Found: Children's horror anthology, 1970's. Illustrated.

Growing up in the seventies, there was a kid's book in the library I remember -- a collection of pretty scary stories, with illustrations. I remember two in particular. The first was about a boy who lies in bed as the moon casts a shadow of some tree branches on his mattress. The shadows look like skeletal arms, and as the moon moves lower in the sky the shadow moves closer and closer to the terrified boy's throat, until eventually the "arms" strangle him.

The second I remember the end of... a girl captures a glowing bug and kills it, only to discover that it was her brother (who was somehow transformed earlier in the story. Like I say, I only remember the end), after what's left of the bug turns into -- if I remember correctly -- a severed hand.

I'd love to track down this book. Anyone know it? I remember really liking the illustrations.

Do you remember anything about the cover? The stories aren't familiar, but I read tons of those books back in the day and may have had this one but skipped over the stories.

I wish I did. I just remember those two stories, and the illustrations that went with them. Seems like the illustrations might have been pen and ink.

Let me ask my husband. Sounds like something he would know.

Could it be the obvious: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?

It was first published in 1981 and was famous for its grisly pen and ink artwork:

I work in the library, and we had a challenge on these PRECISELY because of the illustrations. The compromise was that we kept them, kept them in the Juvie section, but we put them in dustjackets with less-scary artwork.

I really question how that helps anything, as now people who would otherwise have seen the cover and known they have kids who are likely to be freaked out now don't get to see the covers, take them home, and their kids get freaked out by the illustrations which are liberally scattered throughout the book.

I really don't understand people sometimes.

People with children seem to forget what they loved as kids.

Thanks, jseger, I thought that might be it, too. But when I looked in the stories it contains, I decided it's a different book. The illustrations were of a different style, too -- the book I remember was a little more cartoony, kind of the same genre as Gahan Wilson (though I'm pretty certain he wasn't the artist). I think this was probably pre-1981 -- I'm thinking it was probably 78-79 when I saw the book.

Hi Elmer, I believe I can help you. I was looking for the same collection for many years and finally put it together. If I'm right, it's called "Horror Tales: Spirits, Spells & the Unknown" and was edited by Roger Elwood with illustrations by Robert Baumgartner. Published by Rand McNally in 1974.

While not all of the details line up exactly, it sounds as though the two stories you're referring to might be "A Spell for Jonathan" written by Thomas F. Montelcone (where a pair of children cast spells resulting in one of them turning into a horrific insect), and "The Shadow" written by Howard Goldsmith (about the soul of a witch which lives in a tree that, among other things, casts frightening and menacing shadows into a boy's bedroom).

You can see examples of the illustrations here (or by image searching the title): http://the-haunted-closet.blogspot.com/2008/12/horror-tales-spirits-spells-unkno...

Good luck, and I hope this helps!

I remember being terrified as a 70s child by one particular illustration in "Strange but True: 22 Amazing Stories," by David Duncan. I've actually found a blog post in which several people agree that that picture traumatized them. The book combined weird but not particularly creepy unexplained events with supposedly-true ghost stories. Could that be it?

Holy Moley, Jason, THAT'S IT! I had forgotten about this thread in the last few years until it came up in a Google search today, and lo and behold there's my answer. This has been bugging me for the last 35 years -- thanks! BTW, you aren't by any chance THE Jason Willis, formerly of the Scar Stuff blog? If so, I'm a big fan -- your two Halloween compilations have been my soundtrack for the season for almost a decade. Kudos!

Hi, Brigit -- no, that's not the one, but I need to seek out that illustration anyway. :-)

Heya Elmer!

Yep, that's me -- same ol' Jason Willis. Formerly of Scar Stuff and now mostly just hanging out at http://jasonwillis.com/ .

And hey! Excellent! I'm so happy to hear that you like those comps of mine, and even happier that I correctly ID'd your book.

In fact it sounds as though we've basically had the same experience here. Those stories and illustrations have been nagging at my brain for just as long as they had been at yours, and after years of keyword-laden-but-fruitless searches, I couldn't believe it when I finally cracked the case. Very glad I could spread the wealth.

And hey, Happy Halloween!

Hi everyone. I just stumbled upon this website and joined because like Elmer, I am also looking for a collection of scary stories that I read as a child in the '70s.
I only remember part of one's story: It was about someone who was on a mountain and there were these spooky hovering things above (similar to those soul sucking critters in the Harry Potter books.... But this was way before Harry Potter!)

That's about all I have to go on. Trigger any memories for anyone?