Let me say up front, I am not a great fan of e-books. Call me a traditionalist, but I like the look, feel and, yes, the smell of a book. Not a soft-cover or paperback; the real bibliophile in me truly craves a well-bound hardcover. Mind you, I am not a tech-fearing Luddite. I must admit to a great love of gadgets, but for me, there is something comforting about sitting on the couch and turning the pages of a good book.

As a card-toting realist, however, I have to admit that I see the writing on the wall. E-books have arrived, and are here to stay. Microsoft giant and tech evangelist Bill Gates is pushing them. My wife, the editor, likes them, preaching “They make editing and layout easier and they also save a boatload of cash on printing costs.” They also allow any author with a computer, a CD-burner and an opinion to be heard. Heck, even most environmentalists like them since they save the trees. But I still like my books on paper.

It was with this prejudice firmly in place that I found I had to review an e-book. Sitting in the FedEx package was a CD containing a PDF file (Adobe Portable Document Format). While this format did do away with any compatibility issues I might have used to cry “foul,” I still wasn’t happy until I had run to my printer and burned out a hard copy to read.

Authored and Illustrated by Sean Murray and Adam Murray respectively, So You Want to Scare the Neighborhood is a product of their Utah-based Brainseed Publishing. Drawing from a combined 32 years of haunting experience, the Murrays have quantified some of the lessons that they have learned over the years. While this e-book has some how-to aspects, it is by the Murrays’ own admission, “not a how-to book.” Rather, they hope the work will open the Haunter’s eyes and minds to new ideas. As the name of their publishing company implies, they hope to plant a seed in the reader’s mind that will grow into something bigger. Something that, for me anyway, they did fairly well.

So You Want to Scare the Neighborhood begins with the usual dedications, introductions, and safety briefings. While the safety briefings were a bit cursory, the introduction was well written and gave a humorous account of their early and humble beginnings as Haunters. Here and in later portions of the e-book, Adam Murray’s humorous and well-drawn cartoons and sketches are reminiscent of those found in the excellent Joe Pfieffer book Give Them A Real Scare This Halloween.

The real meat and potatoes of So You Want to Scare the Neighborhood begins when the Murrays devote an entire chapter to the principles and “science of fear.” For the purpose of haunting, the Murrays explain, FEAR stands for “False Experience Appearing Real.” With that as the basis of their philosophy, they outline their five Laws of Fear that make for an effective scare.

They explain each of their “Laws” in detail, and I was left scratching my head thinking, “You know this makes sense…Why didn’t I think of that before?” Their principles are a very well thought-out and well-presented synthesis of basic psychology, theater, and common sense. It is an original and thought-provoking chapter that many other works lack. On the basis of this chapter alone, this is a definite two thumbs up addition to the Nightstand Library of any Haunter with a computer.

As if this chapter isn’t reason enough to purchase this CD, the Murrays include several segments that are near and dear to all Haunter’s hearts: the ever so important (from a marketing perspective) and often overdone “how-to” chapters.

Just about every haunting book on the market today includes the same old laundry list of scares and scenes, (Pepper’s Ghost has been done and overdone more times than I care to remember). Thankfully, the Murrays didn’t even bother to cover it. Instead, they picked two scenes that I have yet to see in any other book on the market, or in a Haunt for that matter - Immolation and Impalement.

I found their coverage of Impalement and variations on the theme were, to say the least, impressive. In fact, there are even several relatively low-gore (as impalements go) variations to try. They follow up this series of ideas with a comprehensive list of recipes for stage blood to use with the effect.

So You Want to Scare the Neighborhood was an education for me both as a Haunter and a closet bibliophile. Not only was it thought-provoking and educational, it opened my narrow mind to the possibility that maybe there is an alternative to paper books. Mind you, I have no intention of replacing my home library with CDs, but if the Murrays put out more e-books like this one, I will be first in line to purchase them. That being said, So You Want to Scare the Neighborhood would be a welcome addition on any Haunter’s Nightstand Library.

Until next time,
Nightstand Librarian