fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2841 ]

[ SECRET POST #2841 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2841 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 039 secrets from Secret Submission Post #406.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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I read a lot of Dahl's books when I was a kid, both in class and out of it. My younger brother, I'm fairly certain, read every single book Roald Dahl ever published. I also thought they were kind of creepy and dark. Like plenty of other creepy, dark childrens' books I read (special love for John Bellairs here).

The thing that I don't get is that people seem to be citing the popularity of the books as evidence that they weren't regarded as dark or macabre. I honestly don't understand where that comes from. The fact that they were widely read, including in schools, seems like it should be completely compatible with them being macabre. I just don't get it I guess.

Edited 2014-10-13 23:24 (UTC)

It sounds like people are confused because the OP seems to think Americans considering the books macabre did prevent the books from becoming popular in America.

It's very strange, isn't it?

The most popular books among my peers when I was in second to fourth grade were the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. They were popular to the point that we spent our recesses forming clubs based around them. John Bellairs received similar treatment.

After that, Goosebumps came into fashion and then once kids grew out of that they got really into Fear Street and Christopher Pike. The idea that the macabre doesn't appeal to American kids is frankly so false it's bizarre it would even be thought of. Kids ate that up, and I can't imagine that's changed.

Dahl's books are pretty macabre. They deal with child murder on a frequent basis. But that is, if anything, one of the reasons they are popular.

Oh, gosh, yeah. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark! Goosebumps! Those things were huge. I mean, they weren't as... bitter, maybe, as Dahl could get (and also not nearly as good). But they were still pretty creepy. And, at least in my experience from childhood, kids loved them. The idea that kids weren't reading things because they were dark just doesn't match up with my memories at least.

Oh Goosebumps! I still have nightmares from finding the Night of the Living Dummy book in my closet once and the eyes appeared glowing.

Then we also had the TV show Are You Afraid of the Dark? during the same time period as Goosebumps.

But look what happened to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! In the latest edition, the awesomely nightmarish illustrations by Stephen Gammel--you remember, the illustrations that made those books--have been replaced by tame, pretty ones that wouldn't scare anybody.

What does that have to do with kids though? That was the decision of what I assume to be a bunch of clueless adults. Every single person I've come across that grew up with the books and has found out about the illustration change has complained about it. I have a friend that works at a used bookstore and she says that it is impossible to keep the originals on the shelves because parents come in all the time looking for 'the versions with the creepy art' to give to their kids. They remember how much they loved that and want to pass it on.

People complained about the illustrations back when the books were at their peak, and they were popularly 'banned books', but if anything that just exacerbated their popularity among children.

I'm not saying that adults in this country don't overreact to the macabre being shown to children, but kids themselves eat it up, which is what I find odd about OP's secret, because it conflates the opinions of a few conservative adults with the children that the books are actually targeted toward.

Well, of course kids had nothing to do with ruining Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark--I'm sure no kids were consulted about the decision!

I wonder now, though: did the clueless adults want to change the illustrations because they feared that children would be traumatized by the dark and macabre ones? Or did they want to change the illustrations because they were afraid that children liked the dark and macabre ones too much?

I read Bone Chillers as a kid, too. "Little Pet Shop of Horrors" gave me the willies, and I loved it.

Holy crap NOBODY remembers the John Bellairs books! They were sooo good My sister and I read all of them!

I actually went out and ordered a bunch on Amazon a while back just so I could have them around. They were so good. I'm pretty sure I was the only person who ever checked them out of the school library as well, they would just be sitting there and I'd take them out again and again.

We first found them when we were still young enough that our mom didn't want us reading Goosebumps, and in some ways JB was worse, BUT my sister claimed that the books were very Christian and my mother just was like WELL OK go for it! In hindsight I think Zimmerman only prays in a desperate situation she thinks is gonna kill her... I need to read these again for sure

Sorry for the late reply, just saw this!

It's actually an interesting question. Because the thing is that, IIRC, Bellairs was an extremely devout Catholic. So it wouldn't actually be all that surprising for them to actually have a Christian message, but I can't really recall one. It seems to mostly be in the background, with the characters having a religious life and going to church but without much really explicit religious content.

I do, I do! Especially with the Edward Gorey covers.

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[ SECRET POST #2841 ]

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