Frightlopedia: An Encyclopeidia of Everything Scary, Creepy, and Spine-chilling, from Arachnids to Zombies

Julie Winterbottom is the author of "Pranklopedia" and the former editor in chief of "Nickelodeon Magazine." She lives in Brooklyn, NY. When she is not dreaming up ways to scare kids or make them laugh (or both), she plays Cajun accordion.

Gr 3–5—This A to Z guide to terrifying topics, ghost stories, and frightening historical events and occurrences contains all the standard scary stuff, plus more. Along with spiders, haunted houses, and zombies, readers will encounter flesh-eating plants, the Paris catacombs, and xylophobia (fear of forests). Most entries are two to three pages in length (the ghost and monster sections are considerably longer), with a large, readable font; a header for the type of entry ("Petrifying Plants," "Creepy Creatures," "Ghost Story," or "Horrifying How-To"); and accompanying illustrations and photography. Images range from realistic to exaggerated to cartoonish. Several of the items reference mythological monsters or creatures (e.g., Vetala from Hindu myth and Tikoloshe from Zulu legend). These appear without source information or adequate cultural background. Each record is rated on a three-point "Fright Meter" to help readers decide if it is the right amount of scary for them. This is a unique text feature, but the metric seems subjective. The "Horrifying How-To" sections provide tutorials on how to torment others, including how to make fake spiders on toilets, create faux bat bites, and host a séance (adult supervision recommended). VERDICT An intriguing assortment of creepy stuff with the added bonus of hands-on activities to terrorize family and friends; consider just in time for Halloween.—Ernie Cox, Prairie Creek Intermediate School, Cedar Rapids, IA