WRITING FOR CHILDREN
Spook it up!
How do you write a ghost story for children that contemporary readers will relate to? Amy Sparkes finds out.
Spooky stories are very popular with children. Three debut authors share their thoughts on creating spooktacular tales.
LOUISE FORSHAW– GRIM FALLS ACADEMY
Grim Falls Academy is a chapter book series about a monster school. The idea came when I created some ‘mock’ chapter book covers to showcase an older style of illustration. One cover was Grim Falls Academy: Don’t Eat the Soup. A story idea appeared, and I knew I had to write it.
All the students and teachers are monsters, be that werewolf, vampire, witch, zombie, mummy, etc. But at its heart, it’s a school for anyone who is ‘different’ – aplace where my characters feel at home and can be themselves. And since it’s a school, my characters also deal with ordinary situations such as bullies and schoolwork.
In Don’t Eat the Soup, the teachers are suddenly sprouting tentacles and losing their memories. Amongst the chaos, Seb and Victor along with new student, Tabby, must discover the root of the problem before the school inspector arrives.
In Don’t Feed the Glob, the Mad Science teacher is acting strange and small, slime-like creatures are eating everything in sight. When everyone in the school has gone missing, Seb, Victor and Tabby must solve the mystery and stop the slime. In Don’t Open the Box, Seb opens a mysterious box, a pesky troll is wreaking havoc and the school has been turned into one massive maze. Seb, Victor and Tabby must discover the truth behind the troll before it’s too late.