SCARED WITLESS

The latest collection from the duo better known as Beauty and the Beast Storytellers offers recast versions of one-to-three-minute ghost, jump and shaggy-dog tales, interspersed with performance notes addressed to fledgling performers. A mixture of chestnuts like “The Hairy Toe,” original stories and borrowings from Joseph Bruchac (“The Brave Woman and the Flying Head”) and others, all feature tellable language (“There was one extraordinary thing about this family—they lived right next door to the . . . graveyard. And every day John walked to and from work through the . . . graveyard”); are illustrated with cartoon fright scenes; by and large stay away from explicit gore and violence; and are just right for inducing “goosebumps, gasps and giggles” in susceptible audiences of any age. (source notes) (Folktales. 8-10, adult)