A mystery keyword searcher is looking for… a scary book about a babysitter telling a couple of kids a scary story.<\/p>\n
Gosh, babysitters figure in so many scary stories, but usually (oddly, considering that they’re the ones supposedly in charge) they’re victims. I don’t know if our mystery searcher has a specific book in mind or is just looking for any story that fits these criteria. If it’s something specific, I don’t know that I have an answer, but there is one extremely creepy short story I know of where a babysitter tells her charges a very creepy story. That story is “The Specialist’s Hat”, and it appears in the short story collection Pretty Monsters<\/em>, by Kelly Link. If anyone out there has knowledge of a BOOK with this theme, please post it in the comments below.<\/p>\n Thanks!<\/p>\n ETA<\/strong>: \u00a0It looks like we have a winner! If you haven’t checked out the comments below, Jericho suggested \u00a0“When Nobody’s Home: Fifteen Baby-Sitting Tales of Terror” by Judith Gorog. \u00a0If you’re interested in finding out more about her or her books, I did respond in the comments, but I’ll copy it below, too. Here’s what I said:<\/p>\n I am not personally familiar with Judith Gorog\u2019s books, but it looks like she was responsible for a lot of scary books and short story collections for children and young teens, mostly written in the 1980\u2032s and 1990\u2032s (this particular title was published in 1998). Since we get a lot of requests for the scary stuff for kids in these age groups, I\u2019ll list some of the titles I found at the Pennsylvania Center for the Book (for the entire article click\u00a0here<\/a>). One review I saw for \u201cIn a Messy, Messy, Room\u201d(at the lower end of the age range) recommended setting the book out with Alvin Schwartz\u2019s \u201cIn a Dark, Dark, Room\u201d and \u201cScary Stories to Tell in the Dark\u201d, so if you can find them, they look like they\u2019re worth checking out!<\/p>\n A Taste for Quiet and Other Disquieting Tales. New York: Philomel, 1982. A mystery keyword searcher is looking for… a scary book about a babysitter telling a couple of kids a scary story. Gosh, babysitters figure in so many scary stories, but usually (oddly, considering that they’re the ones supposedly in charge) they’re victims. I don’t know if our mystery searcher has a specific book in mind<\/p>\n
\nWhen Flesh Begins to Creep. London: Gollancz, 1986.
\nCaught in the Turtle. New York: Philomel, 1983.
\nNo Swimming in Dark Pond and Other Chilling Tales. New York: Philomel, 1987.
\nThree Dreams and a Nightmare and Other Tales of the Dark. New York: Philomel, 1988.
\nIn a Messy, Messy Room, and Other Strange Stories. New York: Philomel, 1990.
\nWinning Scheherazade. New York: Atheneum 1991.
\nOn Meeting Witches at Wells. New York: Philomel, 1991.
\nPlease Do Not Touch. New York: Scholastic (Point Horror), 1995.
\nWhen Nobody\u2019s Home: Thirteen Tales for Tonight. New York: Scholastic, 1994.
\nZilla Sasparilla and the Mud Baby. Cambridge: Candlewick, 1995.
\nIn a Creepy, Creepy Place and Other Scary Stories. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"