Why replace this original, beautiful, and scary artwork with THIS:
oh god i remember the Brett Helquist replacement euuughhhh
Brett is good, but he’s no Stephen Gammell
yeah, there’s nothing wrong with the guy’s art, it’s not the same level of you’re-going-to-see-this-when-you-close-your-eyes-at-night kind of shit your pants
I always got the feeling the new illustrations were intended to reduce the level of panty-soiling terror after a long and storied history of sobbing, frightened children hiding their books in the closet where they couldn’t see them, and then subsequently being afraid of the closet (which is what I did, anyway).
Of course we all look back on it fondly now, but on the offset it doesn’t seem to be a good way to sell books to children.
I feel like the only reason anyone was buying these books was to see the terrifying illustrations. I mean, does anyone actually remember the plot of the story “Harold”?
Of course I remember! My friends and I still talk about it when Scary Stories comes up. It’s not every day that you read a story about a scarecrow that SKINS A MAN AND STRETCHES IT OUT ON THE ROOF TO DRY.
Extremely Terrifying Book. I can’t believe I bought this at a book fair. I hid it away and refused to look at it for years after I saw this one:
Still, the original illustrations are a much better match with the stories.