Tales From Beyond the Brain

Tales from Beyond the Brain is a series of spine-tingling, bizarre, scary short stories for young readers in which anything can happen – and does! The author, Jeff Szpirglas, is very good at making the unexpected and fantastical happen, and I know readers will be enthralled. Most of the 13 stories – why 13, I wonder? Is that a deliberate move by the author? A superstitious ploy?

As I was saying, most of the stories begin rather innocently and benignly enough with main characters doing normal kid things like going to or from school, finding lost animals, being in school, playing with friends, and going to the movies. But then weird things begin to happen. In “The Paper Cut”, a paper airplane cuts a hole in the fabric of the universe. During A Kernel Takes Root, what appears to be a kernel of popcorn is caught in Jamie’s teeth. However, it turns out to be something far more disturbing – and it’s growing! Whiskers starts out as a cute animal tale about a boy named Greg who brings home a lost kitten. How many readers have ever found a pet and either brought it home or wanted to? It turns out Whiskers is not an ordinary cat, and it leads Greg into terrible danger – on purpose! The Last of the Daves is about a boy named Dave who begins to notice that people named Dave are disappearing. The bizarre part is that it’s like they are erased from the common memory of society. The mystery begins when Dave Anders – another boy in his class – has been absent for a few days and only Dave Ziegler, the story’s narrator, seems to notice. When he asks the other students and the teacher, no one even remembers that there ever was a Dave Anders. After investigating, Dave Ziegler realizes that soon it will be he who disappears! Can he figure out what’s going on before it’s too late?

Two Brains, One Alice tells the tale of Alice discovering a brain at the side of the road as she walks home from school one day. She knows she shouldn’t touch it or even stop and look at it – but she does. Is that her own mind that is compelling her to do these things? Or it is someone or something else?

And no young reader’s book of scary stories would be complete without an evil bus driver, as is the case in Stuffing. When Jerome and Marty get bored on the endless bus ride home, they deface the seat in front of them. Cutting it open, they remove the stuffing and throw it around the bus. After all, other students have done it before them and didn’t get in trouble, and so why shouldn’t they have a little fun? The bus driver is cranky, rude and a little crazy. The next day, Marty doesn’t come to school, and Jerome doesn’t know where he is. On the bus ride home, Jerome is the last student on the bus and the bus driver isn’t taking him on the usual route! Jerome sees that the seat they cut open has been repaired, but it’s a terrible job. The seat back is all lumpy and when he pulls off the tape and reaches inside, he discovers human hair!

These short stories in Tales from Beyond the Brain have enough twists, freaky turns and bizarre endings to keep young readers engaged and wanting more.