''Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters'' is the first in a series of "Book of" anthologies edited by

Bruce Coville Bruce Farrington Coville (, born May 16, 1950) is an author of young adult fiction. Coville was first published in 1977 and has written over 100 books. Biography Coville was born on May 16, 1950, in Syracuse, New York, where he resided . Br ...

. It was first published in September 1993 by

Scholastic Publishing Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

. It is collection of stories aimed at juvenile readers that advertises itself as "scary", but in fact contains a wide variety of stories and genres such as science fiction, horror, fantasy, and realistic with some supernatural elements. In this aspect the "Book of" anthologies differ from many other scary anthologies for juvenile readers which often lean towards straight horror.

Reception

Laurie Tynan, writing for ''Emergency Librarian'', compared ''Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters'' to "stories told around the summer campfire", calling them "just spooky enough to be good fun without triggering nightmares". Peggy Latkovich reviewed the audiobook in ''School Library Journal''; she wrote, "The differences in styles and approaches to horror will keep even the most jaded listeners enthralled". She specifically highlighted "Coville's 'My Little Brother Is a Monster,' a complex story with an emotional depth rare in modern children's horror, and 'Kokolimalayas, the Bone Man,' the only folktale in the collection". She found that Michael Markeiwicz's reading of his story "Merlin's Knight School" to be "a mediocre rendition of an adequate story". She further noted that Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald's "Uncle Joshua and the Googlemen" was a "horrifying" story, but that "the reading is too fast and the accent is too vague to evoke a true sense of place".

Book series

Bruce Coville followed-up his popular first book with a line of other

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

or sci-fi subject matters for several follow-ups. After six volumes in the initial "Book of" series, the books were popular enough to warrant sequels to each volume. Coville also used the extended series to publish a five-part story, "The Monsters of Morley Manor." The book series was published from 1993 to 1997.

References

{{Anthology Horror Children's Books Series of children's books Horror anthologies 1993 anthologies Children's short story collections American children's books 1993 children's books Works by Bruce Coville

Reception

Book series

See also

References