Definitely a book that will give you the tingles should you read it late at night. It's a lot creepier when you look at the works cited in the back and see how many of these stories are actually documented and come from some actual events in history.

I listened to the podcast and read along, which definitely helps the spook factor. Mahnke has a wonderful storytelling voice.

It’s been some time since I’ve read a fun book. The last few books I’ve read, while good, also dealt with a lot of heavy stuff and I didn’t really space them out enough to have some reprieve. Then struts in The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, ready to shake things up and bring me a story I hadn’t realized I’ve been waiting to see. On first glance, it appears to be just like any other YA action book, and, in some ways, it is. But, what sets it apart from the others is its focus and sense of humor. If you’ve been longing for story that has a butt-kicking, Chinese-American high schooler fighting the forces of evil with the Monkey King at her side, wait no more.

Full Review HERE

This was uhhh...fine? I guess. I never got the feeling that I was getting more than your standard kids magical story. The plot was standard, basic, and never really amounted to much.

There are way too many side characters. Xar has this collection of sprites and animals, some of which have so little personality that I wonder if they're worth having any names.

I felt like this should have been half its page length, because I have no idea why this is 370 with how little there is going on.

Looks like I should just stick to Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon series.

Ray Bradbury knows how to make something scary. Well, maybe not scary, but at least disturbing. He knows that horror isn't when a ghost pops out and says "boo." It's when you hear the noise and you have no idea what it is and your spine tingles as you hear it again. I believe that true horror comes from the unknown and Bradbury leaves many of his stories unexplained and not giving answers to particular questions the reader may have. It is this ambiguity that makes me a big fan of his work.

Of course, not every story in this collection is meant to be classified as horror. Some are funny, some are insightful and all are beautifully written. Bradbury knows how to write atmosphere.

Some of my favorites from this collection include

-The Next In Line
-The Jar
-The Crowd
-Uncle Einar + Homecoming (They are kind of like companion pieces)
-The Small Assassin
-There Was An Old Woman
-The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone

I'm a little mad I couldn't wait until Halloween to read this. I usually read a Bradbury book around then, but oh well. Could always read some short stories again.