Fearful Funhouse: The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman and Gus Grimly

No jolly APPLES, BALLS, and CATS here. The creators of The Dangerous Alphabet promise "an alphabet with a dangerous flaw" (easy to spot) with "two brave children, their diminutive but no less courageous gazelle, and a large number of extremely dangerous trolls, monsters, bugbears, creatures, and other such nastiness."

The story begins humorously, with a brother and sister sneaking stealthily past their dad, apparently totally engrossed in his newspaper. Below street level the intrepid two descend into a shadowy stone-walled underground waterway and into a boat which resembles the skeleton of a prehistoric fish. As if in a ride through a carnival tunnel of horrors, the children float past a montage of mysterious and quirky sights as they make their way downstream through an off-beat alphabetical journey.

E is for EVIL that looms and entices.

F is for FEAR and its many devices.

G is for GOOD as in HERO and MORNING.

H is for HELP ME! A cry and a warning.

The children elude toothy monsters and sneaky pirates and all the usual spooky suspects as they persevere in following their map through the perilous waters--until

V is for VILE deeds done in the night.
X marks the spot if we read the map right.

The kids are not the only ones who are reading the scene right. As they come to the end of their fun house ride, they find a REALLY surprising sight--their dad and his now well-read newspaper, waiting patiently for them like the light at the end of the tunnel. Dad, it seems, was only feigning ignorance of their plan, and now that the kids have had their nighttime fun, he's there to take them safely home.

Gaiman's text is quirky and its vocabulary may require some adult explanation for the age group who are the usual audience for alphabet books. For example,

Q is for quiet (bar one muffled scream).

R is a river that flows like a dream.

S is for snare--a skull and its smile.

T is for treasure, heaped in a pile.

However, for slightly older kids who adore scary illustrations full of tongue-in-cheek detail, Grimly's signature mock-macabre style carries the load in this offbeat alphabet book just suited for the spooky season.