Tales of Terror From the Tunnel's Mouth

Synopsis: A boy is put on a train by his stepmother to make his first journey on his own. But soon that journey turns out to be more of a challenge than anyone could have imagined as the train stalls at the mouth of a tunnel and a mysterious woman in white helps the boy while away the hours by telling him stories - stories with a difference.

Review: I absolutely love this series of books. They are just creepy and spine tingly enough to make me feel enjoyably scared and not so terrifying that I can't sleep at night or start looking for faces in mirrors or hands creeping out from under beds (because of course, they are meant for children .. having said that one or two always freak me out more than is comfortable.) I love the way in which there are lots of little stories within the story and how they all build to the final revelation. In this case, the central character is Robert and he is travelling to school by train. There are a number of people that get into his carriage .. he doesn't know their names but going on their appearance he nicknames them .. the Major, the Farmer, the Bishop, the Surgeon and the Woman in White. Apart from Robert and the Woman in White, all the occupants of the carriage soon fall fast asleep and when the train comes to a sudden stop, the Woman in White begins to tell Robert some tales in order to help pass the time. These stories all have a supernatural, creepy element and unsurprisingly they make Robert feel very uneasy .. and this is coupled with the fact that his stepmother awoke from a catnap just before Robert boarded the train and said she'd had a premonition about the journey and thought he should catch a later train instead.

The stories vary in creepiness, you can sometimes work out what's going to happen as you go along and it's fun guessing (as it helps relieve the tension). Alan and I read these to each other, a chapter each, and he managed to work out the outcomes of most of the stories before we got to the ending being far more clued up than me, though sometimes his guesses were wide of the mark. My favourites among the tales were 'Gerald' .. a story of puppets (which let's face it are always creepy .. along with clowns) and 'A New Governess' .. which is a favourite subject for terror. As Robert get's more and more freaked out, he starts to question more and more what is actually happening during this train journey .. why isn't the train moving and why won't the other passengers wake up.

I love David Roberts's drawings, they help make the books special .. I'm not keen on the new covers which have different artwork and no inside illustrations. I guess they are supposed to be the 'adult' covers .. I'm sticking with the children's one's, they're quirky, creepy and absolutely perfect.

I'm hoping Chris will do more tales of terror. I just love them.