The Nightmare Eater

by William Hussey

Imagine your very worst fear. The kind of fear that visits you in the middle of the night and leaves you gasping for breath. The kind of fear you keep buried deep, deep down. Tomasz Kaczmarek knows all about that kind of fear. And he's about to find out what happens when your very worst fears come true...

Genres: Horror

Paperback

First published September 12, 2013

About the author

William Hussey is the award-winning author of over a dozen novels, spanning almost every genre of fiction — from Young Adult thrillers to gripping whodunnits. His critically acclaimed books include the Crime Fest award-nominated Hideous Beauty, The Outrage, and Broken Hearts & Zombie Parts. Born the son of a travelling showman, he has spent a lifetime absorbing the history, folklore and culture of fairground people, knowledge he has put to work in his Scott Jericho thrillers.
With over a decade of experience in schools, William is passionate about reading and creative writing, regularly running events and workshops for young people.
William lives in the seaside town of Skegness with his dog Bucky and a vivid imagination.

Reviews

[Georgie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly dark read. For a short book, the world-building/mythology is really well done. I loved the fairground setting and the relationship between Tomasz and his grandfather.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

After Tomasz's father died when he was very young, Tomasz has held a deep seated fear of his mother dying too. His fears are emphasised more later when his grandfather warns him of going to the fairground, and the one who owns it, Grimaldi. He senses great evil from him, telling the young Tomasz to stay away from it's influence.

Now twelve, Tomasz is dared to go to the exact same fairground, though this time to the terrifying Grimaldi House of Horrors by the school bully, Douglas 'Dugs' Duggan. If he refuses, Dugs will tell the other kids in class that he's too "chicken." What makes it worse is Dugs knows that his mum came to talk to the headmaster about her son's night terrors and what effect they had on him, and that this news will become the talk of the class too.

When I looked at the title I wondered who or what the Nightmare Eater was, but when Tomasz visits Grimaldi's House of Horrors, he discovers all that and more.

Tomasz seems like the typical scaredy cat kid at school, taunted, dared, bullied, but defying his grandfathers wishes, going to the fair alters his outlook on life, making this more of a coming of age story with some thrilling horror thrown in too. Even though it is a short story as it's only 63 pages, every page is essential to the effect the story has on the reader. We've all had a bully, doting mother and loving father, but not all of us has had a chance to prove themselves as a hero.