The Devil Walks

The Devil Walks
by Anne Fine

This is a very dark tale from prize-winning author Anne Fine. She has ventured into the eerie before, but this novel is paticularly dark.

It is the story of a boy called Daniel who has spent his life bed-ridden. All he has to look forward to each day is his mother's company, his books and an old dolls house that belonged to his mother as a child.

On discovering that Daniel is in good health and there is no reason for him to be confined to a bed, Daniel's mother Lilian is taken to an asylum and Daniel is taken in by the kind doctor and his wife. The only thing he takes with him is the doll's house, which turns out to be quite evil.

Daniel enjoys his new life with the other children in the family, but soon the sinister doll's house starts to take hold of the children's personalities and playtime becomes nasty. This is only the beginning.

An evil uncle, a possessed doll and murder. Will Daniel survive? Believe me, you will keep reading to find out!

Malice

Malice
by Chris Wooding

I am probably not the first person lured into picking this book up because of the fabulous 3-D cover, but hey, if it means that people read this dark tale, then it can only be a good thing. The format is quite unusual too, as it is part novel and part graphic novel.

Be ready for chills up your spine as you read this book!

Malice is the name of an underground comic. Most think it is an urban myth. Some children have heard of it, but few have actually seen it.

Malice is the world portrayed in this comic book. A world full of menace and horror where children fight for their lives.

Kady and Seth's friend, Luke disappears after he reads the comic book and all that is left in the book are blank pages. Something odd is going on and Kady and Seth are determined to find out the truth. They begin to suspect that children are being lured into Malice....

This novel is great from beginning to end. The characters are all well grounded in reality, which only serves to make the fantasy world more chilling and it ends on a real cliff-hanger which leaves you desperate for more. Roll on the next book which is to be called Havoc and should be out sometime next year.

Tins

Tins
by Alex Shearer


Fergal is a bit of a loner and considered to be swotty by everyone he knows. Actually, it quite annoys him. He doesn't want to be labelled. He wants to be different. So, no boring hobbies for him, no! No collecting stamps or spotting trains. Fergal collects tins!

What kind of hobby is that, you say? Well, Fergal collects those sad lonely tins with no labels that sit abandoned in bargain bins at the supermarkets. The mystery of them is quite exciting. Anything could be inside!

His project is all going quite well and Fergal has nearly 100 tins, all weighed, measured and dated. But Fergal's parents are going insane. All of books are on the windowsill and all his tins are on the book shelf, where his books should be. They demand that some of his tins must be opened, if he wants to buy more.

And then, he makes a gruesome discovery! The contents in this tin don't slosh about inside. They go thunk, thunk thunk! No baked beans in this tin then, but a finger, yes, a human finger! Gross!

What will Fergal find next?

If you are looking for a good sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat book, then this is it! It's brilliant!