| Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters | |
| Author: | Bruce Coville Jane Yolen Debra Doyle James D. Macdonald Sharon Webb Joe R. Lansdale Jack Prelutsky Terry Jones |
| Cover Artist: | Steve Fastner |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Horror, Children's |
| Publisher: | Scholastic Publishing |
| Pub Date: | 1993-1997 |
Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters is the first in a series of "Book of" anthologies edited by Bruce Coville. It was first published in September 1993 by Scholastic Publishing. It is collection of stories aimed at juvenile readers that advertises itself as "scary", but in fact contains a wide variety of stories and genres such as science fiction, horror, fantasy, and realistic with some supernatural elements. In this aspect the "Book of" anthologies differ from many other scary anthologies for juvenile readers which often lean towards straight horror.
Laurie Tynan, writing for Emergency Librarian, compared Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters to "stories told around the summer campfire", calling them "just spooky enough to be good fun without triggering nightmares".[1]
Peggy Latkovich reviewed the audiobook in School Library Journal; she wrote, "The differences in styles and approaches to horror will keep even the most jaded listeners enthralled". She specifically highlighted "Coville's 'My Little Brother Is a Monster,' a complex story with an emotional depth rare in modern children's horror, and 'Kokolimalayas, the Bone Man,' the only folktale in the collection". She found that Michael Markeiwicz's reading of his story "Merlin's Knight School" to be "a mediocre rendition of an adequate story". She further noted that Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald's "Uncle Joshua and the Googlemen" was a "horrifying" story, but that "the reading is too fast and the accent is too vague to evoke a true sense of place".[2]
Bruce Coville followed-up his popular first book with a line of other supernatural or sci-fi subject matters for several follow-ups. After six volumes in the initial "Book of" series, the books were popular enough to warrant sequels to each volume. Coville also used the extended series to publish a five-part story, "The Monsters of Morley Manor." The book series was published from 1993 to 1997.
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