghost
With the axe in his head,
And—come to think of it what do you say
We go get some ice cream instead?
Blood-Curdling Story
by Shel Silverstein
That story is creepy,
It’s waily, it’s weepy,
It’s screechy and screamy
Right up to the end.
It’s spooky, it’s crawly,
It’s grizzly, it’s gory,
It’s the awfulest story
(Please tell it again).
Acknowledgments
“The Black Ferris” by Ray Bradbury reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. Copyright © 1948 by Weird Tales, renewed 1975 by Ray Bradbury. “The Conjure Brother” from The Dark Thirty by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, text copyright © 1992 by Patricia C. McKissack. Illustrations copyright © 1992 by Brian Pinkney. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc. “My Sister Is a Werewolf” text copyright © 1996 by Jack Prelutsky. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. “The Elevator” copyright © 1989 by William Sleator. All rights reserved. Used with permission. “The Meeting” and “Frizzled Like a Fritter” from The Witches by Roald Dahl. Copyright © 1983 by Roald Dahl. Illustrations copyright © 1983 by Quentin Blake. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. “A Sock for Christmas” copyright © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc. Incl. 1952. Used by permission. All rights reserved. “Examination Day” copyright © 1994 by Henry Slesar. Published by arrangement with Henry Slesar. “Harold” copyright © 1991 by Alvin Schwartz. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. “The Girl Who Stood on a Grave” copyright © 1981 by Alvin Schwartz. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. “A Grave Misunderstanding” copyright © The Estate of Leon Garfield 2002, reprinted by permission of John Johnson Ltd, London. “Mister Ice Cold” (text and illustration) copyright © 1990, originally published in OMNI by arrangement with Gahan Wilson. Permission granted by the author and the author’s agents, The Pimlico Agency, Inc. “Haunted” and “Blood-Curdling Story” from Falling Up by Shel Silverstein. Copyright © 1996 by Evil Eye Music, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Every effort has been made to obtain permission to reprint the other stories in this volume. If necessary, the publisher will add the proper credit in future printings.
About the Author
PHOTOGRAPH BY RAFAEL FUCHS
R.L. (ROBERT LAWRENCE) STINE is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. He began his writing career at the age of nine, writing short stories, joke books, and comic books for his friends—and has been at it ever since!
After graduating from Ohio State University, R.L. moved to New York to become a writer. He wrote dozens of joke books and humor books for young people, and created Bananas, a zany humor magazine. In 1989, R.L. turned scary. He teamed up with Parachute Press to create Fear Street, which soon became the best-selling young adult series in the nation. In 1992, Stine and Parachute went on to launch Goosebumps, the phenomenal series that made R.L. an international celebrity and the number-one best-selling children’s author of all time (Guinness Book of World Records).
His two original collections of scary stories, the New York Times best-seller Nightmare Hour and The Haunting Hour, have won R.L. legions of new fans. His book series The Nightmare Room, also published by HarperCollins, was adapted into a popular TV series.
R.L. Stine lives in Manhattan with his wife, Jane, and their son, Matthew.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by R.L. Stine
THE HAUNTING HOUR
NIGHTMARE HOUR
DANGEROUS GIRLS
DANGEROUS GIRLS #2:
THE TASTE OF NIGHT
SERIES:
THE NIGHTMARE ROOM
#1 DON’T FORGET ME!
#2 LOCKER 13
#3 MY NAME IS EVIL
#4 LIAR, LIAR
#5 DEAR DIARY, I’M DEAD
#6 THEY CALL ME CREATURE
#7 THE HOWLER
#8 SHADOW GIRL
#9 CAMP NOWHERE
#10 FULL MOON HALLOWEEN
#11 SCARE SCHOOL
#12 VISITORS
THE NIGHTMARE ROOM THRILLOGY
#1 FEAR GAMES
#2 WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
#3 NO SURVIVORS
GOOSEBUMPS 2000
GOOSEBUMPS
FEAR STREET
Copyright
BEWARE! Copyright © 2002 by Parachute Publishing, L.L.C. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover © 2002 Parachute Publishing, L.L.C.
Cover design by Archie Ferguson
Cover illustration by Mark Fredrickson
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beware!: R.L. Stine picks his favorite scary stories / by R.L. Stine.
p. cm.
A Parachute Press book.
Summary: A selection of unsettling stories by such authors as Ray Bradbury, William Sleator, Leon Garfield, Roald Dahl, Gahan Wilson, and Mr. Stine himself.
ISBN 0-06-623842-0 — ISBN 0-06-623843-9 (lib. bdg.)
ISBN 0-06-055547-5 (pbk.)
1. Horror tales, American. 2. Horror tales, English. 3. Children’s stories, American. 4. Children’s stories, English. [1. Horror stories. 2. Short stories.] I. Stine, R.L.
PZ5.B43428 2002 2002018938
[Fic]—dc21 CIP
AC
* * *
Digital Edit
ion OCTOBER 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-300628-7
First Avon edition, 2004
AVON TRADEMARK REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, MARCA REGISTRADA, HECHO EN U.S.A.
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