Ted Pedersen (1938–2010)

I read a lot of children's fiction. A middle grade book with a good story is an excellent palate cleanser in between heavier adult fiction. Some of my favorite go-to kids books are collections of stories about strange/weird occurrences. After reading one of Ted Pedersen's other books, I found this one in a thrift store and it just had to come home with me! I read it last night while cooking supper. So entertaining!

True Fright - Trapped Beneath the Ice is a collection of 15 short tales of (supposedly) true scary or strange happenings. From a skater falling through thin ice to a tale about a cursed ship, the stories are varied and interesting. Are they all true? Nah....but still fun to read!

These stories are very short....just a couple of pages each. They are definitely written for children. Nothing graphic or traumatic. A couple are lightly scary, but not overly so. Age appropriate, and easy to read. I could see this book being used to coax a reluctant reader to enjoy a book. Or for supplemental reading in a classroom. Or just for fun reading at home. For me, it was a bit of a nostalgia read. I remember buying books like these from the order forms they gave us at school. My friends and I would order different books....read them....then trade. Books like this one fostered my life-long love of reading!

The tales are all entertaining. They are well written, but obviously geared for young readers. There are no illustrations. The stories are short. Perfect for kids who might have a bit of trouble with longer chapters,but also entertaining for those who just like to read. As an adult, I enjoyed this book. It was a nice break from the heavier fiction/non-fiction I usually read. It made for a nice, relaxing, easy bit of reading!… (meer)

Before there were Creepypastas and Youtube Channels filled with weird, possibly true stories, kids had books like True Fright: Buried Alive to fill them with creepy-cool dread! I've been on a Youtube kick lately. I'm hooked on strange videos like 10 Mysterious Disappearances in National Parks and 5 Ghost Photos that Can't Be Explained, etc. There are thousands and thousands of similar videos, and many channels that upload more every day. (SlappedHam and Mr. Nightmare are two of my favorites) When it dawned on me that I read stories like this in books as a kid (as did my children as well), I decided to go look for some OOP goodness to see how old-style scary true stories compare to the more modern version.

True Fright: Buried Alive gathers 15 stories, followed by a short blurb on how Ted Pedersen gathered the tales. The stories are varied, ranging from paranormal experiences like a demon cat to more natural scares like kidnappers, fire and snakes.

True Fright: Buried Alive! is the second book in Pedersen's True Fright series. I have purchased a copy of the first book -- True Fright: Trapped Beneath the Ice. Can't wait to read it! Ted Pedersen has written several other books for kids (including one in the Nickelodeon book series Are You Afraid of the Dark....gotta read that one!) as well as four Deep Space Nine Star Trek novels.

I enjoyed this book. Each story is just a few pages long. The tales are well-written, interesting and totally appropriate for middle grade readers. The stories are a bit scary, weird or spooky....but not overly or graphically so. My favorite story in this collection is The Pond is Full of Snakes, the last story in the book. It gave me the chills....I can't deal with snakes.

All in all, a fun read! And very nostalgic for me! I used to order books like this each time those little book order forms were passed out at school. I bought similar books for my kids too and then read them when they were done with them. :)… (meer)