We all remember elementary school sleepovers. Cuddling up in a sleeping bag and listening to friends tell scary stories with a flashlight held to their chin. Some of us probably had creative friends who made up their own goosebump inducing stories, but for the less imaginative, we read from Alvin Schwartz’s iconic “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”. Here at Craze, we decided to go back and revisit some of these spooky stories. I have compiled a list of my top three stories from the book, ranked based on scare factor, plot, and my overall enjoyment of the story.
Third Place – “The Babysitter”
Kicking off this list, in third place, we have what might be the most frequently told sleepover horror story of all time. The plot is simple; A teenage girl is hired to babysit for a family and while the kids are in bed she, gets a mysterious phone call.
“Have you checked on the children?” the caller asks. She goes back to watching TV, convincing herself that it’s just a practical joke. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but I think this is the point in the story where one should actually check on the children or at least be a little concerned. Anyways, the babysitter gets another call fifteen minutes later. “Why haven’t you checked on the children?” This time she takes the initiative to call the cops. The operator tells her to keep the caller on the line if they call again so the police have time to trace the call. She goes back to watching her show and gets yet another call. “You should really check on the children,”. And with that, the babysitter begins to laugh hysterically, not hanging up right away this time. After hanging up a minute later, she immediately gets a call from the police who tell her that the call is coming from… *cue the dramatic music* the upstairs phone. In the end, the killer hiding upstairs gets away and everyone is left unharmed (though pretty mentally scarred I would assume). Is this story scary to me now? No. But does it still put me on edge when I take the occasional babysitting job? Definitely. This is a story that has stuck with me since my childhood and when someone mentions “scary story”, this is the one that I automatically think of.
Second Place – “The Hook”
Not only is my second place pick an iconic scary story, but it’s an urban legend as well. It all starts during what I’ve pictured to be the 1950’s, in a car parked on lover’s lane. The two are out on a date, listening to the radio, kissing, and cuddling, when all of the sudden an alarming announcement comes over the radio. “Earlier tonight, a crazed murderer escaped from the state mental asylum. Police are warning citizens to be on their guard since the patient is considered armed and dangerous. The insane killer is nicknamed ‘The Hook Man’ because, after he lost his right hand in an accident, it was replaced with a steel hook.” You already know this isn’t going to end well. The girl, realizing that it’s dangerous for them to be out, tells her boyfriend that she wants to leave. However, the boy assures her that everything is fine and tries to start kissing her again, which she rejects and insists they leave (good for her!). So, the boy takes her home and goes to open the door for his girlfriend when they reach her driveway. But instead of opening the car door, he just stands still. Thinking the door is locked, the girl unlocks it for the boy. But still, he just stands there. Confused and fed up with her date, she rolls down the window to give him a piece of her mind. Noticing that the boy is glancing down at the car handle, she slowly looks down and screams in terror. There lied … *cue the dramatic music again* a bloody, steel hook. I love this story because of its 1950’s charm mixed with an actual scary plot, but it definitely loses points for the whole weak female character aspect of the story. Though lover’s lane isn’t really a thing anymore, I know this story makes me think twice about being anywhere alone at night.
First Place – “The Thing”
My top story pick takes place somewhere much like Nebraska, and by that, I mean a place with lots of corn. Two boys named Trevor and Will were sitting on a fence one summer day, contemplating what they wanted to do. Then, out of nowhere, Trevor saw something moving in the cornfield which he suspected to be some kind of weird animal. He told Will that he thought that the thing looked human-like. Before the boys could get another good look at it, the creature disappeared into the darkness. Confused, the boys asked each other about what it was and almost as soon as their inquiries began, Trevor felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and screamed in terror as he looked into… *cue one last round of dramatic music* the rotting face of the creature. The creature dug its fingernails deep into Trevor’s skin as Trevor managed to get away with Will. When they reached home, not even their parents believed what they had seen. The next morning, Trevor woke up to find that the scratches on his arm hadn’t healed. With each passing day, the wound worsened and he eventually got sick. His parents took him to a doctor who prescribed pills for what appeared to be a mysterious infection. Unfortunately, the pills did little for Trevor and his condition became even worse. Will happened to go visit him in the hospital on the day he passed away. He was shocked to see that Trevor was the spitting image of the thing that they saw that night in the cornfield. To me, this story has it all. It’s dark without being too disturbing, none of the characters made particularly poor decisions, and the plot twist in the end sends chills up your spine. Maybe it’s just me being my native Nebraskan self, but this one really freaked me out and still does today. Watch out next time you drive by the corn fields…
story by isabella tyler, graphic by daisy friedman
