The Scary States of America (review)

The frame for these fifty scary tales told as true is the labor of twelve-year-old Jason Specter, who intends to provide a national clearinghouse of the paranormal, and who has acquired these spooky tales via emails and visitors to his website, scarystatesofamerica.com. Each eerie anecdote represents young Jason's choice of the best story coming from that particular state, and it is introduced by a factual tidbit that begins, "What I learned in history class . . . " while the stories themselves begin, "A story you won't find in your textbook." Many of the tales are well-worn classics suitable for any location (the book kicks off in Alabama with a standard "vanishing hitchhiker" tale) while others draw on genuinely local lore (Indiana is represented by a story about a bridge that is indeed rumored to be haunted), all in a breezy gee-whiz style that makes for undemanding reading. The persona of Jason introduces the book and each story and ends the book with a short postscript, thus providing a narrative framework and creating a touch point for young readers, who may well buy the teller's verisimilitude even if they're experienced enough to be skeptical about the tales. Unfortunately, the mystery that is Jason is fresher than the tales he tells, which have little or nothing to do with the fast facts that precede them, and most of which already exist on the Web or in urban legend or scary-story books. Nevertheless, young readers will likely enjoy revisiting alien abductions, hitchhiker stories, and phone calls from inside the house, as they indulge their continuing fascination with unearthly and paranormal delights. They will seek this one out as much for the familiar scares as for the chance to see if they recognize the facts and stories chosen for their particular state.