Book Review: SCARING AND DARING

by | Nov 5, 2025 | Author News, Book Reviews, Reviews, The Horror Review News | 0 comments

Scaring and Daring: A Horror Writers Association Anthology
Eric J. Guignard, ed.
Harper Collins Children’s Books (August 12, 2025)
297 pgs.
Reviewed by Carson Buckingham

Anthologist extraordinaire, Eric J. Guignard, has done it again with this exemplary compilation of intriguing takes on classic literature, which may be read by children and adults alike, each group taking something different away from it.

Here are my favorites:

“What We Found Beneath Mt. Etna” – Absolutely loved this one. You can’t go wrong with Lisa Morton. This is a take on Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, and is about a missing child who has fallen into a crevice that the locals claim is haunted. They will not go to look for her, so Liesel and her Uncle Otto, two German adventurers, take on the task. What they find is far more than they could have ever imagined. This is the first story in the four-way tie for my favorite. Well done, Ms. Morton!

“The Hound of the Basking Villas” – An homage to Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” In this story, a light-fingered, mystery-solving little girl inveigles a very young Sherlock Holmes to help her look for Paulie, a missing boy, and investigate a cemetery near Basking Villas, a holiday resort where both of them are staying. The hound appears in the story, but not in the capacity the reader will expect. This is a lovely story, beautifully written, and just chock-full of folklore! The second story in the four-way tie for my favorite.

“The Lost Musketeer” – Expect the Spanish Inquisition. This exciting story is a tribute to Alexandre Dumas and The Three Musketeers, and it is swashbuckling with a side of the paranormal. Dumas would have most heartily approved.

“The Secret (Thing in the) Garden” – An homage to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. This is Burnett’s book in a minor key, with ominous chords fading in and out. It is the story of a group of children who already have a secret garden but want to put in a paddling pool next to it. But by removing the soil, they dig up more than just dirt and come to regret it.

“A Lucky Find” – This is a take on Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. I have to say that I didn’t enjoy Mr. Melville’s book (I mean, how much do I really need to know about the ins and outs of whaling?), but I adored this homage. A young boy sneaks out at night to explore a ships’ graveyard in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He finds what’s left of the Pequod and manages to pry loose the gold doubloon that Ahab had nailed to the mast, bringing paranormal activity with a nautical flavor to the town. A perfect New England ghost story. A nice twist at the end. The third story in the four-way tie for my favorite.

“The Boy of La Mancha Rides Again” – In this wonderful prequel to Cervantes’ Don Quixote, we meet Alonso Quijano, a 13-year-old young man obsessed with knights and chivalry, who decides that he must do something brave to be noticed by a knight in order to become a knight’s page. He will rid the countryside of the ghost horse that has been terrorizing it. But the ghost horse comes to mean something more to him in the end. Scary and heart-warming at the same time. Great job, Mr. Hernandez. This story is rated 5 windmills.

“The Glass Slipper” – In this homage to Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella,” we see that a mere shoe can’t really elevate the wearer from a nobody to a somebody. Great twist at the end.

“Wolf in the Mirror” – In this take on The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, we find that Mr. Kipling has adopted the jungle boy, Mowgli. One night, their carriage is stopped by none other than Alice, who has escaped from Wonderland, and asks for their help. A blend of Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling and a hefty dose of the paranormal, and you have one terrific tale! The fourth story in my four-way tie for my favorite.

“Freckle and Hide” – Robert Louis Stevenson would have been proud of Jonathan Maberry and his homage to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A young boy, Freckle (called so because he is covered with them), and his dog, Hide (because that is all he does), are a part of the family heredity that his father, a scientist, is trying to do something about. Nice twist at the end.

“Out on a Limb” – A tribute to Eleanor H. Porter’s Pollyanna. The very definition of a feel-good story with just the right amount of treacle.

“The Gruelmaster” – In this homage to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, we meet a nine-year-old named George, who takes up the story after Oliver moves on because he asked for more. He gets a job in the kitchen, to be closer to the food, and discovers that there’s more than meets the eye concerning the two women who are his bosses.

This book is touted for children 8-12. Middle Grade. The concept is a great one, but it is highly unlikely that children that age will have been exposed to most of the literature that is being used as a base for these takes on classics. Not that they can’t enjoy the stories anyway. They will. However, with the targeted age group, the cleverness of the homages will be lost on most of these children. But adults can read and enjoy the inventive takes on the classics as retold. There is something for everyone.

The only real issue I had with this book is that it is not built to last, and that’s on Harper Collins. The paper is little better than newsprint quality and will most assuredly fox within a short period of time, leading to the chipping and the ultimate destruction of pages. This is most unfortunate. I still own books from my childhood (and that was 60 years ago) that I loved and are still intact and in great shape. I fear this one won’t see these kids to their high school graduation.

At any rate, aside from the poor quality of the paper, I am happy to urge you to purchase this book. It is well worth reading, no matter what your age, and would be a great Christmas gift for the kid in your life—so much better than more electronics and video games!

5 out of 5 stars.

About Carson Buckingham

Professionally, Carson Buckingham has made her way in life doing all manner of things, most of which involve arson. She is currently employed as a freelance writer on a work release program. In her spare time, she studies forensics, in hopes of applying her new knowledge to eluding the authorities more effectively the next time. She is originally from Connecticut, but now resides in Kentucky—and Connecticut is glad to be rid of her.

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