#495 - Shriek & Other Spooky Tales

by Ramendra Kumar

“Shriek & Other Spooky Tales” by Ramendra Kumar. Published by Readomania. A delightful collection of fourteen spooky stories which are filled with a generous dose of suspense, terror, mystery, adventure, chills and thrills.

The tales in the book showcase the unnatural, surreal and the abnormal which are going to make one quite scared. From grotesque to friendly to vengeful to angry there are all kinds of supernatural beings who feature in these goosebump inducing and spine tingling thrillers. The stories build up well and then the terror strikes quite unexpectedly in a way which cannot be guessed till the last instant. A chess loving ghost, a ghost who is going to take revenge for his death, a father who wants to murder to atone his guilt, a doll and a cat who are seeking justice for the deaths of their beloved humans, a peepal tree who lends a sympathetic ear to a girl in distress, a TV screen which can show events from future striking terror, a man who has no qualms about stealing from corpses, a traveller who is on a search for something that is shrouded in the depths of his memory, friends who challenge each other about the existence of vampires and so on. Read the thriller of a book to experience the spookiness and sudden twists that are bound to keep you hooked.

The book was amazing. My nine year old and I couldn’t just guess what would happen next. We were glued to the book and read it slowly savouring each of the stories over the last couple of days. We had attended a fabulous storytelling event by the author at Funky Rainbow bookstore just before Halloween. He had narrated two of the stories from the book setting an anticipation of what we could find in the book. Each of the stories proved to be amazing making it difficult for us to choose a favourite. The vivid descriptions in the narrative brought  the characters and settings to life. As my son hasn’t explored the horror genre much and claims that he doesn’t believe in ghosts or anything supernatural, I wasn’t sure how he would take to this book. I found him curling up to me each time we read from the book. He requested me not to read the book at bedtime as he didn’t want a nightmare :) Horror in the stories doesn’t mean bloodshed or anything gory but it is just enough to give the creeps. Overall a “MUST READ” book for all those who are ready to face the supernatural.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 11/12 and above for self reading. However it can be read aloud to a slightly younger child like we did :)