History NightmareFuel / ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark

%%* "Like Cat's Eyes". Both the story and the illustration accompanying it are extremely unnerving.
* One of the most boring stories in the book gets one of the most terrifying illustrations: "The Haunted House". Building is haunted. Preacher is called in to exorcise. He meets the ghost. The ghost tells him where some treasure is and leaves her finger bone with him. Preacher-man digs up the treasure and uses the ghost's finger bone to out the guy who killed her. The ghost's killer is punished and she is put at peace. They all lived happily ever after. Now, the [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jUnjDDao20Q/T423CnjcIMI/AAAAAAAAHyU/2YFum7tYjcQ/s1600/001.gif illustration]], on the other hand...

* One of the most boring stories in the book gets one of the most terrifying illustrations: "The Haunted House". Building is haunted. Preacher is called in to exorcise. He meets the ghost. The ghost tells him where some treasure is. The rabbi digs up the treasure. The ghost's killer is punished and she is put at peace. They all lived happily ever after. The [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jUnjDDao20Q/T423CnjcIMI/AAAAAAAAHyU/2YFum7tYjcQ/s1600/001.gif illustration]], meanwhile...

* One of the most boring stories in the book gets one of the most terrifying illustrations: "The Haunted House". Building is haunted. Rabbi is called in to exorcise. He meets the ghost. The ghost tells him where some treasure is. The rabbi digs up the treasure. The ghost is put at peace. They all lived happily ever after.

* "Me Tie Doe Tie Walker". Not just the extremely scary illustration of a screaming decapitated head in a fireplace, but the fact that this story takes the comfort of having a dog with you when you're scared, and tells you that the dog will lead some horror to you, then drop dead before it can protect you.

* "Just Delicious" is perhaps the only example from all three volumes where the story outdoes the illustration. An abusive husband is unknowingly fed liver taken from a dead old woman, and the bad news is that dead woman's spirit wants her liver back. The worse news? She's willing to settle for ''his''.

* "Like Cat's Eyes". Both the story and the [[http://www.scaryforkids.com/pics/like-cats-eyes.jpg illustration accompanying]] it are extremely unnerving.

* "Maybe You Will Remember". A girl's mother dies in a hotel, and the hotel makes it look like nobody had been in the room. Quite a nightmare: lost in a foreign city, losing a loved one, the ''entire hotel'' keeping secrets from you, thinking you're insane, not knowing what to do. The worst part? ''It's based on real events''.

* "Wonderful Sausage" is a terrifying example. A butcher goes completely AxCrazy and then starts to [[ImAHumanitarian murder people to make sausage.]] "People" includes little kids. [[http://hello-zombie.tumblr.com/post/1341092299/wonderful-sausage-one-dark-rainy-saturday Just read it.]]

''ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'', oddly enough, has stories that are fairly lame. The illustrations however are totally horrifying and turn the most cliche urban legends into something terrifying. These are children's books by the way; they should have just called them ''Scary Illustrations to Traumatize Your Child''.

* "Harold". [[http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1629/sc27zy8.jpg A living scarecrow]] SKINS A MAN ALIVE and leaves his skin out to dry in the sun. And this was suggested reading for elementary school students?

* Someone was nice enough to post a [[http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/showthread.php?t=179928 mini-gallery of Gammell's work]] on some message boards. Enjoy. And by "enjoy" I mean "lie awake and sweating at 3 am as these images drift across your consciousness".

* "Oh, Susannah!" Not only is the illustration terrifying, it has little, if anything, to do with the story it accompanies.
** Actually, the woman in a rocking hair, being pulled along by a disembodied head, is a possible reference to some tellings of the story this is based on, where the remaining girl finds her friend's killer sitting in a rocking chair with the severed head. In some versions, the head is sitting in the rocking chair. If said perspective is taken, the giant...whatever that is in the sky represents the killer. Terrifying nonetheless.

* "Like Cat's Eyes". Despite its short length, both the story and the [[http://www.scaryforkids.com/pics/like-cats-eyes.jpg illustration accompanying]] it are extremely unnerving.

* "Like Cat's Eyes". Both the story and the [[http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj302/JASONABADBOY4U2/SCARY%20STORIES%20TO%20TELL%20IN%20THE%20DARK%20MOVIES/th_LikeCatsEyes-readbyGDLMexGirl.jpg illustration accompanying]] it are extremely unnerving.

* "Wonderful Sausage" is a terrifying example. A butcher goes completely [[AxCrazy Ax Crazy]] and then starts to [[ImAHumanitarian murder people to make sausage.]] "People" includes little kids. [[http://hello-zombie.tumblr.com/post/1341092299/wonderful-sausage-one-dark-rainy-saturday Just read it.]]

* "Like Cats' Eyes". Both the story and the [[http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj302/JASONABADBOY4U2/SCARY%20STORIES%20TO%20TELL%20IN%20THE%20DARK%20MOVIES/th_LikeCatsEyes-readbyGDLMexGirl.jpg illustration accompanying]] it are extremely unnerving.

* "Like Cats Eyes". The story and the [[http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj302/JASONABADBOY4U2/SCARY%20STORIES%20TO%20TELL%20IN%20THE%20DARK%20MOVIES/th_LikeCatsEyes-readbyGDLMexGirl.jpg illustration accompanying]] it are both extremely unnerving.

* The illustration for "The Dead Hand" (not "The Dead Man's Hand") is quite possibly one of the most twisted images to ever come out of Stephen Gammell's head. It's at the bottom of [[http://tuneinrockon.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/the-15-most-disturbing-illustrations-from-scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark/ this Wordpress post]] if you really want to see it!

* "The Dream"'s illustration. The story very simply describes the mysterious woman of the eponymous dream as having "a pale face, black eyes, and long black hair". Unfortunately, Stephen Gammell took the already present eeriness of the situation and [[http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9085/sc33bu8.jpg cranked it]] UpToEleven by giving the woman beady eyes, a jaw like an orangutan, and an alien-esque slit-like mouth. Plus, the expression she's wearing is vague, but can't quite be called a smile. Or if it is, then it's like the [[{{Batman}} Joker's]] smile; you can't tell if it's happy or sinister.

''ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'', oddly enough, has stories that are fairly lame. The illustrations however are totally [[http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9085/sc33bu8.jpg horrifying]] and turn the most cliche urban legends into something terrifying. These are children's books by the way; they should have just called them ''Scary Illustrations to Traumatize Your Child''.

* "The Dream"'s illustration. The story very simply describes the mysterious woman of the eponymous dream as having "a pale face, black eyes, and long black hair". Unfortunately, Stephen Gammell took the already present eeriness of the situation and cranked it UpToEleven by giving the woman beady eyes, a jaw like an orangutan, and an alien-esque slit-like mouth. Plus, the expression she's wearing is vague, but can't quite be called a smile. Or if it is, then it's like the [[{{Batman}} Joker's]] smile; you can't tell if it's happy or sinister.

''ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'', oddly enough, has stories that are fairly lame. The illustrations however [[http://blog.japundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/8bad1ecf.gif are]] [[http://home.graffiti.net/squidman:graffiti.net/horseskeleton.jpg totally]] [[http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9085/sc33bu8.jpg horrifying]] and turn the most cliche urban legends into something terrifying. These are children's books by the way; they should have just called them ''Scary Illustrations to Traumatize Your Child''.

* "The Bed by the Window". An old man becomes so jealous of his roommate's ability to look out the window and see the world. The friend describes many wonderful things out there, and the old man essentially murders him, allowing him to claim his bed. In the end, he discovers there is nothing out the window other than a brick wall. It just seems symbolic for [[HumansAreBastards the ugliness of the human soul]].

* "Is Something Wrong?"'s illustration.

* The story where the girl's mother dies in a hotel, and the hotel makes it look like nobody had been in the room is particularly disturbing, just because there ''aren't'' any ghosts. It ''is'' actually a nightmare: lost in a strange city, losing a loved one, the ''entire hotel'' keeping secrets from you, thinking you're insane, everyone out to get you.
* One of the most boring stories in the book gets one of the most terrifying illustrations. Building is haunted. Rabbi is called in to exorcise. He meets the ghost. The ghost tells him where some treasure is. The rabbi digs up the treasure. The ghost is put at peace. They all lived happily ever after.
* Children are scared enough of the mere appearance of a ghost or monster in a story that it's tough to imagine exposing them to the sort of true psychological horror in these books. [[http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1629/sc27zy8.jpg An animated rag doll]] SKINS A MAN ALIVE and leaves his skin out to dry in the sun. And this was suggested reading for elementary school students?
* Someone was nice enough to post a [[http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/showthread.php?t=179928 mini-gallery of Gammell's work]] on some message boards. Enjoy. And by "enjoy" I mean "lie awake and sweating at 3 am as these images drift across your consciousness."
* That story about a girl and the red bump on her face. She doesn't know what it is, her family can't figure it out, and even a doctor they bring in can't work it out. The whole time the bump is just growing and itching all the time. Finally, in an attempt to stop the maddening itch she takes a bath and suddenly the red bump bursts and a swarm of small spiders crawl out as she is screaming.
* The story about the potato-sack monster on the ceiling of the young girl's room, with the beady eyes and tons of sharp tiny little teeth
* That image of a man being turned into a horse who was unfortunately changed by a witch.

* The story Me Tie Doe Tie Walker. Not just the extremely scary illustration of a screaming decapitated head in a fireplace, but the fact that this story takes the comfort of having a dog with you when you're scared, and tells you that the dog will lead some horror to you, then drop dead before it can protect you.
* The stories "The Haunted House", "The Red Spot" and "The Dream" have the illustrations that those who have read the books love to hate.
* "The Dream" was probably the worst of them. The story very simply described the mysterious woman of the eponymous dream as having "a pale face, black eyes, and long black hair." Unfortunately, Stephen Gammell took the already present eeriness of the situation and cranked it UpToEleven, by giving the woman oily hair, beady eyes, and a jaw like an orangutan, only with an alien-esque slit-like mouth. Plus, the expression she's wearing is vague, but couldn't quite be called a smile. Or if it is, then it's like the [[{{Batman}} Joker's]] smile; you can't tell if it's happy or sinister.
* "Oh, Susannah!"? Not only is the illustration terrifying, it has little, if anything, to do with the story it accompanies. If the BigLippedAlligatorMoment had an EvilTwin, that would be it.
* The story about the boy who finds a cute, scruffy little dog while on vacation in Mexico? They get home, and a few days later the dog starts foaming at the mouth... so they take the dog to the vet and he tells them that it's ''a mutant sewer rat with rabies''. [[http://myspace.roflposters.com/images/rofl/myspace/1209331984836.jpg.%5Broflposters.com%5D.myspace.jpg Terrifying illustration enclosed]].
* The story "Someone Fell From Aloft" has a fairly simple but haunting image of a man clutching a body as he appears to fall. It illustrates the climax of the (relatively simple) ghost story in the most sparse yet terrifying way possible. Our friend Stephen simply ''refuses'' to ever draw normal human beings in any of the images in these books, and so you get to see the faint black outline of what is supposedly the guy from the story being grabbed by a screaming oily corpse and taken overboard.
* The tale of the little girls who continually misbehave and eventually have their mother replaced by...some ''thing'' as a punishment. You just have to read the description of the replacement mother and wonder why? Just ''why''?
* The story "What Do You Come For?" has one of the grimmest examples of [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor a wish backfiring]]. A nice old lady wishes she had some company to ease her loneliness, and then...well, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7OOFjIf-gE see for yourself]].
* Stephen Gammell's illustrations are so scary, that they actually got a mention in Lemon Demon's song "Nightmare Fuel"
* "The Bed by the Window", a story about an old man who becomes so jealous of his roommate's ability to look out the window and see the world. The friend describes many wonderful things out there, that the old man essentially murders him. In the end, he discovers there is nothing out the window and that he killed his roommate for no reason other than greed. It just seemed symbolic for [[HumansAreBastards the ugliness of the human soul.]] The way the story ended probably didn't help either.