Titled “Welcome to the House of the Dead,” the book was an instant bestseller and became the first in the hit “Goosebumps” series. “Welcome to the Dead House” tells the story of a town called Dark Falls, a place that hides a secret: all the residents are undead and need fresh blood to maintain their “lives”. Every time a new family comes to the sound, they move into The Dead House. The heroes, Josh and Amanda, discover this secret and proceed to save their parents, send the townspeople back to their graves, and escape Dark Falls.
Author Robert Lawrence Stine wrote 62 books in the series, as well as a number of spin-offs. Stine, who has been called “The Stephen King of Children’s Literature”, has said that many of his books were inspired by classic science fiction and horror stories, with influences also drawn from classic fairy tales. “Night of the Living Dummy” is a variation on the theme of “Pinocchio”: twin sisters Lindy and Kris find a discarded ventriloquist’s dummy and Lindy decides to keep it. As she develops comedy routines with the doll, Kris gets her own doll. One night, the girls walk into her room to find the dolls lying on the floor, the new doll’s hands around the older doll’s neck. Coincidence? No, the youngest doll is alive and mischievous. After a series of unpleasant events, the girls manage to get rid of the doll, but later discover that the other one is also alive.
Christopher Pike is another successful writer of horror stories for children. He includes references to Egyptian, Hindu, and Greek mythology in his novels, and cites authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Agatha Christie, and Stephen King among his influences. His 24-book “Spooksville” series includes one titled “The Wicked Cat,” in which Adam and his friends encounter a black cat during a walk in the local woods. Strange things begin to happen in the town; a house burns down and a tree suddenly falls over. In every strange event, the cat is present, observing everything with his strange green eyes. Then he turns his supernatural powers on Adam and his friends…
Another prominent children’s author is Lee Striker, the pen name of Australian children’s author Margaret Clarke. She chose her name after hearing about Stine’s “Goosebumps” series and decided she wanted her children’s horror fiction placed alongside her books in bookstores. She has 12 books in her “Hair-Raiser” series, which contains titles like “Revenge of the Vampire Librarian” (remember to get your library books back on time…) and “The Mummy’s Curse,” where a man he brings a new wife after a business trip to Egypt. But what kind of MOM is she, because she smells funny and wears a lot of bandages and band-aids, and cats behave strangely when she’s around her.
Children’s horror writing is not a new concept, and it didn’t start with fairy tales. Originally, fairy tales were not meant to be read by children. The Brothers Grimm’s writing was aimed at adults and met the growing demand for literature based on local folklore in the early 19th century. Anyone who has seen the movie “The Brothers Grimm” will probably support me on this: that movie is definitely NOT for kids! As the horror genre evolved, “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” made the average fairy tale seem somewhat childish, so adults reworked and rewrote the different stories to make them more suitable for children. In the Victorian era, the average Grimm’s Fairy Tale was far less graphic and violent than the original, and Disney’s handling of the stories has “tamed” them even more.
While the Grimms were compiling their collection of adult fairy tales, other writers were already producing children’s tales, many of which contained horror elements. Hans Christian Andersen’s “Tales Told For Children” was published in 1835, and some of the stories in that book are excellent references for children’s horror literature:
“The Red Shoes” they are a pair of beautiful cursed slippers that force their wearer to dance continuously. A vain young woman puts them on her feet and can’t stop dancing. The problem is so bad that she can’t go to church and she can’t attend her adoptive mother’s funeral because she can’t stop dancing. Condemned by an angle to dance forever as a warning to all vain children, she begs an executioner to cut off her feet. For the rest of the story, she is haunted by the animated shoes, which dance before her as she moves on wooden feet with the aid of crutches.
“The little Mermaid”Longing to be with a handsome human prince she has fallen in love with, she gives a witch her tongue in exchange for a potion that turns her tail into legs. He must get her prince to marry her to give her a soul, and he sets out to find hers her love, though each step he takes is as painful as waking up on the sharp blades of a knife. Although she is mute, the prince falls in love with her and is enchanted by the way she dances for him, unaware of the agony she suffers at every step she takes. The course of true love never came true, and the prince marries someone else. The heartbroken mermaid throws herself into the sea and turns into foam.
“The girl of the matchsticks” He sells matches on the icy streets to keep warm. One New Year’s Eve, he lights his matches to keep warm. In the light of it, she sees wonderful warm banquets with tables filled with wonderful food and a sparkling Christmas tree. Looking up, she sees a shooting star and remembers that it means someone is about to die. Lighting her last match, she sees her grandmother, the only person who ever treated her kindly. Her grandmother has come to take her to heaven, and the next morning she discovers her frozen little body of hers, surrounded by burnt matches.
“The Water Babies” by Charles Kingsley it features a chimney sweep named Tom, who meets a young woman named Ellie at his home. After they drive him away, she falls into a river and drowns. He becomes a water baby and experiences various adventures while learning the lessons of life under the tutelage of fairies. Once a week he is allowed to see Ellie, who had the misfortune to fall into the river right after Tom. Ultimately, he proves that he is worthy of returning to human form and lives a fulfilling life. He meets Ellie again, but they never marry.
Horror writing for children is a challenging genre, and while the stories may have changed slightly over the years, there is still a demand for these types of books from an enthusiastic young audience. It is a genre that will be with us for many years.