Real Mummies Don't Bleed: Friendly Tales for October Nights - Hardcover

Five fresh, witty tales, each firmly grounded in an ordinary, sharply drawn setting in the contemporary US, its fantasy developed with endearing logic exemplified by the title- -in the first story, Rachel is annoyed because Lauren, who ``painted stupid blood'' on her mummy outfit, won the costume contest. Rachel's sarcophagus costume is far cleverer; moreover, it transports her (and her friend) to Egypt for a chilling adventure that leads to the girls' reconciliation. In ``The Paper Bag Genie,'' another trick-or-treater rescues a genie who's been trapped by an unimaginative restauranteur who's only using him to do dishes. ``Annie's Pet Witch'' has a gangster's vocabulary and a comical diet of Brillo pads, a jack-o'-lantern (with candle), eye shadow, etc.; and Kevin, in ``The Mystery of the One-Eyed Dog,'' works out the connection between Miss Dulcie's prized coconut cake and the disappearance of a series of old gentlemen. With a mellower flavor than Judith Gorog's tales and an equally original sense of the bizarre, Whitcher's new voice--precisely tuned to the idiosyncracies of her entertaining stories--is welcome indeed. Illustrations not seen. (Short stories. 7-11) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Grade 3-6-A collection of five stories, each of which takes place, at least in part, around Halloween. Three of the tales have moments of suspense, but they are diluted by the attempts to keep them light, and they lack tension. The scary moments seem awkwardly inserted into otherwise fairly mundane plots. The other two stories, one about a pet witch and the other about a frog who mistakes Frankenstein for Santa Claus, are amusing without spookiness, and are a bit more successful. Generally, though, the attempts to combine humor and suspense misfire. Judith Gorog's In a Messy, Messy Room (Philomel, 1990) and Paul Jennings's Uncanny (Viking, 1991) are just two examples of better collections that effectively walk that delicate line between funny and frightening.
Steven Engelfried, West Lynn Library, OR
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.