Creepy, entertaining, with a strong, stubborn heroine. Excellent. ( )

Molly's father tells her a spooky story about a skeleton man that ate all of his own flesh and then went after his relatives. Molly knows it's just a scary story until her parents disappear and she is placed in the custody of a strange man who says he is her uncle and is mostly skin and bones.

Skeleton Man is a very short, scary story built on Native American legends and the fears of children. We don't get any real information about the uncle or who he really is. His motives are sketchy at best and none of the characters are very well developed. The purpose of the book is to be scary and it does do that very well. Overall, Skeleton Man is more of a short story than a book, but it does create fear in the reader. ( )

Young Molly's family consists of just her and her parents, as she's an only child and neither of her parents have family anymore. They're a happy family and her father is able to pass on the stories he learned growing up on the Mohawk Reservation, including the legend of Skeleton Man, who had cooked and eaten himself, then lured each of his relatives into the lodge, where he killed and ate them one by one until he came to his little niece, who was the only one to survive.
One morning Molly wakes to find her parents never came home from their night out. She's taken by Social Services and is immediately handed over to a great uncle she's never met or heard of, and despite her protests, she has to go live with this terrifying man who locks her in her room every night and has drugged her food. Molly quickly begins to see how much of her predicament mirrors the Mohawk legend.
A slim book that packs in a whole lot of scary story. Recommended. ( )

So good!

Such a fun read, Molly is the strong and courageous character I was always looking for as a kid. The folklore and genuine creepiness were fantastic, definitely a fun read for adult me 😁 ( )

A spooky read aloud for older kids! Perfect in the fall! ( )