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Hide and Seek
Refreshed and repackaged edition of the hugely popular thriller from top author Cathy MacPhail.Nicola wants to scare the new girl, Destiny, so she and her gang stay overnight in the school. After all, Destiny doesn't realise that all the stories about the school being haunted are made up. Or are they? Terrifying chiller. With a reading age of 8, particularly suitable for reluctant, struggling and dyslexic readers.
- GenresHorror
66 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2009
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43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 26, 2025
Very suspenseful and had me on the edge of my seat. Short and finished it in 40 minutes. Has a dyslexic friendly font 🙏🏻👍
March 2, 2014
I usually really like Catherine MacPhail stories. I fell in love with ‘Another Me’ and it stemmed from then on. The easy reading and fabulous twists that usually occur are what draw me to her books, and the reason for me picking up this short story. However, was left feeling a little deflated with no excitement after reading this.
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A night in the so-called haunted school should be nothing but fun for Nicola and her friends. A great way to scare thr new girl. But when they start to disappear one by one, Nicola no longet finds it funny and realises that something else may be there.
I felt the story started flat from the beginning. There was a real lack of fire from the start and felt that the narrative just kept going down hill from there. There was no waves in the way it was told, I felt no tension was there and it was just being relayed rather than letting the audience have a journey. And that was a real disappointment.
Half way through I felt like the story was not really going anywhere. No drama, just ‘and then he was gone’. Where was the suspense?! Even when there was only Nicola left I felt like I was just reading through the motions. I was not reading fear. It just was not thrust on me.
Whilst it did contain a pretty imaginative twist, I was not shocked by it at all. Had it been the unimaginative and dull one dimensional characters, or the slow pace in which I was forced to read, I don’t know. But the bunched up, rushed revelation was lost underneath the gunk of the rest of the novella.
This short story fell particularly flat. I was neither excited or amazed, which is a shame because I really do like the author.
image
A night in the so-called haunted school should be nothing but fun for Nicola and her friends. A great way to scare thr new girl. But when they start to disappear one by one, Nicola no longet finds it funny and realises that something else may be there.
I felt the story started flat from the beginning. There was a real lack of fire from the start and felt that the narrative just kept going down hill from there. There was no waves in the way it was told, I felt no tension was there and it was just being relayed rather than letting the audience have a journey. And that was a real disappointment.
Half way through I felt like the story was not really going anywhere. No drama, just ‘and then he was gone’. Where was the suspense?! Even when there was only Nicola left I felt like I was just reading through the motions. I was not reading fear. It just was not thrust on me.
Whilst it did contain a pretty imaginative twist, I was not shocked by it at all. Had it been the unimaginative and dull one dimensional characters, or the slow pace in which I was forced to read, I don’t know. But the bunched up, rushed revelation was lost underneath the gunk of the rest of the novella.
This short story fell particularly flat. I was neither excited or amazed, which is a shame because I really do like the author.
August 8, 2020
A brilliant, engaging story. Very consistent and its simple to read as I read all of it in an hour.
It was quite simplistic for the style of the story which makes it accessible for a younger audience but Cathy MacPhail's stories are incredible so go and check out more of her work!
Great for those who want to get into the horror/ghost story genre (myself included)
Plus I will end the review with this:
((SORT OF) SPOILER)
Nicola deserved it.
It was quite simplistic for the style of the story which makes it accessible for a younger audience but Cathy MacPhail's stories are incredible so go and check out more of her work!
Great for those who want to get into the horror/ghost story genre (myself included)
Plus I will end the review with this:
((SORT OF) SPOILER)
Nicola deserved it.
August 26, 2017
Builds up a genuine tension and is quite scary.
March 12, 2024
Just read this as my literacy class are reading it.
Absolutely flew through, they're gonna love it
Absolutely flew through, they're gonna love it
August 3, 2016
I was intrigued by this book because it was written with the express goal of targeting upper middle grade readers who struggle or have dyslexia. The text is written in mostly simple sentences. After reading it, I found that the novel didn't suffer much from this approach.
I don't typically read horror novels because I scare easily. This one definitely did the trick. It was scary. Even though the book is super short, very straight-forward, and written with simple text, I found myself hooked by increasing fear. I also thought it was interesting that this novel is written from the (third person) perspective of a bully. That's an unusual approach, and I found it fascinating. It really made me wonder why people can be cruel to others. Of course, since this book is so short, the characters are all rather flat and the plot follows only one main storyline. Therefore, there isn't any delving into why the main character is cruel to others. That would have been a great element to add, though.
Overall Hide and Seek was sufficiently scary and does the job of grabbing older readers who need simpler text.
I don't typically read horror novels because I scare easily. This one definitely did the trick. It was scary. Even though the book is super short, very straight-forward, and written with simple text, I found myself hooked by increasing fear. I also thought it was interesting that this novel is written from the (third person) perspective of a bully. That's an unusual approach, and I found it fascinating. It really made me wonder why people can be cruel to others. Of course, since this book is so short, the characters are all rather flat and the plot follows only one main storyline. Therefore, there isn't any delving into why the main character is cruel to others. That would have been a great element to add, though.
Overall Hide and Seek was sufficiently scary and does the job of grabbing older readers who need simpler text.
March 19, 2015
Even though the main storyline of Hide and Seek was ok, the execution of it just wasn't satisfying. Nicole was a flat, stone-cold MC, and a mean bitch to say the least. Destiny surprised me a bit. WAS she Lana Watts? Did she know her? I felt her have some sort agenda against Nicole - not that Nicole was a hard person to hate - and that made me curious. Sadly, we never learn anything else about that.
There was no other characters worth mentioning. The writing was ok, but nothing out-standing, and same goes for everything else about this piece.
A solid 3 star read, nothing less and nothing more.
There was no other characters worth mentioning. The writing was ok, but nothing out-standing, and same goes for everything else about this piece.
A solid 3 star read, nothing less and nothing more.
June 28, 2012
Since this was such a short read I don't think I will review it on my blog, so I'm doing it here on Goodreads instead. Well, it's a short and very legible read. It's a horror story and the plot works just fine. On the other hand it's not really enough for me, since you don't get to know the characters. The writing is simple. And yes, it's supposed to be like that. So if you want a short and quick read you can try this out. But it would have needed more detail, plot and character to really affect me as a horror story, or just as a book in general.
October 19, 2012
It was a nice short read. Nicola I thought was really cruel and deserved what she got. Nicola's supposed friends kind of got what they deserved too, even though they where trying to change they treated Nicola unfairly. This book has a gripping and clever storyline and the way the author wrote it was good because I could imagine exactly how the characters looked in my mind without having to change their appreances as the book continued. Liked it so much I read all of it in a day. :)
September 28, 2017
This book is really good because Nichola imagines the whole scenario then suddenly she wakes up from her imagination and she begins to actually experience it in real life and she knows what would happen and regrets her choice. She then also finds out that the new girl who she was going to prank wasn't even a person from Danny's brother and that's when she realises the whole situation just got real...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2013
This was a quick read that gave me chills! A dark haunted school, creepy happenings makes for a great story!
The story had a great twist and will leave you wondering what happens next!
If you want a quick creepy ghostly read pick this up!
The story had a great twist and will leave you wondering what happens next!
If you want a quick creepy ghostly read pick this up!
April 25, 2014
Quick tween ghost story. I enjoyed that it dealt a little bit with bullying and teasing. In the end this book leaves you with afterthoughts of what happened but is still enough of an ending that you can form an opinion and figure it out.
October 3, 2017
My friend lead me this book... she said it was good. I just didn't understand it. Also didn't understand why it was named hide and seek when there was no hide and seek in the book. The ending wasn't the best because it left you with confusion. I didn't enjoy it as much as my friend did. Sorry...
December 30, 2014
I was really annoyed with the ending of this! i was expecting a bit more.
April 12, 2015
enjoyable fast read and well writen.
The only thing i was a little disappointed in was it didn't summon enough atmosphere towards the end.
The only thing i was a little disappointed in was it didn't summon enough atmosphere towards the end.
May 28, 2015
It was ok but the ending was awful. The story didn't really end.
November 17, 2016
With such a short length and creepy story this book will interest reluctant readers and the twist ending was a lot of fun.
March 29, 2017
Short an sweet.
May 1, 2017
Har läst den här på svenska som då heter Hämndnatt.
Jag är ett stort fan av Argassos utgivning (Barrington Stoke i original). De lyckas med konststycket att skriva bra och engagerande historier med lätt text och luftig layout. Catherine MacPhail har flera titlar hos dem och nu har jag läst Hämndnatt.
Nicola är en rätt svinig tjej. Tyvärr får hon ofta med sig andra i sina taskigheter så när Nicola stör sig på nya tjejen är gänget helt villiga att spela henne ett spratt. De ska alla övernatta i skolan, där det sägs spöka, och en efter en ska de i gänget "försvinna". Sen, när hon är ensam, ska nykomlingen få vad hon tål. Det är bara det att planen inte går som det är tänkt.
Jag gillade Hämndnatt. Den är spännande och vi får inte all information på direkten utan mer och mer tillförs historien. Alla som känner sig sugna på en spökis kan ta den här boken.
Dessutom är den ytterst visuell. Kunde se hur filmen baserad på boken skulle se ut. Den skulle vara spännande!
Jag är ett stort fan av Argassos utgivning (Barrington Stoke i original). De lyckas med konststycket att skriva bra och engagerande historier med lätt text och luftig layout. Catherine MacPhail har flera titlar hos dem och nu har jag läst Hämndnatt.
Nicola är en rätt svinig tjej. Tyvärr får hon ofta med sig andra i sina taskigheter så när Nicola stör sig på nya tjejen är gänget helt villiga att spela henne ett spratt. De ska alla övernatta i skolan, där det sägs spöka, och en efter en ska de i gänget "försvinna". Sen, när hon är ensam, ska nykomlingen få vad hon tål. Det är bara det att planen inte går som det är tänkt.
Jag gillade Hämndnatt. Den är spännande och vi får inte all information på direkten utan mer och mer tillförs historien. Alla som känner sig sugna på en spökis kan ta den här boken.
Dessutom är den ytterst visuell. Kunde se hur filmen baserad på boken skulle se ut. Den skulle vara spännande!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews