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.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

A fantastically macabre and sinister little book. Full of atmosphere and dread. You are grabbed straight away by the first paragraph.

'My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise, I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death cap mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead.'

This isn't strictly true, the two sisters live with their uncle Julian in their big rambling old house. uncle Julian isn't well, he hasn't been well since that fateful night when a dose of arsenic found it's way into the sugar bowl on the dining table.

'You will be wondering about that sugar bowl, I imagine. Is it still in use? you are wondering; has it been cleaned? you may very well ask; was it thoroughly washed?'

Synopsis: Merricat Blackwood lives on the family estate with her sister Constance and her uncle Julian. Not long ago there were seven Blackwoods - until a fatal dose of arsenic found its way into the sugar bowl one terrible night. Acquitted of the murders, Constance has returned home, where Merricat protects her from the curiosity and hostility of the villagers. Their days pass in happy isolation until cousin Charles appears. Only Merricat can see the danger, and she must act swiftly to keep Constance from his grasp.

Review: We join the book as Mary Katherine or Merricat as she is nicknamed, is making her way home from her twice weekly shopping trip to the local village. She needs to go to get food and library books, Constance and uncle Julian never leave the house and Merricat wouldn't go either if it wasn't strictly necessary. The villagers stare at her, they mutter insults, the curtains twitch, shopkeepers serve her immediately to hasten her departure, the children jeer, they sing rhymes ..

'Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea?

Oh no, said Merricat, you'll poison me.

Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go asleep?

Down in the boneyard ten feet deep!'

Constance had been suspected of the murders and put on trial but was subsequently aquitted. She looks after Merricat and uncle Julian now, lovingly attending to their every need and want. Cooking all their favourite things and making sure they're comfortable. But she never goes into the village, it would be too much for her.

Uncle Julian, in a wheelchair now (thankfully he didn't put too much sugar on his blackberries) and slowly losing his wits, is writing a book about the murders. He checks from time to time with Constance to verify the facts of that fateful day ... he constantly replays every moment.
Merricat loves her cat Jonas, she likes to bury and hide things as talismans. She can sense change is in the air and she thinks of three magic words ... Melody, Gloucester and Pegasus ... if nobody says these words then everything will be fine.

Change comes in the shape of cousin Charles. His parents had forbidden him to come to the aid of his orphaned cousin's and uncle before but now they are both dead. It's not long before he's settled into their fathers room. Merricat hates him, and not least because Constance seems to like him and is suddenly beginning to view things his way. Perhaps she should get on with her life, perhaps she should stop running around after Merricat and uncle Julian, perhaps she could
venture into the outside world again.

We inhabit Merricat's mind, everything we read is from her viewpoint. And Merricat's mind is a pretty dark and disturbing place to be. When she feels threatened, she often recites the names of poisonous plant's or mushroom's (drummed into her by Constance) which is very disturbing for their occasional do-gooding visitors. They hover over the cup of tea and cake they've been given, unsure now.

Merricat's distrust of Charles heightens, he is a threat to their future safety and security, Uncle Julian doesn't like or trust him either, only Constance is taken in.

The book ends quite tranquilly, though in a tragic and desolate way. I thought it was a good ending befitting the story. Like a calm after an extremely ferocious storm!

A strange little tale, quirky and unusual, macabre and disturbing. A real treat.

Set in Stone

Synopsis: When Samuel Godwin, a young and naive art tutor, accepts a job with the Farrow family at their majestic home, little does he expect to come across such a web of secrets and lies. His two tutees are as different as chalk and cheese - the beautiful younger sister Marianne, full of flightiness and nervous imagination, and Juliana, oddly sensible and controlled. Assisted by their elusive governess, Charlotte Agnew, Samuel begins to uncover slowly why Marianne is so emotionally fragile. But his discoveries lead to revenge and betrayal - and lives all around are turned upside down as life and death combat each other for supremacy. Linda Newbery has written a novel in diary style, combining different voices and a different century with her usual brilliance and ease. These are characters full of the same passions as our own today, while living in a less familiar and fascinating time.

Review: This book won the Costa Childrens Book of the Year and it's easy to see why (though there are some dark themes so I'm surprised that it's classed as a children's book), it's a real page turner. It's set in 1898 somewhere near the South Downs in a beautiful country mansion named Fourwinds (not a crumbling mansion for a change .. a very beautiful, newly built mansion) and the narrative alternates between Samuel Godwin, a young artist who has been employed as tutor to the two young ladies that live at Fourwinds (Marianne and Juliana) and Charlotte Agnew, their governess and companion.

The story begins with Samuel travelling to Fourwinds to take up his post as artist and tutor. Darkness has fallen by the time he arrives, and as he opens the gates to enter the grounds he hears a shrill cry and soon after see's the cloaked figure of a young girl running towards him. She's in great distress and seems to be searching for someone, when Samuel enquires who she is looking for, she eventually answers

'the West Wind ... he must be found, captured and secured'.

This young lady turns out to be Marianne, one of his pupils. She's sixteen, very beautiful, passionate and wilful. Her sister Juliana is nineteen, small, delicate and recently returned from convalescence. Samuel learns that their mother is lately dead and their father is doing his best to provide a secure home and proper education for them.

Samuel finds that the inhabitants of Fourwinds are hiding some secrets, one involves the sculptures that adorn the house walls. There are three sculptures on three walls, the North Wind, the South Wind and the East Wind, but the West Wind sculpture is missing. Samuel learns that the sculptor was dismissed, as was the girls previous governess, what could the reasons be behind this?. Also it would seem that the girls mother fell to her death from an upstairs balcony, was it an accident?

Charlotte, is very prim and proper, she has grown very fond of the girls and is quite jealous of any mention of their former governess. She is hiding some secrets about her own life but like Samuel she is curious to know the answers to some of the mysteries at Fourwinds. Like all good literary characters, instead of minding their own business, they go digging around (seperately) for clues and answers.

It's very atmospheric, quite Jane Eyrish (though to compare the writing to Charlotte Bronte would be pushing things a bit) and gothic in style. There's a bit of a nod towards Jane Austen's 'Sense & Sensibility' too with the two girls .. one passionate and wilful (called Marianne), one quiet and serious (though it was only the slightest of nods, a mere incline of the head really). There are twists and turns a plenty including one pretty shocking one which I totally failed to see coming, but then I am a plotline twist-ignoramus.Definitely recommended for young adults (and old adults), but not for children.