Ricky Beamer is furious when he gets kicked off the school paper, so he decides to play a joke on Tashas, the bossy editor-in-chief. Just a little joke. Harmless, really.After school one day he sticks a message in the paper. "If you're a creep call Tasha after midnight" it reads.But somehow Ricky's message gets messed up. And now he's getting calls! Strange calls from kids who say they are creeps. Creeps with scaly purple skin. And long sharp fangs...

Jaclyn used to live with her aunt Greta in Chicago. But not anymore. They've moved to a place called Sherpia. It's a tiny village on the edge of the Arctic Circle.Jaclyn can't believe she's stuck out in Nowheresville. No movie theaters. No malls. No nothing. Plus, there's something really odd about the village.At night there are strange howling noises. And in front of every house there's a snowman. A creppy snowman with a red scarf. A deep scar on his face. And a really evil smile...

Wilson Schlame loves to make Jack Johnson feel like a total loser. And Jack's had it. That's how he ended up down at the beach. In a creepy, old abandoned house. In the dark. Trying to hide from Wilson.But everything is about to change. Because Jack just dug up the coolest book. Its called Flying Lessons. It tells how humans can learn to fly.Poor Jack. He wanted to get back at Wilson. But now that Jack's learned how to fly, things down on earth are getting really scary...

"Don't do this! Watch out for that!" Marco's mom thinks the whole world is a danger zone. She won't even let Marco play softball.But Marco just wants to have fun. So he sneaks off to a game. And that's when it happens. He gets hit in the head with a baseball bat.Now things are getting really fuzzy. Really scary. Because when Marco gets home he gets the strangest call. From someone who says he lives in Marco's basement...

Gretchen, and her stepbrother, Clark hate staying at their grandparents' house. Grandpa Eddie is totally deaf. And all Grandma Rose wants to do is bake. Plus, they live right in the middle of a dark, muddy swamp.Things couldn't get any worse, right? WRONG.Because there's something really weird about Grandma and Grandpa's house. Something odd about that room upstairs. The one that's locked. The one with the strange noises coming from it.Strange growling noises...

Reader beware--you choose the scare! GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS! Late one night you and your friends visit the old fairgrounds. They're putting up rides and booths for the annual carnival. But this year things look really different. Really odd. Really scary. The place is lit up by a hundred fiery torches. And spooky music is coming from the main tent. Then you meeting Big Al, the creepy carnival manager. He's invited you in to test some of the rides. Will you brave the terrifying Supersonic Space Coaster? Risk the horrors of the Reptile Petting Zoo? Slice through the oily waters of Booger Bog? Or confront the evil Snake Lady? The choice is yours in this scary GOOSEBUMPS adventure that's packed with over 20 super-spooky endings!

Contributions by Rebecca A. Brown, Justine Gieni, Holly Harper, Emily L. Hiltz, A. Robin Hoffman, Kirsten Kowalewski, Peter C. Kunze, Jorie Lagerwey, Nick Levey, Jessica R. McCort, and Janani Subramanian Dark novels, shows, and films targeted toward children and young adults are proliferating wildly. It is even more crucial now to understand the methods by which such texts have traditionally operated and how those methods have been challenged, abandoned, and appropriated. Reading in the Dark fills a gap in criticism devoted to children's popular culture by concentrating on horror, an often-neglected genre. These scholars explore the intersection between horror, popular culture, and children's cultural productions, including picture books, fairy tales, young adult literature, television, and monster movies. Reading in the Dark looks at horror texts for children with deserved respect, weighing the multitude of benefits they can provide for young readers and viewers. Refusing to write off the horror genre as campy, trite, or deforming, these essays instead recognize many of the texts and films categorized as "scary" as among those most widely consumed by children and young adults. In addition, scholars consider how adult horror has been domesticated by children's literature and culture, with authors and screenwriters turning that which was once horrifying into safe, funny, and delightful books and films. Scholars likewise examine the impetus behind such re-envisioning of the adult horror novel or film as something appropriate for the young. The collection investigates both the constructive and the troublesome aspects of scary books, movies, and television shows targeted toward children and young adults. It considers the complex mechanisms by which these texts communicate overt messages and hidden agendas, and it treats as well the readers' experiences of such mechanisms.