Not So Scary! Tell Me a Scary Story by Carl Reiner

"If it gets too scary for you, just say 'Stop reading' and I will, because I love you very much," croons the grandfatherly avatar of Carl Reiner as he snuggles a small child and begins a story that begins with the familiar "When I was just a boy...." opener.

Snooping on a crotchety-looking bachelor neighbor, young Carl spots what looks like a marble falling out of one of Mr. Neewollah's moving boxes. On closer view, the "marble" turns out to be a glass eyeball. Intrigued, Carl waits 'til late at night to sneak the eyeball back into the neighbor's house. Sneaking in through a basement window, little Carl meets a hairy, scary creature who cackles that he ate Mr. Neewollah and invites the boy to look for Mr. Neewollah inside him. Unable to escape, the terrified boy watches the creature twist his head and tug at his back and finally beg "Get me out of here!"

Of course, when he shakily asks how to help, young Carl is told "Unstick this darned zipper," and Mr. Neewollah (Halloween spelled backwards), emerges from his theatrical monster getup and takes the boy on a tour of his spooky costume collection.

A book and CD combination, Tell Me a Scary Story is a not-too-scary story to kick off a Halloween party, an October birthday party, or a class writing project during the scary season. James Bennett's illustrations are done in suitably spooky cartoon style, and the audio version is read by veteran actor Carl Reiner.