Don't read this book before bed Thrills, chills, and hauntingly true stories

Gr 5-8-Bypass the clickbait-esque title and instead head for the fascinating introduction that covers the book's contents and gives a nifty explanation about why people sometimes like to be scared. Each spread that follows-filled with National Geographic's signature high-quality photography-covers a specific topic and provides a great jumping off point for kids who want to learn more. Stories about the Nazca Lines in Peru and "creeps of the deep" will provoke interest and push further investigation. The layouts are refreshing in their simplicity; clutter is often symptomatic of this genre. Instead, each topic contains an introductory paragraph and then boxed paragraphs filling in the details. Vocabulary words are explained within the text. A "Fright-o-meter" on each subject lets readers know how much of a thrill or chill to expect: the migration of monarch butterflies rates just a one, while a discussion on the parasites underneath skin goes all the way up to 10 (as it should). Rounding out the book is a table of contents and a number of interesting quizzes. VERDICT A good purchase for middle schoolers who like to indulge in the mysterious and creepier side of life.-Marie Drucker, Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A compendium of paranormal doings, natural horrors, and eerie wonders worldwide and (in several senses) beyond.Maladroit title aside ("in Bed" would make more sense, cautionwise), this collection of hauntings, cryptids, natural and historical mysteries, and general titillation ("Vampire bats might be coming for you!") offers a broad array of reasons to stay wide awake. Arranged in no discernible order the 60-plus entries include ghostly sightings in the White House and various castles, body-burrowing guinea worms, the Nazca lines of Peru, Mothman and Nessie, the hastily abandoned city of Pripyat (which, thanks to the Chernobyl disaster, may be habitable againin 24,000 years), monarch-butterfly migrations, and diverse rains of fish, frogs, fireballs, and unidentified slime. Each is presented in a busy whirl of narrative blocks, photos, graphics, side comments, and arbitrary "Fright-O-Meter" ratings (Paris' "Creepy Catacombs" earn just a "4" out of 10 and black holes a "3," but the aforementioned aerial amphibians a full "10"). The headers tend toward the lurid: "Jelly From Space," "Zombie Ants," "Mongolian Death Worm." Claybourne sprinkles multiple-choice pop quizzes throughout for changes of pace. A rich source of terrors both real and manufactured, equally effective in broad daylight or beneath the bedcovers. (Nonfiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.