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    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
    Ebook120 pages57 minutes

    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

    By Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    The iconic anthology series of horror tales that's now a feature film!

    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a timeless collection of chillingly scary tales and legends, in which folklorist Alvin Schwartz offers up some of the most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time.

    Available for the first time as an ebook, Stephen Gammell’s artwork from the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark appears in all its spooky glory. Read if you dare!

    And don't miss More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Scary Stories 3!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 2, 2019
    ISBN9780062682840
    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
    Author

    Alvin Schwartz

    Alvin Schwartz is known for a body of work of more than two dozen books of folklore for young readers that explores everything from wordplay and humor to tales and legends of all kinds. His collections of scary stories—Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Scary Stories 3, and two I Can Read books, In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories and Ghosts!—are just one part of his matchless folklore collection.

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    Reviews for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

    4.5/5

    60 ratings37 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I decided to celebrate Banned Book Week by reading a small pile of frequently challenged books. I can see how this one made the list for being horror directed at a young audience. The art and the stories can be very chilling and macabre. The writing leave something to be desired as these are transcriptions of spoken lore or just meant to be read aloud. Also, this is a book better that would probably be better appreciated if savored a story or two at a time instead of being read in one shot as I did.
    • 4/5
      This is a wonderful little collection of stories that are chilling and, at times, rather funny. A blend of urban legends and folk tales of ghosts and other creatures of the night and a series of sketches that are as ''scary'' as the stories they accompany create a result that is perfect for Halloween, for a cold winter's night or a stormy summer evening.
    • 4/5
      Scary Stories To Tell In The DarkRetold by Alvin SchwartzDrawings by Stephen Gammell1981Scholastic 4.5 /5.0This is targeted for younger reader, the stories short and easy. Some of the stories are really scary. It includes songs and verses, as well. I really like the illustrations.....Such a cool book for younger kids, esp this time of year.
    • 3/5
      These stories were nowhere near as frightening as I remember them being growing up. The pictures though...just as creepy.
    • 4/5
      Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, illustrated by Stephen GammellThirty scary stories, all culled from the riches of American folklore, are presented in this classic collection, first published in 1981, and a perennial favorite with young readers every since. The selections are divided into five sections by editor and reteller Alvin Schwartz, and are accompanied by Stephen Gammell's deliciously creepy illustrations.The first section - "Aaaaaaaaaaah!" - is devoted to "jump stories," or stories meant to be told aloud to great effect, with surprising conclusions (usually a shriek or the grabbing of an arm) that will frighten the listener into jumping. Here we find tales like the Virginian story of The Big Toe, in which a human toe is used in soup by those who find it, only for its original owner to come looking for it. Also included in this section is Old Woman All Skin and Bone, a traditional poem/song found in both England and America. The musical notation for the song appears on the accompanying page with Gammell's spooky illustration.The second section - "He Heard Footsteps Coming Up the Cellar Stairs..." - includes ghost stories and tales of other strange happenings. Here we have The Thing, a Nova Scotian tale in which two friends are followed home by a skeleton, in an apparent foreshadowing of the death of one of them. Here too is the Virginian story of The Haunted House, in which the ghost of a young woman murdered by her lover leads the local pastor to her corpse, and to her killer.The third section - They Eat Your Eyes, They Eat Your Nose - includes all kinds of spooky stories, about witches, graves, and worms eating your corpse. Included is the Kentucky mountain tale of A New Horse, in which a farm hand is ridden like a horse every night by a witch, only for the farm hand to turn the tables on his tormentor in a gruesome way. This selection appears to be Euro-American, but celebrated African-American children's author Virginia Hamilton tells a very similar story in her Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny, so perhaps there were many variants of it. Also included in this section is the "Indian" story of The Wendigo, in which a Euro-American hunter's Indian guide is slain by that fearsome monster of the north. Although utilizing a figure from Native American lore, this seems more of a story from the Euro-American perspective, as indicated by both the narrator and the sources provided.The fourth section - Other Dangers - includes stories that, at the time of telling in 1981, were more recent in their origin. Here are urban legends like the Midwestern tale of The White Satin Evening Gown, about a young woman poisoned by the embalming fluid found on the dress she wore to a dance. Here too is The Babysitter, collected in Pennsylvania, in which a babysitter and her charges are badly frightened by a series of phone calls, that are eventually revealed to be coming from the same house in which they are staying.The fifth and final section - also entitled "Aaaaaaaaaaah!" - presents another round of "jump stories," although this time they are meant to provoke laughter, as much as fright. Here we have selections like The Viper, also collected in Pennsylvania, in which a man's accent causes misunderstanding and fear. Also included is Wait Till Martin Comes, a traditional African-American folktale from the American South, in which a man flees from a group of cats, who presumably mean to harm him once the eponymous Martin arrives.I read this book numerous times as a young girl, always with a delightfully shivery appreciation of both the stories and the nightmarish illustrations, and have been meaning to reread it and its sequels every Halloween season for years. Having finally managed to accomplish this goal, I discovered two surprising things. The first is that the publisher recently reprinted the books (in 2010, I believe?) with new artwork done by Brett Helquist, and that this has largely outraged fans. While I have no problem with looking at new illustrations, I can definitely say that Stephen Gammel's original artwork is a masterpiece of creepiness, and is part of what made this book so memorable. I'm glad the Helquist exists, for more sensitive young readers, but I stand by the Gammell, which I prefer. It's worth noting, moreover, that the Gammell illustrations have frequently been challenged by book banners, here in the states, so I'm glad that HarperCollins have made them available again! The second thing I discovered, which I somehow missed in my youthful reading, was that this was really a folktale collection! It's not that this is at all hidden information - it's in the sub-title of the original edition, and there are copious notes regarding origin and source material for each tale, but I seem to have breezed by all of that when a girl. However that may be, it was a welcome discovery, and I appreciated those notes, and the extensive bibliography, which contains many books familiar to me, and some unfamiliar. Most of the stories appear to be Euro-American in origin, but there are a few African-American ones, as well as a single selection from Canada.I enjoyed my rereading of this greatly, and look forward to picking up the two sequels, and to tracking down some of the books mentioned in the source notes. Recommended to readers who enjoy scary stories, as well as to folklore enthusiasts with a particular interest in ghost stories and other tales of terror.
    • 3/5
      "That person is calling from a telephone upstairs." she said. "You'd better leave. I'll get the police."

      If those lines are familiar to you, you've got a pretty good idea of how scary you can expect Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz to be. A collection of urban legends, scary stories, and miscellany, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and its sequels were the most frequently challenged books during the nineties, according to the American Library Association.

      If the stories aren’t so scary (and most of them aren’t), then why would people want to remove them from libraries so badly? I can’t speak for those who’d censor books, but I’d like to point out one of the book’s illustrations, drawn by Stephen Gammell.

      (The illustration may be viewed on my blog.)

      For a children’s book, that’s downright terrifying. I was definitely frightened by these illustrations as a kid. In fact, they’re still pretty unsettling.

      It’s fortunate that the stories are much less frightening. The book consists of five sections, each containing several stories, along with a few sections of notes, at the end.

      The first section, “Aaaaaaaaaaah!”, contains “jump stories.” These are stories which are to be concluded by the storyteller screaming and lunging at the audience. They’re not particularly scary, relying, I suppose, more on the storyteller’s screaming than the story itself. “Me Tie Dough-ty Walker!” is pretty memorable, though.

      The second section, “He Heard Footsteps Coming Up the Cellar Stairs…”, includes some more traditional ghost stories, including “The Haunted House”, which the above illustration belongs to.

      The third section, “They Eat Your Eyes, They Eat Your Nose”, contains some less common stories, like “The Wendigo”, and also “The Dead Man’s Brains”, the game where you pass around things and claim they’re something frightening or disgusting, such as saying that cold spaghetti is worms, or that peeled grapes are a dead man’s eyes.

      The fourth section, “Other Dangers”, contains urban legends, such as “The Babysitter”, quoted earlier.

      The fifth section, called “Aaaaaaaaaaah!”, like the first, contains stories meant to be funny, rather than scary. These sound like they’re going to be scary stories, and then have a twist to make you laugh.

      After the stories, you’ll find a detailed notes and sources for the stories, along with a bibliography for those interested in further reading. It’s pretty unusual: the stories are written at a level that even children in elementary school can understand, but the end notes are quite detailed, as though Scary Stories were intended for people with a serious interest in folklore. It is quite interesting to read about the variations in the stories, and how they were collected, but I’m not sure I thought so when I read it for the first time, in elementary school.

      Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark had two sequels, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones.

      I think everyone ought to read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, for the illustrations if not for the stories. You've got to be careful, though--there's a new version with illustrations by Brett Helquist, but it's just not the same.
    • 5/5
      I simply adored this book and the rest of the series as a child and, it turns out, I still do today! The stories are scary but not terrifying. They might be nightmare inducing to some; however I believe they will fill children with imagination, dark or otherwise. I can't wait to revisit the second and third.
    • 5/5
      When I was elementary school we used to read this in the stacks and freak ourselves out. Definitely worth it! I was a bit bummed when they updated the art, as that was a huge part of the appeal.
    • 5/5
      I loved this series as a kid, and I just went back to reread it because the movie is coming out, and also I was curious if my children are old enough to read it yet. At 6 and 7, I think they will have to wait a couple years. I think the recommendation on the back of the book, ages 9 and up, is accurate. Some of the stories would be fine, like the funny ones, but there are a couple--and the illustrations!--that might be just a little too creepy still. It's still just as fun as I remember, and now I really appreciate that Alvin Schwartz is coming at this from a folklore perspective. I love the notes that go with each story at the end, and that Schwartz included a bibliography where books that would be good for children are marked.
    • 5/5
      Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz is an excellent collection of horror stories children may tell each other for fun. The author does a good job of telling the stories in such a manner that children may easily memorize the narratives. It is written in a natural vernacular style so that it sounds like if someone is telling the scary story. It is written in such as way that it imitates oral traditions such as noting when the teller must jump up and grab the person next to them for a climatic ending to the story. In addition, it gives different endings to the scary stories so that some endings are scarier than others. In this way the story teller can adjust the level of horror for each particular audience. If the audience is too young, the ending does not need to be so dramatic. However if the teller wants to terrify the listeners, he may choose the scarier ending. This book is an excellent choice for Halloween time, and could easily be used as part of a Halloween holiday display. The book also includes scary illustrations throughout the book. This is a “fun” book that supports the oral tradition of children telling spooky stories for entertainment purposes.Ages: 5th grade and Up
    • 4/5
      Some are great and creepy, some a strange and weird, some are good but nothing else. The entire series is pretty good, though.
    • 4/5
      I never got to read any books in this series, so I'm doing so now. Overall a very good book. Had be creeped out at parts. I wish I could have seen the old illustrations and I will have to track them down, but still worth the read, for sure. Perfect for a cold, windy night. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      Telling these to students in a darkened library has them at the edge of their seats (and some curled up against the back walls) even in 2013, when it seems like even my elementary school students are watching The Walking Dead and World War Z. The illustrations by Stephen Gammell are every bit as good, adding a macabre element that will live kids' skin crawling. These are must-haves for every library, sure to fly off the shelves year round, but particularly at Halloween time.
    • 5/5
      Schwartz's collection of folk tales is scary but wonderful. A childhood wouldn't be complete without Gammell's chilling illustrations and the creepy folk tales, songs and stories that Schwartz presents. The book features big toes for supper, rotted flesh and bloody heads falling from the chimney, wolves that tear throats, and skeletal corpses that chase men in the night. The stories aren't inappropriate however, some of the stories are lighthearted and meant for campfires and sleepovers. Most children enjoy being scared through the safety of a book, and the details in the stories are never too graphic for the age of the audience. The text is meant to be read aloud and is large and well spaced, and the vocabulary is easy as well. Hearse songs, haunts and wendigos are among the reasons so many people have challenged this book, but these stories are based on traditional folktales and urban legends that have been told to children for over a century in some cases, and they are deeply rooted in our culture. The book is ensuring that they will be passed along to the next generation.
    • 5/5
      Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a collection of folk tales and scary stories passed down to other generations. The book tells short stories that have to do with everything from ghosts to monsters that will give the listener chills while reading them. I really liked this book even thought it might not be appropriate for all children because of the scary nature of the stories. Each story was told in a very entertaining way and the text even wrote notes for the reader to do while reading this story to other people. For example, in one story, the text is written like a poem and towards the end of the story there is a not for the reader telling him to "Jump at your friends and scream: AAAHHHH!" I really thought this was a great way to get the reader and the audience involved and engaged in the stories that were being told. I also really enjoyed the different type of writing styles that were throughout this book. While some stories were written in the traditional story format other were in poem format or were written in verses of songs. The different types of writing styles that were in this collection of stories really made it interesting for the reader and also when they were reading the stores to their friends. The illustrations that were throughout each story were really well done and added a lot to the 'creepiness' of each story while also giving readers a little help if they had trouble picturing something that the story was talking about such as zombies. Although this book did not have an overall message because it was a collection of different folktales, the theme of the book was all scary stories that were intended to make children be more careful when doing this like walking through the woods or meeting strangers like some of the stories suggested in the book. I really enjoyed reading this book and thought that this would be a very enjoyable book for children to read if they were not afraid of scary things.
    • 3/5
      I remember reading these stories to each other as a young girl and being scared not only of the stories themselves but also the creepy pictures within the covers. This book lead to many a sleepless night in my youth!
    • 4/5
      Fall is in the air, and it's Banned Book week - how could I NOT reread this classic?This was a library find when I was around seven or eight or maybe nine years old. Even at that age, I was a spooky little kid (not much has changed, except that I'm taller now) and I absolutely loved anything that could frighten me - and it wasn't easy to scare me, even back then! I mean, I was watching Freddy Krueger when I was like four years old without even sweating. But this book always gave me the chills.It's not so much the stories, although some of them are quite memorable. As a kid, I think they were probably a touch scarier than they are for me as an adult, but I never really remember being terrified of the stories themselves.Oh no, it was the illustrations. *makes googly eyes* The illustrations by Stephen Gammell are top notch! They're black and white and absolutely TERRIFYING to this day, even though I am thirty-seven years old. I remember reading this book before bedtime and just pouring over the illustrations and having the most delicious nightmares.And this is why, I feel, why these books keep popping up on banned books lists - not necessarily because of the stories, but because of the A+ illustrations.If you're picking up a newer copy, please be aware that they changed illustrators at some point (perhaps in a bid to get off the banned books list year after year). Those illustrations are not nearly as good as the originals. Go Gammell or go home!
    • 4/5
      this book will make you shiver and scream, it will make you look behind you to check if anyones there. please i warn you DO NOT read this book in the DARK. its very chillingley scary.
    • 4/5
      I purchased this book as one that I fondly remembered from childhood. I don't know for certain how many times my brother and I checked this out from the public library, but it was a lot. The stories in it are fun and the artwork is fantastic. As a matter of fact, even though I remember most of the stories from reading them before, it's the artwork that lodged this book into my head so firmly. Although all black and white, the images are spooky and gruesome. Exactly what an impressionable pre-teen needs to be sufficiently creeped out!The stories themselves are usually 1 to 2 pages each and are still fun. While they wouldn't scare the bejeepers out of me today, I can see why I was drawn to them as a child. The last section of stories is also fun as they are in the same line as the spooky tales, but are intended to be humorous and silly.All in all this is a fun book for kids of all ages and I really was glad that I went ahead and purchased one of my childhood favorites.
    • 5/5
      A collection of short stories, poems, and activies with truly frightening illustrations! This is not for the younger set, but will utterly delight (and frighten!) pre-teens. A true classic!
    • 4/5
      This is my first experience with Schwartz and the Scary Stories trilogy and I wasn't really sure what to expect as I actually picked this up as part of my reading list off of the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books (from 1990-2000). In some small way, I can see how this book (and the two others) get challenged by parents...there are some gross, gruesome, frightening, and creepy stories in this book...but (you knew it was coming...right) really, what's here, for the most part is pretty tame. For kids 8-12, this might be their first introduction to what (for most older children, adolescents and adults) are pretty standard, traditional campfire stories and urban legends. Further, they are the tamest and least embellished versions I think I've ever seen, so there is little actual gore. Probably the most frightening thing in this book are the illustrations...they are done in a style that is truly evocative of the theme...this is something that I really enjoyed about the book. Each illustration makes you squirm a bit, but then you look back and find yourself looking even more closely to pick out the details of each barely there illustration! There are 29 stores covered in this book, all drawn (as the title indicates) from American Folklore (even some of the more contemporary ones like the hook and high beams), so it's a nice wide swath of scary folklore cut from the cloth of the American oral storytelling. In the first part of the book nearly every tale is by necessity one that should be told out loud around a campfire (as they require screaming, jumping at, or grabbing someone to "get them" at the end of the story). As the book progresses, more and more of the tales stand alone as reading material...but really each is just a bare-bones minimum of the story without any embellishments and are probably best enjoyed orally (also around a campfire or in a dark room with candles or flashlights) and embellished...having a group of kids take one story each and memorize it and tell it to the group would be a wonderful activity that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark would lend itself to quite well! Overall, Scary Stores to Tell in the Dark is a fine introduction to the oral tradition of folklore and urban legend. This book would make a fine addition to the library of anyone who regularly deals with kids in groups (particularly outdoors, like boy or girl scouts) and/or for group story telling...this book would provide a wonderful jumping off point for kids to learn a legend, folktale or urban legend well enough to tell out loud without reading and to encourage embellishment or discuss other versions (activity for older kids who are more familiar with the stories given and the many variations that are around). I give it four stars, as the text itself is rather uninspiring as a cover to cover, stand alone read...the illustrations are what saves it from getting three stars and as I said above, it's best use is as an introduction to folklore and/or as a way to increase one's repertoire of stores to frighten children with in those times and places where campfires, candlelight and flashlights rule the darkness!
    • 5/5
      I've owned the third book for the longest time, I practically know every story within it. But as for the collection, its a must read, must own. Its basically the three stories he wrote compact behind one cover, if you don't own them all, by this.
    • 4/5
      this book has frighting stories that will make you shiver and want to scream, it makes look up from the book and check if anyones around you, please i will warn you dont read this book in the dark.
    • 5/5
      This freaked the hell out of me when I was a kid. The stories have stuck with me and the illustrations are quite disturbing. Every child should be forced, with a gun to their head, to read this book.
    • 3/5
      The illustrations are scarier than most of the stories in this one. I enjoyed rehearing some stories that were popular at camp when I was growing up.
    • 5/5
      Scary stories for little kids. Not appropriate for young kids, may scare them a lot. I think the stories are funny. The story of the Big Toe reminded me of The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. This could be used to introduce horror stories.
    • 5/5
      Alvin Schwartz has gathered together some of the scariest stories from folklore, sure to make you gasp in fear! Perfect reading for the Halloween season, or whenever you feel the need for a fright! Two other volumes are also available. Challenged/banned for: gives children nightmares; unacceptably violent; references to evil, the occult, the devil.
    • 4/5
      I read this book in the 4th grade and when I was older I bought it online because it is one of the few books I remember reading as a child. I love it, I think it is a classic but I should warn you that little children may find it scary. I was terrified to go to bed after I would read stories out of this book as a child. But most of them are funny, and have a surprise ending so it is the kind of book that is good to read around a campfire or family night at home to your children. My favorite is Toe Soup!The other reviewers are correct the artwork in this book is creepy, so that should be considered when buying this for young children!
    • 4/5
      This is the viper book! I read this in elementary school and still remember a lot of the stories.
    • 4/5
      It scared me when I was a kid, but now it invokes a weird feeling of nostalgic camaraderie with other people of my age group. The illustrator really knew their stuff. I guess they re-published it, a new edition with less scary illustrations. The stories are good, anyway.

    Book preview

    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - Alvin Schwartz

    9780062682840_Cover.jpg

    Dedication

    To Dinah

    —A. S.

    Contents

    Cover

    Title Page

    Dedication

    Strange and Scary Things

    1. Aaaaaaaaaaah!

    The Big Toe

    The Walk

    What Do You Come For?

    Me Tie Dough-Ty Walker!

    A Man Who Lived in Leeds

    Old Woman All Skin and Bone

    2. He Heard Footsteps Coming Up the Cellar Stairs . . .

    The Thing

    Cold as Clay

    The White Wolf

    The Haunted House

    The Guests

    3. They Eat Your Eyes, They Eat Your Nose

    The Hearse Song

    The Girl Who Stood on a Grave

    A New Horse

    Alligators

    Room for One More

    The Wendigo

    The Dead Man’s Brains

    May I Carry Your Basket?

    4. Other Dangers

    The Hook

    The White Satin Evening Gown

    High Beams

    The Babysitter

    5. Aaaaaaaaaaah!

    The Viper

    The Attic

    The Slithery-Dee

    Aaron Kelly’s Bones

    Wait till Martin Comes

    The Ghost with the Bloody Fingers

    Abbreviations

    Notes

    Sources

    Bibliography

    Acknowledgments

    About the Author and Illustrator

    Books by Alvin Schwartz

    Back Ad

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    Strange and Scary Things

    Pioneers used to entertain themselves by telling scary stories. At night they might gather in somebody’s cabin, or around a fire, and see who could scare the others the most.

    Some girls and boys in my town do the same thing today. They get together at somebody’s house, and they turn out the lights and eat popcorn, and scare one another half to death.

    Telling scary stories is something people have done for thousands of years, for most of us like being scared in that way. Since there isn’t any danger, we think it is fun.

    There are a great many scary stories to tell. There are ghost stories. There are tales of witches, devils, bogeymen, zombies, and vampires. There are tales of monstrous creatures and of other dangers. There even are stories that make us laugh at all this scariness.

    Some of these tales are very old, and they are told around the world. And most have the same origins. They are based on things that people saw or heard or experienced—or thought they did.

    Many years ago a young prince became famous for a scary story he started to tell, but did not finish. His name was Mamillius, and he probably was nine or ten years old. William Shakespeare told about him in The Winter’s Tale.

    It was on a dark winter’s day that his mother, the queen, asked him for a story.

    A sad tale’s best for winter, he said. I have one of sprites and goblins.

    Do your best to frighten me with your sprites, she said. You’re powerful at it.

    I shall tell it softly, he said. Yond crickets shall not hear it.

    And he began, There was a man dwelt by a churchyard. But that was as far as he got. For at that moment the king came in and arrested the queen and took her away. And soon after that, Mamillius died. No one knows how he would have finished his story. If you started as he did, what would you tell?

    Most scary stories are, of course, meant to be told. They are more scary that way. But how you tell them is important.

    As Mamillius knew, the best way is to speak softly, so that your listeners lean forward to catch your words, and to speak slowly, so that your voice sounds scary.

    And the best time to tell these stories is at night. In the dark and the gloom, it is easy for someone listening to imagine all sorts of strange and scary things.

    Aaaaaaaaaaah!

    This chapter is filled with jump stories you can use to make your friends JUMP with fright.

    The Big Toe

    A boy was digging at the edge of the garden when he saw a big toe. He tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to something. So he gave it a good hard jerk, and it came off in his hand. Then he heard something groan and scamper away.

    The boy took the toe into the kitchen and showed it to his mother. It looks nice and plump, she said. I’ll put it in the soup, and we’ll have it for supper.

    That night his father carved the toe into three pieces, and they each had a piece. Then they did the dishes,

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