Product Description

From "The Banshee" to "The Flying Dutchman" this collection of mysterious tales is designed not only to entertain, but also to show that curiosity about the spirit world knows no cultural boundaries, and that human nature demands explanation and solutions for what it doesn't understand. Full-color illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2634434 in Books
• Published on: 1990-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 154 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up-- Twenty-five eerie tales from folklore, myth, and legend told around the world, written with resonance and precision. Presented for readers' shivery enjoyment are stories ancient and modern, myth and fable, some playful and many truly horrifying. Some of the characters are motivated by the fear of death or the desire to make harmony in their worlds. But here too are the familiar folklore catalysts of jealousy, greed, curiosity, and disobedience. Of course there are also poor, hapless souls who just by virtue of happenstance fall victim to evil-doers. Most effective are the tales from folklore that lack the distant, formal quality of some of the myths and legends. And those stories with children as protagonists strike the most affecting chord. Even without illustrations these tales are chilling. But add to them Davis' disquieting portraits, and the stories really pack a wallop. Frightening is the depiction of an oni as it screams in pain from a sword plunged into its tongue. Conversely there is almost a peaceful, pink-cheeked quietness to the portrait of a dying priest as his soul leaves his body in the form of a butterfly. These stories are ripe for telling, and both readers and tellers will find useful the background notes and comments at the end of each story. Read and enjoy. But beware, for there are witches in the air. --Denia Lewis Hester, Dewey School, Evanston, IL
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.