Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth by Chris Priestley. Reviewed by Kelly McCaughrain

I’m always complaining that there aren’t enough short story collections for kids and teens so I was really pleased to discover Chris Priestley’s Tales of Terror from the Tunnel’s Mouth.

 

This collection of horror stories is wonderful. Each creepy story features a slightly unpleasant child meeting a bad end. But the clever part is that the stories are all linked. They’re all being told by a sinister ‘Woman in White’ to a young boy who has the feeling that they’re supposed to put him to sleep, and that falling asleep would be a very very bad idea. It’s a kind of reversed Scheherazade for kids. 

It’s set in a Victorian world and I loved that the language hasn’t been simplified. Priestley makes no apology for all the long words a child might have to look up or guess (and therefore learn) the meaning of from the context, or the many references to classic literature.

The illustrations by David Roberts are beautifully macabre in the style of a Tim Burton movie.

 

These atmospheric cautionary tales are highly readable, short, fun and chilling but not too scary for middle grade readers. Best enjoyed just before bed!

Kelly McCaughrain is the author of the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year,

Flying Tips for Flightless Birds. 

She is the Children's Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland #CWFNI

She also blogs at The Blank Page

@KMcCaughrain

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Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Chris Priestley - review by Dawn Finch

First the blurb...

AND THEN THERE WERE SHOTS
Everybody
ran,
ducked, 
hid, tucked
themselves tight.

Pressed our lips to the
pavement and prayed
the boom, followed by 
the buzz of a bullet,
didn't meet us.

After Will's brother is shot in a gang crime, he knows the next steps. Don't cry. Don't snitch. Get revenge. So he gets in the lift with Shawn's gun, determined to follow The Rules. Only when the lift door opens, Buck walks in, Will's friend who died years ago. And Dani, who was shot years before that. As more people from his past arrive, Will has to ask himself if he really knows what he's doing.

I read a lot of books - hundreds of them every year, but it's not often that a book leaves me speechless. I read Long Way Down shortly after it was published in January, and it has taken me this long to review it because it was hard to find the words. In that time I've been sharing it with everyone I meet and telling them that if they only buy one book this year, it should be this one.

There have been a few verse books hit the shelves over the last few years, and some of them have been excellent, some have not. It is not only a difficult format to master, but it is also incredibly difficult to sell and to get young readers to take a chance on. So many readers feel that poetry is not for them, and feel excluded by the format. Long Way Down is the book to challenge that.

Reynolds' free and fluid verse is engaging and captures the reader from the opening lines. He writes with a living ease that feels real, and honest. This is the voice of youth, and anger, and it speaks directly to the reader. This is not the sound of pretentiousness or of fusty academia, this is the voice of fear, and hate, and sadness and grief. Will is real and in this verse we know him, and we understand him, and through this we understand the plight and situation of the young people who walk in his shoes.

Detail - art by Chris Priestley

The book is a powerful package with the verse supported by Chris Priestley's characteristically superb illustrations. Darkness oozes from scratchy images of Will's life. Frozen moments of memories, wisps of the past and the horrors of the present. Inky flashes of bullets, guns, body bags and fragments of the life of a boy who has been swept away into this terrible world.

This is not only a great book and a great read, it is also one of those very rare things - it is an important book.

Long Way Down is written by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Chris Priestley
Published by Faber and Faber
ISBN - 978 0571335121

Reviewed by Dawn Finch, author and librarian.
www.dawnfinch.com
@dawnafinch

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Anything That Isn't This by Chris Priestley review by Dawn Finch

First the blurb...

Seventeen-year-old Frank Palp lives in a grim little apartment, in a grim little building, in an exceedingly grim city. This is a city full of contradictions, and Frank is no exception. He mostly hates his life, he definitely hates the ludicrous city he is forced to live in and he absolutely with complete certainty hates the idiots he's surrounded by . . . and yet he is in love. A love so pure and sparkling and colourful, Frank feels sure it is 'meant to be'. His love is a reward for all the terrible grey that he is surrounded by - which would be great, if the girl in question knew he existed. And then one day, the perfect sign lands in his lap. A message, in a bottle. A wish, for 'anything that isn't this'. The girl who wrote this is surely his soulmate - and now he just needs to find her.

Frank is as grim as the city in which he lives and is a rather pretentious self-obsessed teenager. (That sounds terrible - stick with me....) He lives under the cold grip of The Grey which he feels sucks the colour and life out of the world. He grumpily blunders through his life feeling that he has no choice, no control and no options. He hates everyone, and the people around him are gradually losing patience with him as his life is slipping past. Then he finds those glorious words that someone else wishes for "anything that isn't this" and he sees a glimmer of light at the end of the Grey tunnel.

This book is, quite frankly (no pun intended) one of the best books I've read this year. The tale of Frank, his life and his family is curiously compelling and the book is impossible to put down. I was reminded of classics such as Peake's Gormenghast, and even Walpole's Castle of Otranto, such is the detail of the Castle and the City that dominates Frank's life.

The book is visually stunning too as the text is supported by Priestley's own illustrations. These inky images drive home the chilling and suffocating atmosphere of Frank's world and provide more than just support to the text. They are an important element in the delivery of the story and I'd love to see more of them. In fact this would make an extraordinary graphic novel or animation, and I very much hope that someone is considering doing just that.

I have read all of Priestley's books, and I feel that this is his finest work to date. I am very envious of its effortless flow, cool style and Gothic elegance. In fact I only have one complaint - Chris, don't introduce me to something as completely fabulous as invisible lizards and then only give me a little bit! More lizards please.

Anything That Isn't This is published by Hot Key Books 

• ISBN-10: 1471404641

Reviewed by Dawn Finch

YA author, librarian (President of CILIP) and CWIG committee member

@dawnafinch

www.dawnfinch.com

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The Last Of The Spirits by Chris Priestley - Review by Dawn Finch

First the blurb....

London is in the icy grip of winter. Sam is freezing and hungry. When he asks a wealthy man, Ebeneezer Scrooge, for money he is rudely refused. Sam is filled with violent rage and vows to kills this selfish man. Later, huddled in a graveyard for warmth, Sam sees the wraithlike figure of a man approaching. The man warns Sam about the terrible future which awaits him if he chooses the path of murder...

Chris Priestley has enviable talent as a writer of Gothic tales and, in November 2014, adds The Last of the Spirits to his growing bookshelf of titles. 'Tis the season of ghosts and icy nights, and so this is a fitting time to bring out this companion to Dickens' Christmas Carol. Companion is exactly what this book is, those expecting a simple retelling will be in for a pleasant surprise as this tale stands solidly beside Christmas Carol, but this is no retelling.

Last of the Spirits follows the misfortune of two homeless children on the icy streets of 19th Century London. The two children, siblings Sam and Lizzie, are caught up in the spectral visitations that plague Scrooge through his tormented Christmas Eve. They are not part of Ebeneezer's story yet, they have their own tale to tell first.

Many writers have tried to snack at the groaning table of Dickens' remarkable works, but Priestley brings something new and satisfying to the feast. In a time of over-long tomes filled with wasted words, this book is refreshingly bright and to the point. No wasted words here. Priestley writes with blade-sharp clarity and this story is completely new, whilst also having a reassuringly familiar quality. It is rather like finding out something new and fascinating about an old family member. Priestley has turned the camera-eye around on the classic tale, thus allowing us to see what else might have been happening at the same time. The story has lots of chilling moments, plenty of ghosts, and you can really feel the deep icy cold of the season as you read it. I recommend a nice cosy room when you read this!

One thing that really jumped out at me (including the startling spirits!) was how well this book reads aloud. Even the best of books sometimes fall down when it comes to reading them aloud, but Last of the Spirits would make an excellent book to share aloud with others. Dickens regularly read Christmas Carol out loud and did so for decades after publication. Some books are written to be heard as well as read, and I can see this taking its place as one of those books brought out every year to share again.

Review by Dawn Finch (author of Brotherhood of Shades. www.dawnfinch.com)

Last of the Spirits by Chris Priestley

Suggested reading age - 9-11

Pub - Bloomsbury

06 November 2014

ISBN - 9781408854136

Cover price - £10.99

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