Thirteen (1991)

A good collection of short horror stories for teens. My favourite was the Christopher Pike one. ( )

I read this book 5 times ( )

This is an interesting collection of teen horror stories; it feels a little bit dated (teens listen to cassette tapes and view home computers as novelties) but it's still very readable. Some of the stories are better than others. Some are subtle and understated, while others involve unnatural elements right from the beginning. Some build slowly, keeping the readers guessing until the very end. There is a mix of happy and sad stories, and a mix of the supernatural and the realistic.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed some of the stories by authors I'd never read before, and I was also disappointed by offerings of such big-name writers as R. L. Stine and Carolyn B. Cooney. Cooney's was my least favorite in the anthology: silly premise, empty characters, too much heavy-handed didacticism. I don't want to tell you about my favorite because I don't want to deprive anyone of the pleasure of enjoying it fresh.

The stories range from about 2 stars to about 4. I'm giving it four stars instead of three because I found the work to be compelling; when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it, and that's something.

Full disclosure: I skipped one of the stories. It seemed well-written and intriguing, but parts of it were just too sad for me. ( )