A shiver went down the spine of teachers and students on Friday, as horror writer, Danny Weston, also known as children's author Phil Caveney, visited Ellesmere Park High School as part of World Storytelling Week...
"We watched a film trailer about a doll that comes alive" quivered Year 8 student Nathan Brown "It was quite scary, I don't like dolls..."
... "He read a bit of his book about dolls that sing and dance in the night, and they try and get you to come to them" trembled Tom Woolley "It was very scary..."
... "He read some of his World War Two book where kids have to go away from their parents to a house..." shuddered Chloe Bridle...
"Ah yes, that's The Piper" explained Danny Weston "It's about two kids who are evacuees and are sent to Romney Marsh in Kent, to a house where there are a lot of strange things going on at night...they can hear the sound of pipes being played out on the Marsh and the young girl, Daisy, gets drawn to the music...
"The new book, Mr Sparks, is about a ventriloquist dummy; I've always been freaked out by those" he laughed "These books are very dark but kids are very sophisticated now, and the kind of stuff that terrified us when we were young they take in their stride now. I loved ghost stories as a kid and I've gone back and decided to do that thing which is really hard to do; to scare kids just with words on paper."
On Friday he was doing a pretty good job of it, with the teachers getting a bit jittery too...
"It terrifies me but the kids love it" insisted Sarah Eggleton, Ellesmere's Assistant Head of English, who had organised the sessions with school librarian Britta Leonard "They do have very active imaginations. It definitely generates a buzz and a bit of excitement. If you're just sat in a classroom all day writing stories you think `Urgh it's not for anything', but when you see someone who has made a successful career out of it, it does inspire them. Some have really come out of their shells and produced really exciting work. He ignites that passion and switches it on so it's been really effective that way."
Danny Weston is the horror-writing pseudonym of children's author Philip Caveney, who has published over forty books and has been Ellesmere's Patron of Reading for the past three years, even donating books which were handed to Year 7 pupils as Christmas presents.
"He's been really instrumental in helping us promote reading" Sarah added "We have `drop everything and read' twice a week in school where students read for pleasure in any lesson. It's time tabled to spread the message that reading isn't just about English; it's a lifelong learning experience that you can carry with you all the way through life as fun - but whether or not they always see it as fun is another matter..."
The Year 8 students who were present in Danny's class certainly enjoyed scare time and also the learning experience...
"It's exciting because it's creative writing, so we can see how different stories are written and it helps us make our own stories" explained Adibah Choudhury.
And now the students are doing exactly that, using Danny's tips to write ghoulish tales conceived in darkest Eccles. So does the author, who gave the students a taste of his nasty new soon-to-be-published novel, enjoy frightening the life out of young people? He answered with another question...
"What's the first book we give to little children? Little Red Riding Hood...Hansel and Gretel...These are essentially horror stories, they are told from the youngest age and are kids' blueprint of what is acceptable in the world and what is not" he said "I think it's a wonderful thing to be a little bit challenged by something you know is on paper, and you can close it and put it on the shelf and it can't harm you. I think that's great training for later life..."
He also has an infectious passion for encouraging young people to read...
"It's incredibly important" he urged "We live in an age where books and storytelling are marginalised. When I come to schools I can tell within five or ten minutes of talking to kids whether they have a regime of reading or not...because the ones who read are more engaged, they're intelligent, they're more focused, curious; they'll ask questions, they are conversationalists...
"I think that reading is one of the most valuable things you can give to your children but sadly we live in an age where they are taking that away from them" he argued "I, and lots of other authors, are up in arms about it saying `This can't happen, it's wrong'. It's such an important thing..."
Danny Weston has been shortlisted for the Scottish Book Awards for The Piper and the Sefton Super Reads for Mr Sparks. For more details on all Philip Caveney and Danny Weston books see the website www.philip-caveney.co.uk/
Main photo shows Year 8 students with Danny Weston
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