Ode to Half-Price Books [and Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell]

OH, half-price, i love you. You smell so delicious and dusty. Your shelves are delightfully unorganized but i always seem to find something i've been looking for. Thank you for alphabetizing by author. You're so unpretentious, and you're prices so low, i just don't know when to stop. Thank you for giving me 4 books for $ 15.00 yesterday.

I can't divulge all i've purchased because someone who may read this will be getting a package in the mail soon, but... i can show you the one i am keeping for myself:

[My mom works @ an elemetary school library]

Me: "Mom, do you remember those "scary stories to tell in the dark" books we used to have as kids with the extra creepy drawings?"

Mom: "Ohhhhhh, do i remember them? They're still one of the the most checked-out books in the library, right alongside Captain Underpants and Spongebob..."

Its so nice to know that something i read over and over as a kid is still entertaining [scaring the crap out of] kids almost 30 years later. [i wonder if loving this as a kid has something to do with my nerd fascination for shows like Most Haunted, Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures..] Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was first published in 1981! If it wasn't the story that scared you, it was definately Stephen Gammell's artwork.. and i find that it still is scary.