The Man On The Ceiling : And Other Scary Tales from Young Authors by Chisto Healy (and 12 young authors)My rating: 5 of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Man On The Ceiling : And Other Scary Tales from Young Authors is a fun collection of dark and scary tales from a dozen young authors ranging in age from 6 to 13.
The young writers in this anthology have given full rein to their wild and twisted imaginations - in all the best ways! The stories include shadows that come to life and attack the unwary, zombies, an unusual take on birthing new vampires, haunted and evil objects and locations (houses, forests and ponds), encounters with extraterrestrial horrors and an artist gifted/cursed with the power to get even with a vicious bully. While the themes may be familiar, the stories themselves are as unique as those who tell them.
As Healy says in the book's foreword, the kids wrote their stories and then he worked with each of them "to flesh out their ideas, ... and did my best to help their vision come to life. Make no mistake, these stories are all theirs - not mine." The result is a wonderful anthology full of spookiness, chills, thrills and kills.
I was drawn to this book by the variety of tales and the premise of helping young authors unleash their imaginations, bring their stories to print, and share them with others. With Healy's help, these young authors delivered the creepy goods!
Recommended for all, and especially for classrooms and programs looking for examples of what young writers can create when given encouragement and support.
Thanks to Chisto Healy for providing an eARC of this anthology for review.
The Man On The Ceiling : And Other Scary Tales from Young Authors will publish on July 27, 2026 and contains stories from
- Alexa Taylor: The Man On The Ceiling
- Madilyn Richie: The Dim Bonfire
- Rubi-Leigh Baynam: The Hybrid
- Welles Young: The Girl Who Became a Skeleton
- Mal Iler: Operation Thalassaphobia
- Tucker Coburn: The Invasion of the Dolls
- Gray Hernandez: In The Forest, They Dwell
- Boe Healy: The Revengecil
- Finn Ramirez: What's Wrong With Grandma?
- C.T. McKnight: The Music Box
- GiGi Volpe: The Color Red
- Key A.V.: Duck, Duck, Ghost