For a debut author, this book was great. I think I'd consider it great for a well seasoned author as well, but going into a book and not knowing the authors voice allows you to have zero preconceived ideas and it can make a spooky story even more enjoyable. This is a book filled with younger level (think middle school or teen) horror stories, which I know I read all the time growing up, but what makes this one special is the visual art included. Each story has a QR code allowing you to watch the story play out and I wasn't sure when starting if this would feel like a cheap gimmick or keep my interest and I'm happy to say I loved it.
I don't want to ruin these stories and I feel like if I try to break down each one I would be taking something away from the reader. You should go into this book nearly blind on the stories and enjoy each as they unfold. I will say, I was reminded a bit of Black Mirror when reading these and I don't mean the more recent mess Black Mirror became, but the original couple seasons when you knew it was all going to go horribly wrong and when we were almost always to blame by trying to make our lives easier without seeing the possible downfalls.
I bought 28 copies of this book for my communities Teen Halloween reading and this weekend we started and it's been going wonderfully.
Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before it's release in exchange for my honest opinion. Without you, I wouldn't have had the perfect book for my book club preordered in time for this event.

Too Scared to Sleep is a collection of over thirty bite-size horror stories for teens by author Andrew Duplessie. I found just about every story to be the perfect length to convince myself to read “just one more!” While the plots are all pretty predictable, they are still gruesome and horrifying. Subject matter ranges from traditional serial killers and monsters and possessed objects to LOTS of sci-fi/technological horror in the vein of Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone, and all of it centers around characters who are teens living in today’s world—or one in the very near future.

Some of my favorites are “The Secret Sister,” “Time to Go,” “Reveel,” “Chamber of Horrors,” “A Matched Set,” and “The Reddest Rose.” But really, I enjoyed almost all of them!

Taking the storytelling to a whole new level, every single tale is followed by a QR code that takes readers to a video clip that captures part of the story they just read. I think this optional multimedia experience is totally awesome, but I will admit that I only watched a few of the clips—because they were scary! As I sat alone in the dark, I was NOT always willing to subject my nervous system to the jump scares and haunting imagery I knew would accompany what I’d just read, but that is a true testament to the fear factor that Duplessie has built into his stories!

Full review posted to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5444391326

Did Not Finish-11 percent.

I was not able to get through this one. I liked the idea of an interactive collection of horror stories for young adults, but I think the writing was written for kids between the ages of maybe 8-12? The plots of the three stories I read were very simple to the point that I think that additional details and context would have been helpful. And I do think that if the author was going to include codes to make the book more interactive, he should have considered that not everyone is going to have a phone to use to do this, so maybe considered having a code free collection out there that would have used drawings instead. Sorry, I just am finding myself rambling at this point. I just realized that there was so much that didn't work for me that I had to stop reading by the time I finished the third story.

Here's my rating on the stories and videos I did review.

Waste Management (1 star)-This really didn't make any sense to me. It starts off with a girl named Casey texting a friend and complaining internally about the fact her dad will probably not let her go to a party. And she has her dad's garbage disposal on. And then there's a random voice yelling at her to feed them, but she's talking like it's her dad's. I felt like I was missing some important context there and also the ending made zero sense to me since I had a question about who or what put [redacted]. The video for this one shows a kitchen with a sink. And I don't know. I like jump scares and all, but this did nothing for me. Probably because the music level was turned up too loud for me to even enjoy or understand what I was seeing. Think next time it would make sense to have no music. Let the viewer just watch the video.

Mr. Butterscotch (1 star)-I can't even with this one. It just made zero sense to me and I think at one point I went, so this is a reverse Velveteen Rabbit and just tossed up my hands. There was a short poem that followed the story and I maybe cracked up. Again that's on me and my weird sense of humor. The video on this one was hilarious to me and I doubt that was what the author was going for.

The Secret Sister (2.5 stars)-Now this was something. It wasn't enough to keep me reading though, but I liked where this was going. This one actually had more of a plot and rhythm to it and also I liked the scene a lot. I think that's because there was more dialogue in this one. The code for this one looked really bad. After that came a short poem called "A Riddle".

I think there was too much going on for me to settle in and enjoy this collection.

I also read this for Horror Aficionados Halloween Seasonal Challenge for "Treats".

Okay, this book is fantastic! I've never read a book with accompanying videos to enhance the stories. The concept is terrific. Flight 3541 and Consumed were my personal favorites.
I liked this book so much that I bought a hardcover copy as well.
I'd like to thank Andrew Duplessie and Netgallery for letting me read this book. I wholeheartedly suggest this book. The concept is fantastic, and the timing is ideal (Spooky Season/Fall).

I have a habit of picking titles based on the cover. You’d think being 30 I wouldn’t keep doing that, but alas here we are. Another book based off cover art. However, this book was pretty darn good. I enjoyed almost all of these short stories and they are perfect for the spooky season.

As someone who grew up on R.L Stein's the Haunting Hour and the Goosebumps books, I was really excited by the description of this book. I really love short spooky stories. Sometimes I can disengage in full length novels, but these short stories are packed with fear the whole way through. A great October read.

They have so many great stories in this anthology it would be hard to pick a favorite although Secret Sister, The Lost Flight, mr. Butterworth in The Bone Fairy are some really great stories to start with. Not only are they great teen horror there’s a lot of them some of them are bite-size but they’re all around the same length and really great for when you have a few moments to spare. Although I found myself not being able to stop reading them in so had to eventually force myself to put the book aside. From missing moms, nightmares real ghost and on and on plants that only survive with human blood a garbage disposal that’s super hungry and likes family reunions and so much more the stories are plentiful interesting and so worth reading although I do have to tell Mr. Duplissey I would’ve really appreciated if you had made the codes copy and paste and or accessible for the blind I love scary story videos and sadly could not watch these because didn’t know where the codes were. Do you hate blind people? I am absolutely joking I don’t know you but I’m certain you don’t hate the blind lol! Either way however I do very much recommend this book if you are into teen horror short stories then it’s going to be like Christmas for you if you get The Anthology too Scared To Sleep it’s a book I thoroughly enjoyed and definitely recommend. I want to thank random house publishing and met Galley for my free art copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Too Scared To Sleep is a fun collection of spooky stories geared towards teens and tweens. The majority of the stories revolve around main characters who are fourteen years old, getting into weird and spooky situations.
Cell phones and futuristic technology, along with the dangers of AI are also the main themes here, with cautionary tales of why you should never steal, the dangers of social media, and why you should live each day as it comes because life is too short to even wish away the bad times.
There were a few stories that just didn't work for me, but I enjoyed most of them, and I think the modern themes will resonate with kids of today.
A unique feature of this book is that a short video accompanies each story. I've read many collections that would include an illustration to go with each story, but this is the first time I've ever seen a book that provides a video via a link in a QR code. It was a clever idea that added to the fun.

Perfect for any horror fan looking for quick scares! Full of short stories that pack a punch, author Andrew Duplessie combines urban legend-esque tales with plenty of unique horror to create an awesome Halloween page-turner. Make sure to keep your phone nearby because at the end of each story is a QR code that takes readers to a 15-20 second animation to provide a nightmare-inducing visual sure to stay with you. The stories range from macabre to sad to outlandish to horrifyingly realistic and I was here for every page. I've read a lot of horror books and watched a lot of horror movies, and I have to say these were some of the most interesting, creative stories I've come across. This compendium that would make the perfect addition to a YA or adult horror collection.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Spooky short stories for young teens reminiscent of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark". Every story taps into a different fear, so everyone will find at least one that worms its way into their subconscious, leaving them Too Scared to Sleep.

I'm a firm believer that spooky season is a state of mind and therefore all year long, but now that it's October it's OFFICIALLY in full swing for everyone else. What better way to kick it off than a book of short stories? One thing I found really fun about Too Scared to Sleep was that every short scare had a haunting video (via QR code) accompanying it.

This is a really fun book for my spooky bookworms to share with their kiddos who have moved on from middle-grade horror and are ready for the next step.

My favorites were Secret Sister, Are You Ready, The Expressway to Hell, and Flight 3541... these really reminded me of classic campfire stories.

This is such a great collection of short horror stories! There's a wide variety and they are all read in 4-7 minutes. We have AI, sicknesses, vampires, body horror, stalkers, flesh eating garbage disposals, and much, much more! So quick, dark, delicious bites full of tension, jump scares, and twist endings. And those endings? Well, after every story you get to scan a QR code to watch a 10-20 second video clip. The noises in some of these videos are haunting. It's such a unique, fun addition to the collection that allows the reader to feel the story in another way. There are also some interesting riddles throughout / in between stories. And because the stories are so short, each sentence and word is chosen deliberately. No fluff. No wasted space. I think this book is a great gateway from Goosebumps/Fear Street into more adult horror. It's neither one nor the other, but somewhere creepily between the two.

I enjoy reading young adult horror because they tend to remind me of slasher movies. The goal is to be gory and fun - as much fun as it can be to read about someone being slashed by a lunatic. But sometimes, those stories can become drawn out and redundant. I think this collection of short stories give just the right amount of time to create the intended reaction.

I appreciate the organization by category for the stories. From supernatural to body horror to technology, this gave the collection direction and anticipation of what to expect from each one. I also feel like the stories worked their way up in scare factor as I continued reading. The length reminded me much of the 2 sentence horror stories TV shows. I could easily picture each story happening as I read them.

The stories weren't perfect, and there were some I enjoyed more than others (I really enjoyed the first category) but I think it's a solid collection for someone looking for some bite sized horror this Halloween, or any time! My library has already purchased 10 copies and I have already reserved mine. Hopefully it will come in time for my YA horror display!

Thank you, NetGalley, for supplying a free copy for my honest opinion.

ARC provided by NetGalley

This was a very fun read! Although it is marketed as children's fiction, this horror novel had me checking my windows to see if they were locked tight. The addition of the short videos at the end of each story really brought the stories to life and made them even more creepy. In today's technological world, I believe this book of short stories will go far.

This is such a great collection of short horror stories! There's a wide variety and they are all read in 4-7 minutes. We have AI, sicknesses, vampires, body horror, stalkers, flesh eating garbage disposals, and much, much more! So quick, dark, delicious bites full of tension, jump scares, and twist endings. And those endings? Well, after every story you get to scan a QR code to watch a 10-20 second video clip. The noises in some of these videos are haunting. It's such a unique, fun addition to the collection that allows the reader to feel the story in another way. There are also some interesting riddles throughout / in between stories. And because the stories are so short, each sentence and word is chosen deliberately. No fluff. No wasted space. I think this book is a great gateway from Goosebumps/Fear Street into more adult horror. It's neither one nor the other, but somewhere creepily between the two.

The writing was awful, trying to be creepy and not succeeding. Very cool concept to include videos with the stories though.

Too Scared to Sleep was a really fun and exciting selection of short stories. I’m not usually a big fan of short stories, but they work quite well if they’re horror-themed. The opening stories were absolutely brilliant and are probably my favourites of the whole book.

I think this would have benefitted from being made up of a shorter selection of stories that were more developed. Each story felt like you were jumping in at the end and while I enjoyed the fast pace, it was a little jarring. But I suppose that’s the point of horror, isn’t it?

This is definitely well written and you can tell the author has a natural talent for writing horror. I’d love to see what they’d do with a long-format story, really building the tension to the shocking ending.

The ending to each story was, although sometimes predictable, very shocking and exhilarating. I personally enjoyed the monster/creature and human-based stories the best. A few of the technology-themed ones were really good, but I did find myself skim-reading a few of those.

I’d definitely recommend Too Scared to Sleep if you’re a fan of horror. There’s such a wide range of stories and each one brings a new thrill or scare.

Too scared to sleep is a YA collection of horror stories from a debut author. The stories are all very short and about a lot of different subjects.

This book had some great stories! I liked how short they all were. They were all super quick to read. The stories weren’t too scary but good for YA horror. Each story had little scary videos with it as well, which was a lot of fun.

I hope this author writes more! Thanks so much to netgalley and Harper collins children’s books for the arc of this book!

This collection of middle grade horror stories would be well-suited to telling around a campfire. The stories read kind of like a Reddit post. There’s also the QR codes that lead you to various short horror clips.

Unfortunately, the QR codes were much better in theory than they were in practice. They’re low-quality and all seem to have one thing in common—lots of heavy breathing.

The stories were mostly decent. None of them really stand out to me, though. I’ve really enjoyed some other MG books, but this one was just okay.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

I was actually kind of blown away by this collection! This is exactly what I’m looking for when I seek out a horror short story collection. The stories are all short, and this book is chock full of them!!!

Covering a WIDE array of different horror subgenres, this book has something for literally any horror fan. I had such a fun time with this one. There was not a single story that I didn’t find entertaining.

From haunting, to body horror, to AI, to illness, this book has a little of everything and I highly recommend it. This also wasn’t super dark, so young adult readers could easily enjoy it.

3.5 stars. I look recommend this book for my high school students to read if they want to get introduced to horror. All the stories were very entertaining but nothing was too extreme. I enjoyed the QR code aspect at the end of each section. Overall it was a decent read with an interactive feature.