Sometimes we do silly things and must suffer the consequences.

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Given the title and that this blog is inundated with monsters, it would be easy to misconstrue what this book by Linda Strachan is about. Spider is not like many of the books we talk about here. It’s not a tale about a gigantic Shelob-like creature creating havoc in Scotland! It’s an urban thriller about a boy nicknamed Spider who TWOCs a car and takes his mates on a high speed joy-ride through the back streets of his town. Unfortunately for Spider, the joy-ride ends disastrously and he must live with the consequences of his actions.

This is a gripping drama for teens with great characters, a hard-hitting storyline and plenty of thought-provoking issues to explore. Until now the only books I’d read by Linda were for much younger children, but she makes writing for older look effortless. With sharp dialogue and a fast-moving plot, there is enough in this tale to keep even the most reluctant reader entertained. It gets a big thumbs up from me and I’ll be sure to look out for more books by this author in future.

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Christmas. You know how it is. Mandatory family fun. Squabbling over who had the last strawberry creme out of the Quality Street tin, charades, damp Twiglets. Monopoly, cheese football fights, Twister… Why not do something wordily fun this Christmas? WORD & QUESTION!!!

This picture was inspired by a very early poem concocted as a result of playing the Word & Question game with my old school and silly co-writing mate Val (Valerie Crook then, Valeria Cass Bell now).

Here’s how the game works. Everyone writes a word on a bit of paper. Any word. The sillier, the better. Fold over the paper and pass it along – or throw them all in a pile and randomly pick up another. Then everyone writes a question. Again, daft is good.

Then – throw in a pile again. Randomly pick out. Now you must write a poem including the word and answering the question. WARNING: the subsequent readings out usually result in someone choking on their egg nog.

The example from my teenage days is this – Word and Question set by Val: Bilberry. Has your hamster sharpened all the green pencils yet?  And my poetic response? Get ready for Byronesque greatness now…

Well, he’s trying very hard to get the pencils sharp

And his heart’s not really in it; he’d rather play his harp

But I put him in a cornflake packet with nothing but some nuts

I gave him one and said, ‘Now hack it – and none of your ifs and buts’

So he’s trying very hard now, very

Da da da da da, bilberry

(I think I was having an off day.)

OK – want to have a go? I’ll start you off. The word is Fossick and the question is Do you have one of those in green with spots on?  I wait with extreme excitement for your poems!  (I don’t get out much.)

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At last! I’ve finally got around to starting my own blog: www.davidmelling.co.uk/blog

Which means as well as posting stuff like this mad eye-balled idiot here on Trapped By Monsters…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I might post stuff like this little chap…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, we all have a dark and fluffy side.

Why not let me help you get in touch with yours here…and here.

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My thanks to my friend the formidable James N. for making me grin with this:

I might fault the extra ‘i’ in ‘Moriarty’ but with the rest I only heartily concur: it may well be that behind Chuck Norris‘ beard there is another fist, but in terms of miles covered and enemies suavely bested Peter Cushing is still the greatest.

In another change from the Japan-related nature of my blog posts lately here’s In Chambers, an awesomely sinister short film by promising Norwegian director Aleksander Nordaas. I saw it on my favourite film website, Twitch. It’s been festering in my brain ever since.

More soon,

Sam

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Time travel stories always give me a headache. I normally end up pondering over the paradoxical nature of what would happen if… Time Riders by Alex Scarrow was no exception. However, the headache was worth it! The first book in this series gripped me quickly with its lightning fast chapters and its rapidly evolving story arc. I like the idea of independent cells of time police monitoring for ripples in the timeline. I’m not so sure about them all being youngsters, as aside from the team member allocated to actually making the jumps through time, the reason for their all needing to be so young is not really justified. Putting this aside and allowing for the fact it is written for a young audience, there is no doubt that Alex Scarrow has hit on a winning formula.

Liam O’Connor is plucked from certain death aboard the Titanic. Maddy Carter should have died in an aircraft disaster in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. Together they form a cell of Timeriders – an interesting team with diverse skills and backgrounds, well drawn characters and interesting, clearly defined roles in the story. I’m sold on this. The writing is sharp. The ideas, whilst not exactly new, are well executed with a distinctive style that is appealing. This is a series I will certainly be recommending widely as an action-packed read for boys and girls aged 10+.

What would you do if you realised someone had changed the outcome of World War 2? Would you have the guts to leap back in time and try to put things right? Get it right and it’s life as usual – terrorists, capitalism, burgers and Justin Bieber. Get it wrong and … well, you wouldn’t want to do that!

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Last weekend, while enjoying the generous hospitality of two new Japanese friends, I made a terrible mistake. We were talking about Tengu, and the festival in their honour held yearly in Shimokitazawa where I’m currently living. Having read something on this subject in the guidebook, I piped up brightly and said, ‘Tengu are yokai, aren’t they?’

The room fell silent. ‘No,’ said my host. ‘Not yokai. Gods.’

Yikes. Knowing that the gods of Japan may always be listening, it was obvious that a reparative gesture was in order. So, a couple of days later, I dutifully set off up Mount Takao – a known Tengu habitat and the location of a temple dedicated to them – to apologise.

It was a public holiday, and thousands of people were visiting the mountain to admire its beautiful autumn colours.

From the chairlift the scenery looked spectacular…

But as I climbed past the shrines to the summit I heard disapproving tutting sounds coming from the shrubbery…

I gulped. Tengu are known, among other things, to be fearsome martial artists. I knew that if I didn’t tread carefully I would be in serious trouble.

There are two kinds of Tengu. Above left, you can see a Karasu-tengu or ‘Raven-tengu’ – “the footsoldiers and enforcers of the Tengu world,” according to the book. He didn’t look happy. On the right stands a Hanadaka-tengu or ‘Longnose Tengu’, said to be even more powerful. He didn’t exactly look pleased to see me either.

In both Japanese and English and as humbly as I could, I apologised for my disrespect. The Hanadaka-tengu gave me a look…

…and then turned away.

‘A Hanadaku-tengu’, (the guidebook says), ‘would rarely indulge in wanton violence. Instead it prefers to play tricks on its prey, often in an attempt to teach a wayward soul a lesson. Quite often the victims of this mischief are spirited away to some far-flung location.’

Can I dare to hope that the Tengu will show mercy, given that I’m at a far-flung location already?

I’m not counting on it. And I’ll watch my tongue in future.

Sam

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It’s a big week in France…  Scream Street begins publishing in French.

Scream Street – or Trouille-la-Mort as the series will be known (which, according to Google, translates as Funk Death) – has been translated by Anouk Journo-Durey, and gets exciting new covers.  Check out the new look Luke, Resus and Cleo get for Fang of the Vampire and Blood of the Witch…

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Hello!

Guest Blogger Laura here, bringing you another snippet of Monsterliciousness!

My partner in crime Christian recently found this poetry book from his childhood:

Apparently it used to completely horrify him. Quite right too! Honestly, it’s scaring me a little even now.

This is down to terrifically terrifying writing from poets such as Ted Hughes, Roger McGough, Ogden Nash and J.R.R. Tolkein. Coupled with equally odd and utterly disturbing imagery from Charles Fuge. . . just like this:

This..

And this guy..

  ..who reminds me of this guy:

Apart from thinking how much this would have fascinated me and scared the living daylights out of me as a kid, it also makes me a little sad.

Sad because I once had my own childhood monster book which freaked me out and i’d LOVE to discover it now. But I presume it was given away without my knowledge. I remember so vividly picking it out from the mobile, fold-away, shiny silver bookcases in my primary school assembly hall, when the book fair came to visit. It was a collection of short monster stories (that’s short stories about monsters, not stories about short monsters!). They were all fantastic but the one that scared me the most, above all others, was about a seaweed-covered monster who lived under an up-turned boat on a pebble strewn beach.

Does anyone else remember this book?

What books from your childhood used to really scare you?

Have you recently found a book from your past that brought back strange memories?

Do you have a book at home now which totally creeps you out?

Sleep tight

____

Monstrosities

Charles Fuge

9780099673309

(1989)

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Book Fair, Horror, illustration, Monsters, Poetry!, writing