Series ✦ Penny’s Take
City of the Dead
Sharon Stewart · 2001
66/100
👎 Skip It
Sharon Stewart writes tight, readable horror shorts that use digital-age anxiety smartly — the computer-and-virus stories felt fresh when they landed, and the twist endings still work as craft. The technology framing dates the collection noticeably now, though the psychological approach to scares ages better than gore would have. A good pick for teens already into horror anthologies, but the horror framing limits who can comfortably be recommended it.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: horror throughout including ghosts, supernatural transformation, and psychological suspense; not suitable for sensitive younger readers. We still scored it 66; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety60
substance60
craft70
originality62
accuracy65
hype68
age-fit72
human-eye65
Penny’s verdict66
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