Algernon Graeves Is Scary Enough

Up in a cobweb-free attic with shadowy but airbrush-smooth roofbeams, pale Algernon Graeves tries on a cape and other accessories in search of a gruesome disguise. Myth Men illustrator Bollinger limns disconcerting, ethereal close-ups of a pointy-toothed vampire, a snarling werewolf and a zombie with torn flesh from Algernon's active imagination. The boy, meanwhile, poses before a mirror and attempts to duplicate these heavy-metal grotesqueries himself; the not-so-ominous results counterbalance the horror-movie frights. As in T. Rex Trick-or-Treats , reviewed above, the hero finally improvises an outfit that's "scary enough" for him. Age 4-8. (Sept.)