Spooked: Stories of the SupernaturalBy Shaiontoni Bose, Arundhuti Dasgupta, Bunny Gupta, Nilanjana GuptaPuffin IndiaPrice Rs 250 Eerie? Yes. Spooky? Definitely. Truly frightening? No. So the title of the book is apt and the stories would appeal to children, pre-teens and maybe even some adults. Thirty four short stories. Some of them are sad, some a little depressing, like ‘Aunt Dorothy’, and some are simply heartwarming, including ‘The House of Music’ and ‘The Water of Life’. The book works mainly because the language is young and effortless and most of the characters belong in the 21st century. Obviously there are also a number of spirits and supernatural beings. One story features some nasty spirits called soul catchers. The reader is left waiting to be scared. It’s something of an anti-climax and one gets the feeling the authors held back in some of the stories. But then again, the emphasis is probably on entertaining kids, not scaring them out of their wits. Amrita Tripathi
