At long last – after more than a year of captivity – we are able to show you just what the vile creatures who kidnapped us look like!  Yes, these are the actual monsters who snatched us last January.

First up is Slugnok the Greater – a monster who takes particular delight in nibbling Sam Enthoven’s toes while he sleeps.  (You see, Sam – I told you it wasn’t Barry!)

Next, this is Dweep – a lesser monster with the unenviable task of slopping out the caves after our weekly slug curry.

And, finally, here’s Mr Squouch – the monster in charge of our author visits.  You’ll often find him lurking in the background whenever one of us visits a school, bookshop or library.

These terrifying, yet fantastic images were created by some of the best CGI artists in the world – and you can find a larger collection of pictures here, along with links to the artists’ websites.

However, while you are giggling at the images – please remember that these are true depictions of the monsters keeping us trapped in these dark, damp caves.  Please – send help as soon as possib-aarrrgggggghhhh!

We’ve been here for a year now.  Perhaps if I can find a way inside your computer, I may be able to get a message out…

Now it’s time for us all to do a little good.

I received the email below from Chris Bradford, author of the superb Young Samurai series. Come on folks, dig in for any help you can give and please pass the message on around your school, family, office – everyone!

Now, from Chris:

I hope you don’t mind me emailing you with this personal request.

A very good friend of mine’s little 2 year old girl, Stella, has been diagnosed with neuroblastoma (high risk) cancer. It is very sad. Her chances of survival are 20%, but an expensive antibody therapy – only available in the USA – will increase her chances to 80%.

The problem is her mother, Allison, needs to raise £250,000 for the treatment. So myself and Sarah are doing everything we can to help, and are asking all our friends and contacts to donate a little money to save her. Please do not feel obliged, but anything you can afford will really help. It’s easy to do, just click here – www.justgiving.com/stella-appeal

If a Facebook campaign can get half a million people to buy Rage Against The Machine into No.1 instead of the X Factor, we can certainly save Stella’s life. We only need 250,000 people to donate £1 or more…

Please pass on this message to Keep Stella Smiling!

For more information about the cause, please visit www.forstella.org

Thank you for your time,

Chris and Sarah

This is most worrying. The monsters are trying to change their public image by spin. Look at the commercial packaging on the new board game the monsters have snuck onto the market. The following is a direct quote:

What’s a Monster to do?

Monsters and humans UNITE! Why can’t we all just get along?

Don’t believe a word of it. It’s all lies!!! They’re not loveable. They don’t want to get along with humans. They’re horrible. It’s all a … AAAAArrrrrrggggghhhhhh!

Monsteropoly – the great new game for kids of all ages. Why don’t you get some monsters in your life today?

Don’t whisper – shout out loud!  For only by shouting will you be able to tell as many people as possible about the second utterly brilliant adventure in the annals of the world’s greatest monster investigator - Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom!

Anyone who has been reading Trapped By Monsters recently will know that I sent a message to Jack, begging for his help in an effort to free myself and my fellow captive authors from the clutches of the monstrous, er… monsters.  Unfortunately, Jack’s attempt at a rescue didn’t quite go according to plan (not our fault, honest – but I bet he blames us!) and so, while I await is return (he is coming back, right?!), I settled back to read about his latest escapades.

Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom takes our favourite beast basher to a whole new level of the monster underworld – a deep, scary level where he encounters the terrifying Mr Whisper.  But who could have dreamed up such a vile creature?  Why is he intent on attacking Cheery instead of Jack?  And just when will the self-made Minister for Monsters stop screaming?

The answers to these questions – and many more – can be found in the latest monster investigator case files –  the completely brilliant Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom.

Just make sure you keep a teddy handy when you read it…

Via TBM guest blogger, John Dougherty…

Tommy had pinpointed the wimpiest monster in the entire set-up, and with the information he gave us, Bernard was able to take us straight to the space under that monster’s bed.

Tommy’s friend Sam, meanwhile, had written a particularly scary bedtime story specially for the occasion, and just as he got to the scariest bit of all…

Cherry and I popped out and shouted, “Boo!”

“Eeeek!” shrieked the monster. “There’s children under my bed!” And it hopped out and scurried away as fast as it could.

“Okay, authors,” I said. “This is it. Freedom beckons. Just follow me back under the bed and we’ll take you home.”

And that was where it all began to go horribly wrong.

“Great!” one of them said. “Only… could we wait till tomorrow? My monster really liked the story I read it this evening, and it’s promised me fish and chips for tea.”

“Fish and chips?” said another. “That’s my favourite! Can I have some?”

“Look,” I began, “you can have fish and chips when you get home…”

But before I could finish, another one butted in: “Actually, could you maybe wait a couple of days? I’m on the final chapter of my greatest book ever, and I just won’t be able to get back in the right frame of mind if I have to finish it somewhere else.”

“Oooh, that’s a point!” said another one, and before I knew it, all eight were jabbering away, giving me their reasons why it would be best to put off the great rescue plan for another few days.

Well, you can guess what happened next. The wimpy monster came rushing back, bringing all his friends with him. As I’ve said before, I’d like to see the monster who could get the better of me; but on the other hand, you don’t get to be the world’s greatest Monster Investigator without knowing when to beat a hasty retreat.

“Come on, if you’re coming!” Cherry yelled, and together we dived under the bed. Quickly, we followed Bernard back to my room, and checked to see how many of the authors had come with us.

And you know how many had?

None. Not one.

We could have tried again, of course; but when I emailed Tommy the next day, he replied to tell me that the monsters had smashed up all the beds – partly to stop any more children coming out from underneath them, but partly because they’d decided they’d be more comfortable that way. So, bang went that plan.

Perhaps we could have come up with a different idea. But then something else happened – something that took all our attention away from any plan to rescue a bunch of grown-ups who, let’s face it, hadn’t exactly helped us to rescue them.

I had to face… The Whisper of Doom. So those authors were just going to have to fend for themselves.

Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom is out now!

Well, the monster did swallow this picture of himself but burped it up a little later. Poor Joe is still missing, presumed digested, though well done for sending us all a message mate. Just so you have a sense of scale – this picture, at 9′ long, is half the size of the real thing. And it is by no means the biggest beast oozing around inside the cave, believe me.

Via TBM guest blogger, John Dougherty…

Not knowing where the eight authors were being held prisoner, I figured the best way of finding them was to go through the monster underworld.

This isn’t easy to do, but fortunately Cherry and I have Bernard on our side. Bernard’s a monster, but he’s one of the good guys – and my best informant in the monster underworld.  He also makes a great guide. If you follow a monster who knows where he’s going, you can go under the bed, through the monster underworld, and out from under any other bed in the world.

That was where I hit my first problem. It turned out the monsters hadn’t given the authors any beds. And it’s just not possible for a monster to come out from under a bed that isn’t there.

There was only one thing to do – get the authors to write the monsters some bedtime stories.

The plan worked perfectly. After several nights of hastily-written bedtime stories for monsters, it wasn’t hard for the authors to convince their captors that it’s so much nicer to listen to a bedtime story if you’re actually in bed. And to cap it all, Tommy D artfully suggested that having to put a flat-pack bed together would be a great punishment for an author who hadn’t been writing exactly what the monsters wanted to hear.

So before long, all the monsters were tucked up in their very own beds, each in turn listening to their very own bedtime story written by their very own captive author. And after a few nights of this, it was time to put the next part of the plan into action.

I’m still inside a monster. The internet connection in here is pretty unreliable, so I hope this works…