Back in December 2009, I attended an author event in Newcastle City Library. There were a number of publishers there, all talking about their upcoming projects, and bigging them up to anyone who’d listen.

One of the projects which was enjoying an enormous amount of bigging up from its publisher, was the Witchfinder series by William Hussey. It was, we were assured by the speaker from Oxford University Press, a masterpiece, and one of the best children’s horror novels ever written.

William Hussey was there at the event, looking mildly embarrassed by the gushing praise being heaped upon his book. And rightly so, I thought. How could a book possibly live up to such hype?

Three months later, I read the first book in the series – Dawn of the Demontide – and what I will say is this:

The hype was right.

The book is a dark urban fantasy/horror, about a gate, some demons, ancient guardians, and a boy named Jake. It opens with a child being sacrificed, and things get steadily worse (or better, depending on your point of view) from there.

The story concerns a mystical doorway, behind which lurks an army of savage demons. Every twenty-five years a sacrifice must be made to keep the door closed. The last sacrifice was twenty-five years ago, and fifteen-year-old Jake Harker’s world is about to be turned upside down.

If you think you’ve heard of similar plots before, that’s because you may well have. Sealing doorways to the underworld using the blood of the innocent is an age-old plot device, but I don’t recall a time it was ever done as well as it is here. Besides, these are just the broad strokes of the book. It is in the detail that Hussey’s writing shines.

Filled with fantastically developed characters, thrilling situations, and enough heart-stopping scares to . . . um . . . stop a heart, Witchfinder: Dawn of the Demontide is a must read for fans of horror or urban fantasy. Find out more at the official website – WitchfinderBooks.co.uk

To celebrate the book being so flippin’ ace, we’ve managed to bag a copy to give away. To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is answer the following question.

Q. In the film, The Wizard of Oz, after the house falls on the Wicked Witch, the Munckins sing: Ding Dong! The Witch is …

A) Dead

B) Norwegian

C) Under a house

Send you answer, along with your name and email address to barry@trappedbymonsters.com.

Good luck!

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