Curse of the Werewolf Boy by Chris Priestley

Beware this fiendish new illustrated adventure! It has been flying off and around the shelves like a mischievous bat.

Pin it down, open it up and you will discover peculiar goings on at Maudlin Towers School for the Not Particularly Bright Sons of the Not Especially Wealthy. There's a viking in the sports grounds, a ghost in the attic, a werewolf on the stairs and — at the heart of it all — a temporo-trans-navigational-vehicular engine (armchair modified into a time machine). One can only hope best chums Mildew and Sponge will do their utmost to restore order, while at the same time avoiding being eaten by a werewolf, chopped up by vikings or horribly punished by their eccentric cast of teachers. Best of luck, chaps.

It's morbidly delightful to have something to recommend for young readers by Chris Priestley, whose Tales of Terror books for slightly older children (or anyone ready to be scared stiff) are among my favourite books in the shop. Whatever he writes, he writes beautifully with a style indebted to classic writers of the macabre like M. R. James. There may be a bit of Molesworth in the mix here too. It's pleasing too that his illustrations, perfectly in tune with the dark comedy of the writing, feature throughout.

I gobbled up Curse of the Werewolf Boy and can't wait to get my teeth into more. May the Maudlin Towers readership spread as quickly as a werewolf's curse.

Buy The Curse of the Werewolf Boy on our webshop here.