The spellbindingly creepy middle-grade debut from the bestselling author of The Bear and the
Nightingale . 'Terrifying and fun.' - R L Stine author of Goosebumps After rescuing a
book from the river eleven-year-old Ollie discovers a creepy ghost story about the Smiling Man
a fiendish trickster who can grant any wish - for a price. Luckily it's just a story ... But
when Ollie finds the characters' names carved into gravestones on a school trip to a farm the
story begins to feel terrifyingly real. And then the bus breaks down on the way home under the
watchful eyes of the scarecrows. And darkness starts to fall. 'Best get moving ' the bus driver
warns the schoolchildren. 'At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you.' As Ollie and two
new friends work to unravel a hundred-year-old mystery and save their classmates from the
Smiling Man they'll need quick thinking and even quicker feet if they're going to survive.
Full of slow-burning tension gloriously creepy writing and fantastically realised characters
this is horror at its best: a perfect read for fans of R L Stine Jennifer Killick and Phil
Hickes.