The Cabinet of Curiosities: 36 Tales Brief & Sinister

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 21, 2014

Review

This is a collection I would have loved in middle/high school. In the same vein as Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark or a really good Stephen King short story, these 36 tales are creepy, dark, and atmospheric. There are evil magicians, bloodthirsty spiders and gardens, soul-sucking shadows, and so many more things that will probably keep you up at night, but will definitely keep you turning pages. Bachmann and co, are curators of spooky, mysterious things and the stories that accompany them. Sorted by eight "drawers and rooms," cake, love, luck, tricks, flowers, travel, song, and fairy tales, there are familiar tropes and villains, but many fresh takes on the things that scare us. There is a hint at the end of more to come or maybe new "curators" contributing and it was great to read the encouragement by the authors to the reader to become a curator and collect the memories and tales in his/her own life. Highly recommend though not to readers who scare easily. Cream recommendation.

Overall Book Score: excellent