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The Vine: October 21, 2011

Submitted by on October 21, 2011 – 8:35 AM10 Comments

I am desperately searching for a collection of scary stories I read in middle school (circa 1993-1995). I remember two stories from the collection very vividly.

1.  One story was called “Lockers.” It was about a killer in a high school. The ghost of one of his victims would bang on the lockers to warn other students that the killer was nearby.

2.  Another story was called “Midnight Snack.” It was about a monster who lived in a waterbed and ate the people who slept in the bed.

Despite this pretty specific information, Google and Amazon have come up empty for me. I’d love to find the collection again — it gave me the creeps in a good way!  Any chance you or the Readers might know where to find this book?

Signed,
It was also great material for Girl Scout camping trips

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10 Comments »

  • scarlettbgonya says:

    Is this it? It doesn’t have a “Midnight Snack,” but it does have “Lockers” and a story called “Bedtime Snack” that involves a waterbed.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=FncrxDV3Gn0C&lpg=PA60&ots=kJmXI_wBci&dq=roberta%20simpson%20brown%20%2Blockers&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false

  • The Letter Writer says:

    scarlettbgonya — That is absolutely the right book!! Thank you! Throwing “Midnight Snack” into my search must have been what thrown it off. Now, to see if it lives up to my middle-school memories …

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    Got it in one YEAH Nation.

  • scarlettbgonya says:

    Heh – glad to have helped! And yes, I had to abandon the “Midnight Snack” story altogether in order to figure it out.

    I’m a librarian, so successfully tracking down books based on vague details (“Do you have that book about cheese…? I think the cover is purple…?”) is basically my way of chasing a high.

    Happy reading!

  • Jo says:

    I used to work in a bookstore and had to find things based on vague details all the time. (“So … I saw this author on TV last night. Don’t know what channel — it wasn’t Oprah — and I don’t know what the book is but the author had brown hair …”)I have yet to help solve a mystery here, but I keep hoping the skill will pay off one day.

  • Rachel says:

    I have that skill too! “Yeah… I’m looking for a book. It’s green?”

  • Jen S 1.0 says:

    Okay, Google only let me read some of them but good GOD. That shadows story would have kept me awake for a week in middle school. Not now, of course. I’m an adult, okay? And if I choose to sleep with all the lights on it’s just that, a CHOICE.

  • KellyU says:

    I answered that green book question once!

    It was a red book and it was The Bridges of Madison County. It was Oprah’s fault, if I recall correctly.

  • The Letter Writer says:

    First, that should have been “*threw* it off,” not “*thrown* it off.” Yeesh.

    @Jen S. — My friend L’s mom still mentions the time I read stories from this book at a campout and got all the other girls so wound up they couldn’t sleep!

    @KellyU — “I answered that green book question once! It was a red book and it was The Bridges of Madison County.”

    That story made my weekend.

  • mctwin says:

    KellyU:

    It was almost ALWAYS Oprah’s fault! Damn Harpo Inc couldn’t have given the bookstores a heads-up with that? I worked at Borders and by 5:00pm we had a dozen people looking for “the book that was on Oprah about self help!” Well, I wasn’t watching Oprah, I was here, WORKING!!!

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