February 2025
In 2022, I had the privledge of hosting Dan Smith on my blog with a guest post about the fourth book in his Crooked Oak series, The Terror at Hilltop House. I remember Dan sharing his love of creepy stories when he was younger and how that inspired his writing. Well, that inspiration has hit over-drive in The Deadsoul Project!
“There’s something comforting about a scary story. I know that sounds strange, but at school I looked forward to the library receiving the latest edition of The Unexplained magazine so I could read all about the weird world. The most exciting novels were always the forbidden, crumpled copies that passed from person to person and had delicious titles like The Rats, The Fog, or The Exorcist. I loved those dog-eared pages marking the ‘best bits’. In the dorm at night, when I was most likely to feel homesick (yep, boarding school) my brother read scary stories to entertain me and the other boys. Then, as a teenager, I lived on a diet of Stephen King, Shaun Hutson, and Clive Barker.“
You can read Dan’s 2022 guest post in its entirety below:
The Deadsoul Project is a part of The Night House Files – a series of unsolved mysteries kept top secret for many years. This first instalment looks into a horrifying mystery from 1977. Strange illnesses, monstrous sightings and a military cover-up leave readers to draw their own conculsions about what actually happened in this terrifying, alien-like attack.
This fast-paced story is not for the faint-hearted. Readers will recoil at the mutant creatures and have to catch their breath from the heart-pounding action. This is Crooked Oak to the next level! Fans of Jennifer Killick, the X-Files and Unsolved Mysteries will devour this new series.
Published by Barrington Stoke, The Dead Soul Project is mystery-horror for everyone (recommended age 11+). Suitable for the more courageous in Year 5 & 6, secondary school readers will LOVE it! Accessible but a really meaty story, Luke Brookes’ illustrations make it look super cool. The inculsion of a variety of text types like interviews and case reports breaks up the story and shows readers other ways to write.
This series is going to be hugely popular! I can’t wait to share it with my children’s secondary school who already love books from Barrington Stoke and are looking for stories to engage older readers.
Thank you to Barrington Stoke for an early read of this fantastic book!
Coming February 2025.
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