The Wrong Train

May 1, 2017
A short story collection framed by the tale of a boy who catches the wrong train.In this British import, a boy runs to catch his train only to find that he's gotten on the wrong one. In a panic, he gets off at the lonely first stop. While he waits for the return train, an old man and his dog join the boy, and the old man decides to keep the boy company and entertain him with stories. After the first horror story, the boy has had enough, but the man pushes forward with more, and the boy, stuck in the dark, has no choice but to listen. The eerie, atmospheric setup will likely deter those who do not enjoy horror, and should that fail, the twist at the end of the first story will, leaving the rest of the book for connoisseurs of the genre. The supernatural horrors range in subject matter (monsters, haunted cars, and a whole menagerie of dreamlike impossibilities) as well as in length, structure (single-scene vignettes and traditional stories), and back story (with many resolutions simply unexplainable but unpleasant--don't expect any happy endings here). In between, the boy and the man talk--these launch pads for the stories get quite repetitive, but the framing device comes into play for one last twist. Physical and racial descriptors are generally absent. Invites imaginations to run wild with petrifying preternatural possibilities. (Short stories/horror. 10-14)

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July 1, 2017

Gr 5-8-A collection of scary short stories told by a mysterious and creepy old man to a boy who is trapped waiting on a train platform. All of the tales slowly build in suspense, creating a creeping sense of foreboding. While the entries are frightening, they achieve their chills without excessive gore or violence, which makes this a good pick for horror-loving middle grade readers. VERDICT A goose bump-inducing volume that is sure to have readers sleeping with the lights on.-Annalise Ammer, Henrietta Public Library, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2017
Grades 6-9 This slim, eerie volume opens with an unnamed boy who has boarded the wrong train home. It's nighttime, his phone is dead, and no one else is on board. When he gets off at the first stop, prepared to catch the next train back, he finds a small, deserted station. It's creepy enough on its own, but when an old man shows up, toting a lantern, a bag of dead flowers, and a little dog, things only get stranger. The old man starts telling stories, but they're dark stories with gruesome endings, all featuring characters similar in age to the boy: a teen girl finds herself babysitting two creepy children; a group of kids play a ghostly game; a boy finds a car with a deadly history. The longer the boy waits for his train, the more frightened he gets. By the light of day, these stories are more unsettling than truly scary; read aloud around a campfire, though, and this unusual collection will certainly have the desired effect.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)