Pages of Doom - The Book of Screams by Jeff Szpirglas Paperback

About the Book

In this second installment in the Book of Screams series, we revisit the ongoing story of Tanya, who is trying to vanquish a sentient ink that steals people's dreams, and delve into other horrors in short-story form, such as a ray of sunshine that kills, a rabbit carcass that haunts a young boy, and a teddy bear that possesses its owner.

Book Synopsis

Middle grader Tanya has managed to stop famed horror writer Joel Southland from stealing people's nightmares for his books.

The malevolent, sentient ink that had been the source of all his powers and successes now belongs to Tanya. But the ink--which feeds on nightmares--is growing hungrier and hungrier. It urges Tanya to plunder the dreams of others so it can feed.

Among Tanya's struggles to outwit the ink are eleven other creepy tales representing the dreams and nightmares of other characters in the book. From tales of dentists who are actually giant alien insects in disguise to a kid spotting a tombstone with his own name and death date, these stories are sure to thrill and chill.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Review Quotes

"Delicious and dark short stories...Szpirglas is an incredibly good writer! He weaves these stories together in a seamless fashion, and the stories are intricate and frightening for the age level readers. What makes his writing unique is that the books are readable all in one sitting or can consumed story by story which will make reading this book less daunting to reluctant readers. [And] the illustrations are phenomenal. Highly recommended."

-- "CM: Canadian Review of Materials"

"Fraught with monstrous danger...Readers will be suitably disturbed. More unnerving, nightmarish fare."

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Scary stories meld with haunting nightmares as tales weave within a tale and form a chilling tomb from beginning to end...Each tale is very original and holds on its own, making this great for reluctant readers as well. [Horror] fans will enjoy the variety and mix, and be able to come back and visit their favorites time and again."

-- "Bookworm for Kids"

About the Author

Jeff Szpirglas is the author of several works for young people, including the horror collections Tales from Beyond the Brain, Tales from the Fringes of Fear and most recently, Book of Screams. He is also the co-author, with Danielle Saint-Onge, of a number of Orca Echoes titles, including Shark Bait!, X Marks the Spot and Super Switch. Jeff has worked at CTV and was an editor at Chirp, Chickadee and Owl magazines. In his spare time, he teaches grade school. Jeff lives with his family in Kitchener, Ontario.

Andrew P. Barr is an illustrator whose work has appeared in magazines, newspapers and movies, as well as on movie posters and T-shirts. In 2022 the book Wild Outside, which he illustrated, won the Yellow Cedar Award and the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada's Information Book Award. Andrew lives in Oakville, Ontario.