Prepare to Scare: How to tell scary stories

by Elizabeth Ellis

Overview

Prepare to Scareis a handbook edited by Circle of Excellence storyteller, Elizabeth Ellis, with contributions by the A-list of scary story writers and tellers on the American Storytelling Festival Circuit. It is a handbook for adults who tell stories to children or other adults in a variety of settings: storytelling events, schools, aftercare programs, camps, and homes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624911606
Publisher:	Parkhurst Brothers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/01/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Elizabeth Ellis is the Grand Dame of American Storytelling. A native of Appalachia, she moved to Dallas, Texas early in life and there became a mother, a grandmother, a public librarian, and eventually a professional storyteller. She now tours the nation telling stories and leading workshops to help other storytellers grow in their craft. This is her fifth book.

Table of Contents

“Once Upon A Midnight Dreary”

---Edgar Allan Poe

Chapter One: Why Tell Scary Stories?

What is the underlying meaning of scary stories ?

Why tell them?

Even to children? Especially to children.

A List of Books to Challenge the Nay-Sayers

The Mad Scientist’s Laboratory

Chapter Two: What Current Brain Research Tells Us About Fear

This is your brain

This is your brain on scary stories

Some Books to Help You Understand How This Effects Storytelling

“And th’ Gobble-uns W’ll Get You Ef You Don’t Watch Out!”

---James Whitcomb Riley

Chapter Three: What Folks Fear

Major fears of young children

Major fears of older children

Major fears of teens

Major fears of adults

What fear looks like Or Observable Indicators of Fear

A Group of Books If You Want to Dig Deeper

“Something Wicked This Way Comes”

---William Shakespeare

Chapter Four: A Graveyard Full of Tales

Annotated bibliography of material to tell to young children

Annotated bibliography of material to tell to older children

Annotated bibliography of material to tell to teens

Annotated bibliography of material to tell to adults

“Double, Double, Toil and Trouble”

---William Shakespeare

Chapter Five: Stirring Up the Ingredients

Selecting stories to tell

Authenticity or what are you afraid of?

Learning stories

Creating a mood

Point of view

Anticipation

Building suspense

Language

Voice

Timing

The listeners’ response: HAHA, AHA, AHH, AMEN

Some Helpful Titles That Will Be Of Help

MASTERS OF MACABRE

Chapter Six: Tips from a Spectacularly Spooky Group of Tellers

Dan Keding

Tim Tingle

Janice Del Negro

Motoko

Joseph Bruchec

Loren Niemi

Milbre Burch

Lynn Ford

Sherry Norfolk

Baba Jamal Koram

“Did You Ever Think As the Hearse Goes By

You Might Be the Next To Die?"

---American children’s song

Chapter Seven: Creating Scary Stories

What you are afraid of-digging deeper

Re-visiting listener’s response to stories: HAHA, AHA, AHH, AMEN

What folklore tells us about why ghosts appear

Give us all the elements of a good story

Believable characters

Point of view

Fleshing out the story

Books That Will Help Stimulate Your Creativity

“From Ghoulies and Ghosties and

Long-leggedy Beasties

And Things That Go Bump In the Night,

Good Lord, Deliver Us.”

---Old Cornish Prayer

Chapter Eight: Conclusion

Protecting yourself

Protecting your listeners

Closing the Coffin

Acknowledgements