Stinetinglers 2

I went with the audio for this one. It had a multi-narrator cast, mostly based on the perspective of the story, and they were pretty much all solid.

This is 10 new short stories from the master of middle grade horror. Again, I’m not really sure on the legality of these things, but I’m always left wondering why all of his stories aren’t under the umbrella of Goosebumps. It’s his signature style anyway.

With that being said, these 10 are spooky, eerie, a little silly, and some even have a blend of scifi. Stine continues to prove that he has quite the imagination, and I loved that these featured an introduction for each story. The intros were even recorded by Stine too, and I love that their inspiration is mostly from his childhood experiences. I just can’t imagine writing that many stories, some of which feature similar ideas and plot lines. Like how do you keep track?

While I wouldn’t necessarily put these on the level of Tales to Give You Goosebumps or the somewhat longer shorts in Goosebumps Triple Header 1, these are still enjoyable stories for a quick little read. I love their covers too.

Stinetinglers 2 is a collection of 10 easily-read short children's stories with last-page plot twists. Much like fairytales, most of the stories also boil down to a morality tale in some way: “be careful what you wish for”, “follow the rules”, “don't seek revenge”, “be kind”, “don't steal”, and “don't cheat”.

It's always a pleasure to read anything by R.L. Stine and purchase his books for my child, but I think Stinetinglers 2 missed the mark on its intended 8 to 12-year-old audience. That age range may be appropriate for a child's reading comprehension level, but most of the plots are a little too simplistic and the twists will likely come across as silly, rather than shocking or spooky, to children in that age group as well.

I would highly recommend reading this book with younger children, but I don't think anyone over the age of nine would find it very entertaining.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and provide an unbiased review of the advanced reader copy of Stinetinglers 2 by R.L. Stine.