Whispering Hollow
Rachel Burge
Welbeck Children’s Books

Despite having seen a strange figure at the window during the night on her previous visit, nature-loving Pippa Newton is looking forward to staying again with her grandfather in his cottage at the edge of a forest. Her brother Jed though, isn’t happy about spending half-term without a decent wi-fi connection in a freezing place. However it very soon becomes evident that something isn’t right. For starters, Grandpa seems scared all the time, his home is full of twig creatures, there’s forest debris everywhere and he insists on wearing his jumper inside out. He tells the siblings they are on no account to venture into the forest.
Meanwhile, there are scary beings lurking, watching the children who are in danger from ancient, dark forces, eager to get them into their clutches. Pippa in particular is determined to find out what is happening and so ignores Grandpa’s instructions to stay out of the forest. Nightmarish happenings both keep her awake at night or are the subject of her dreams. Should she talk to Grandpa and risk getting into trouble?
Pippa has a falling out with Jed who thinks talk of faerie magic is stupid.

I’ll leave you pondering on the possibilities and merely say that this tale will very quickly have you in its creepy clutches and keep you reading till the final sentence. It’s superbly written, perfectly paced and full of intrigue and frights. KS2 readers who enjoy spooky tales with love this one.

There are more frights in:

Bella Bright and the Witch Tree
Carolyn Ward, illustrated by Beatriz Castro
Welbeck Children’s Books

This is the scary sequel to Bella Bright and the Ghost Game. Now Bella has moved she’s pleased to be meeting up with her three friends again; she’s invited them to visit her new home, Spooktwist Cottage, located in the grounds of a ruined manor house. Are there ghostly beings around? As they wander around those grounds, they come upon a hedge maze and despite not everyone being keen to explore it, enter they do. Suddenly they’re back in bygone days (1713 they later discover) when any woman deemed to be a witch could be hanged from a tree. Not only are they facing ghostly beings, there’s a man after them. They also meet a girl named Eva who seems friendly and takes them to see her Aunt Comfort, a healer, who asks if they’d travelled there by touching the tree. They learn that the man, Hopson, is a villainous one full of prejudice and hatred and his son Henry is missing.
Somehow, thanks to the willow tree, Bella manages to get back to the present but without her friends. Reaching the old manor buildings she sees another ghost: it’s Henry Hopson. After talking with him, Bella knows she must get the boy back to his own time and rescue Skylar, Regan and Lex before they disappear for ever.

With many nail-biting moments and several cliffhangers, readers will be rooting for Bella as she digs deep, summons all her courage and strength, determined to succeed in the face of a roaring fire. It’s terrifyingly good stuff and eerily illustrated by Beatriz Castro.