‘A World Full of Spooky Stories’ by Angela McAllister is a child-friendly collection of spine-tingling tales from around the world. Dive into the fearsome witch Baba Yaga, encounter the serpent woman from Spain, and witness Tam Lin’s rescue from the bewitching Queen of the Fairies. With beautifully spooky illustrations by Madalina Andronic, this anthology is perfect for Halloween.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

'A World of Spooky Stories' by Angela McAllister with illustrations by Madalina Andronic is a collection of creepy stories from around the world.

The collection is sorted by location with sections like Enchanted Places, Frozen Lands and Graveyard. The stories come from all over the globe. Many were familiar to me, but many were not. The stories all range from one to three pages, so it's a nice collection to pick up an read a story or two from.

I liked the stories and illustrations in this collection. This would make a nice gift book for a young reader who likes ghost stories.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

DNF

It has been a while since I got this book and unfortunately I don’t really have any interest in reading the book anymore. I am also now a lot more picky with the books I request and choose to read.

Perfect to read during Halloween! Beautiful pictures. My daughter enjoyed while I read her the story.

A great compliation of spooky tales from around the world, some familiar like Hansel and Gretal and Baba Yaga and others such as The Snake Prince new to this reader at least. Its separated into themes such as Frozen Lands and Under The Sea and draws together stories from every continent. It's certainly diverse. But is it good? Well yes, very,although I do think I enjoyed it more than my 9 year old! But to be fair I'm a bigger kid than her. I have to say the stories aren't particularly spooky but they are short which could be a good thing if you have a kid with a short attention span!

An engaging trip around the world in spooky stories. Narrated effectively to engage readers young and old, this collection of spine tingling tales isn't just for Halloween! An easy and enjoyable read, whether consumed in Bitesize chunks or in one sitting.

I appreciated the organization of this book into themes, and that the illustrations of non-white stories tended to be of non-white people.

Depending on the individual stories, they also were a pretty good balance between brevity and completeness. I appreciated the choice - for example - to leave off the plot-extention where Vasilissa finds a husband, and instead keeping specific examples and layers of details from the whole tale.

Other reviews mentioned the western-centric bent of the collection, but I still adored how the sheer number of included stories meant many were new and unexpected.

The “quality” and tone of the scares also felt pitch perfect, tho I imagine that has to depend on the age And temperament of whoever is reading them.

This is a great selection of spooky stories suitable for a primary library. Beautifully illustrated folk tales from all around the world are collected into one volume which you could happily hand over to that child who's always asking for "scary books". You could also use the short stories in the classroom for a writing project, so this is really versatile for your money.

An interesting collection of spooky stories from around the world complemented by some lovely illustrations.

I'm not really sure if I'd call the stories 'spooky' as such but there are plenty of gruesome and gory tales which if kids are anything like I was as a child...they will love.

There was a good range of stories drawn from folklore and fairy tales from around the world which showcase some of the most well known of these cultural stories.

A World Full of Spooky Stories by Angela McAllister is a collection of twenty-four creepy legends and folktales from around the world. It is divided into several sections by theme- Into the Woods, Down by the Water, Enchanted Places, Strangers at the Door, In Farm and Field, Home of the Spirits, Upon the Ocean/Under the Sea, In Castle Hall Sorta… There were some, like Treasure Thief, that didn't seem to fit the theme. Many were familiar and some were new to me. Favourites among my cubs and I include: Grandfather's Eyes (Czechoslovakia), The Cold Lady (Japan), The Snake Prince (India), The Dance of Death (Native American), The Talking Skull (West Africa), The Clever Goldsmith (Syria), The Sea Goblins (New Zealand), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (England), and The Girl with the Stone Face (Chilé). While sometimes brutal, or creepy, none felt spooky to my cubs and I. It's definitely worth a place in a folktale collection!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Filled with gorgeous illustrations and stories from around the world, full of tricksters, devil, ghost, and other malevolent beings, this is a perfect collection to read during fall!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for A World Full of Spooky Stories – 50 Tales to Make Your Spine Tingle by Angela McAllister. This is a great collection of spooky stories and folk legends from around the world including England, Russia, Egypt, Sweden, and more. The stories are sorted by where they take place, for example: under the sea or in a castle. And there are several stories for each location. The stories range from well-known to me (Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rumpelstiltskin) to ones I have never heard before. Some of my new favorite spooky stories include: The Treasure Thief, The Snake Prince, The Enchanted Apple Tree,Counting Out the Bodies, and Amin and the Ghoul.

The stories are short and quick to read, only about two pages each. They are spooky, but not too scary. This is a great collection that can be read all at once or just one or a few at a time. I really liked the diversity of the stories and think this would be great for older kids looking for something spooky to read around Halloween.

An amazing collection of spooky stories from across the globe. I found many lost favourites and many new ones! This is a great book to share with children and adults. Loved it!

I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

What a delightful collection of fun, spooky fairy tales. A great gift!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Devilishly delightful! Together Angela McAllister and illustrator Madalina Andronic have composed a colourful collection of spine-tingling, spooky traditional tales from around the world.

3.5 stars.

It was nice reading fairy tales from different countries but the stories wasn't spooky as it was advertised even if it was for children's fiction since most of the stories had a happy ending. I guess the only spooky thing are the amount of deaths if you want to count that.

As for the artstyle, it was nice and the colors chosen were pleasing to the eye.

Overall, I feel a tad disappointed but then again that was my own expectations and for forgetting this was a children's fiction.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

I never saw that I was approved for this title. Unfortunately, I did not get to review it. Thank you for the opportunity.

I found this book of spooky stories from around the world to be quite fascinating. These are adaptations of very old stories, rewritten in a way more suited for today’s children than they were in their original form. Each of the 50 stories in this book is a short 1-3 pages.

These stories are from Africa, Alaska/US, Arabia, Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Persia, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Tibet, and Wales.

The only stories in this book that I’ve known since childhood are “Hansel and Gretel,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Rumpelstiltskin” (all written/recorded in the early-mid 1800s by the Brothers Grimm in Germany), so I enjoyed learning about more of the world’s fairy tales and folk tales.

Caution: Many of the stories in this book contain subject matter that is quite dark, including grotesque violence and some cannibalistic beings, which some parents may find inappropriate for their children. This book’s targeted audience is children ages 8-12.

My penultimate Halloween read was another collection of short stories. A World Full of Spooky Stories by Angela McAllister promises 50 tales “to make your spine tingle” and includes traditional folk tales from all over the world. Each story comes complete with illustrations and a note about its country of origin.

It was interesting to learn about the myths and traditional stories from around the world and to note how similar many of them are to the traditional tales of Western culture—it’s hard not to compare China’s “The Maiden in the Pagoda” to Rapunzel or Russia’s “Vasilissa the Beautiful” to Cinderella. The book is divided into eleven sections which roughly group the stories by location and/or theme with titles such as “Into the Woods,” “Strangers at the Door,” and “Frozen Lands.”

Despite the interest from the global nature of the stories within its pages, this book ended up being a bit of a letdown. This was because, while interesting, none of the stories it contained were what I would consider to be “spooky.” While I wasn’t expecting anything overly terrifying from a book like this, none of the stories contained here seemed even a little spooky. Even tales I recognized and knew to be scary seemed to have been sanitized. Baba Yaga came across as more a grumpy old dear than a terrifying witch and the Scottish Water Horse was little more than laughable.

As a book of folk tales and interesting international mythology, this is a great little primer, but as a book of “spooky stories,” you’re better off looking elsewhere.