Since I can remember, I have loved all things horror. I remember staying up late with my mom watching horror movies as a child. At least after she found out that my dad had let us watch Chucky, I was about six years old at the time. My brother insisted on renting it, and my dad didn’t object. I wasn’t scared of the killer doll but was intrigued. Watching something that made others jump in terror and not knowing where this doll would make his next appearance was beyond exciting.
The love of watching horror transferred over to the love of reading it. The first novel I read that the school didn’t force was “Cloning Miranda” by Carol Matas. The book follows a teenage girl trying to uncover a big secret about herself and her family. Not knowing what would happen next was the most enticing and thrilling part of the story. My first delve into tween horror and thriller went exceedingly well, and my love of reading blossomed.
As a teenager, I only wanted to read horror books. Unfortunately, the school made us read other books. My mom helped my love of reading by picking up whatever Stephen King book was available at the local corner store. Her worries about the killer doll negatively affecting me were put to rest.
A central theme between the movies and horror genre books is that less is more. When you don’t know what the ‘big bad monster’ looks like or where it might be, the fear it elicits is far worse than when we see them slashing through the extra characters, eventually getting to the main characters.
This is why The Blair Witch Project (1999) was so scary. Another movie that I watched at my dad’s house and one of the few movies that freaked me out. It was scary because of the potential that there was something supernatural killing people. We never knew when the monster might come out or even what was around the characters as the camera ran through the woods.
The Blair Witch Project is one of the best examples of less is more.
In 2017, I released my first book; as much as I loved horror, it was non-fiction. The poems in that book are dark and can be horrifying to read. That book took me a decade to finally release. The poems are expressions of my mental health as a teenager (so yes, a horrifying read, especially if you are a parent).
I stayed within the non-fiction genre for a few years, releasing two more books but my interests are so varied that I could not be tied down to one genre. Over the years, I have done children’s books, social stories, and journals. As well as horror!
When I released “A Little Scare,” a collection of short scary stories, I was back in my element to what I love to read and watch. I finally gave the readers a story that didn’t spell it all out for them. Since less is more in horror, I kept to that theme with each unique story. I was giving the readers a chance to use their imagination because, in my experience, imagination is far worse than what we can articulate with words.
You won’t know what lies around the corner in this collection of ten unique and diverse scary stories. Each story shares in the overall creepiness of the collection. From a family camping to a trip to an abandoned house you won’t be disappointed.
The illustrations will add to the overall creepiness of the stories. Perfect for the tween in your life who loves twisted, odd tales. Each story is a short read that you won’t want to put down.
A Little Scare by Randi-Lee Bowslaugh (Author), Levin Bowslaugh (Illustrator)
Publisher : Independently published (September 7, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 84 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8469017950
