Five fresh, witty tales, each firmly grounded in an ordinary, sharply drawn setting in the contemporary US, its fantasy developed with endearing logic exemplified by the title- -in the first story, Rachel is annoyed because Lauren, who ``painted stupid blood'' on her mummy outfit, won the costume contest. Rachel's sarcophagus costume is far cleverer; moreover, it transports her (and her friend) to Egypt for a chilling adventure that leads to the girls' reconciliation. In ``The Paper Bag Genie,'' another trick-or-treater rescues a genie who's been trapped by an unimaginative restauranteur who's only using him to do dishes. ``Annie's Pet Witch'' has a gangster's vocabulary and a comical diet of Brillo pads, a jack-o'-lantern (with candle), eye shadow, etc.; and Kevin, in ``The Mystery of the One-Eyed Dog,'' works out the connection between Miss Dulcie's prized coconut cake and the disappearance of a series of old gentlemen. With a mellower flavor than Judith Gorog's tales and an equally original sense of the bizarre, Whitcher's new voice--precisely tuned to the idiosyncracies of her entertaining stories--is welcome indeed. Illustrations not seen. (Short stories. 7-11)
