Raw head, bloody bones Book

If Zora Neale Hurston wrote Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, it would come out like this.

I had fun delving into this collection of African-American spook stories. The tales themselves are light and varied, rarely more than five or six pages, and each end with an folklorist's note of the origin, cultural importance, and variations of the story. You'll find a lot of variety, from cannibal mermaids to wizards that shift into alligators.

The Scary Stories comparison feels apt to me because this is a lighter book of myths, never getting very dark or heavy. Still, I smiled and learned about a few new monsters, so I got what I paid for. There's a good bibliography and suggested reading list, too.

I mentioned Hurston because the stories themselves are written in the style of English they were spoken in. If you can't accept prose in nontraditional grammar, you may want to stay clear.

The book is unique; read it. Also, don't make any bets that end in "and you can cut my head off," and don't cheat on your wife if she's a cannibal mermaid.

Now I should use some of this stuff in a Murder With Monsters sequel...