This is what Noidan käsikirja (Witch's Handbook) is to a certain generation of Finns. The nostalgia of reading creepy stories at night alone in your room or at a sleepover, and the even more horrifying illustrations that just keep coming. You're fascinated, but you can't look away. Stephen Gammell's art, in fact, is the star here. It's the perfect amount of nightmare fuel, but also surprisingly mature and surreal considering the book is targeted at a younger audience.

Since I was at a disadvantage of not having the collective memories that Americans have (I think they're very strongly at play in books like these), I wasn't completely blown away. I didn't mind much, though. I appreciate the folklore/urban legend approach, and some of the stories actually reminded me of an urban legend paperback series I used to read with a couple of others when I was in elementary school. I think some kids even transformed one of the stories into a play and performed it at a school function.

I don't think I will be reading any of the other collections Schwartz wrote, but it's great to have books that are part of people's life experiences. As is evident from some of the reviews here, memories like that have the ability to shape people and ignite a spark in them that will carry through their entire lives. Not only that, but maybe readers, young or old, who want to sample horror but don't yet want to get into the intense stuff can try this as the first step.

The movie on the other hand kind of misses the point. Although it has some some genuinely creepy moments (especially that toe thing, yikes), it would have worked better as an anthology. I guess it works for its target audience, but I would have liked to see something that honored the source even more.