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Uncle Nigel is determined to get a sun tan. But Tim is sure there is something sinister going on, when his uncle's skin starts to frazzle and his brain begins to fry. When Bart buys a magical monkey's ear in a market in Marrakesh, he discovers that making wishes is a dangerous game - you might just get what you wish for ...And who is the writer of the shortest horror story ever written?
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
12 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Horowitz
345 books21k followersAnthony Horowitz, OBE is ranked alongside Enid Blyton and Mark A. Cooper as "The most original and best spy-kids authors of the century." (New York Times). Anthony has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.
On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...
On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 19, 2018
یکی از فراموش نشدنی ترین پایانها رو داشت
از اول که شروع به خوندن میکنی میدونی قراره یه اتفاق وحشتناک بیوفته ولی اصلا احتمالش هم نمیدادم اینجوری بشه
از اول که شروع به خوندن میکنی میدونی قراره یه اتفاق وحشتناک بیوفته ولی اصلا احتمالش هم نمیدادم اینجوری بشه
July 15, 2016
داستان اولی نسبتا جالب بود. دومی ایدهی تکراریای داشت. سومی هم شاید بچهها رو واقعا بترسونه.
August 6, 2017
3 short horror stories, all with great twists. A must read for fans of the genre.
May 20, 2022
Anthony Horowitz is a great writer. I love his series starting with "The Word is Murder". Unfortunately, "Burnt" left a lot to be desired. It's a series of horror shorts, 3 stories packed into one very short book. I wouldn't say any of them are REALLY scary. That's probably the biggest letdown. None of them leave you with that little bit of a tingle that a really good horror does (and yes, I've read horror stories aimed at younger people that do exactly that). It doesn't have to be explicit or gory to give you that little bit of creepiness.
There are three and the first two are based on very well-known story tropes/formulae. The first, the "murderer who is really pretending to care but turns out to be a murderer". The second, "wishes that go wrong". As those aren't exactly new ideas, the greatness of the story comes in the execution.
The first story is perhaps the most disappointing. From the very first I knew what was happening. Maybe not the exact detail but it was pretty obvious what was going on generally and we were just waiting for it to finish. It was drawn out. There was no tension, no horror, no surprise twist (I think Horowitz intended for it to be a twist but it was signalled so badly) and the protagonist's reaction was bland. End of story.
The second story, involving four wishes rather than the usual three, was pretty good as a comedy rather than a horror. If we take it as a comedy it was pretty enjoyable. I could imagine this being on a more modern version of The Twilight Zone. I liked the idea of "The Monkey's Ear" misinterpreting wishes and it was a pretty simple idea.
The way that it played out was predictable (people ALWAYS crap up their wishes!) but the ending was kind of both funny and unsettling. Not really creepy, this won't keep you tossing and turning at night, but a little bit of dark humour.
The third story had a good voice and a good gimmick. I won't give it away. It is not so much a real story as a gimmick and rant but the protagonist's voice is done well, and for a young audience, it's a fun one. Again, it has a dark theme but is not horrific. It's clearly a gimmick - not a creepiness you'd take seriously, but I think it was good and original.
However when all is said and done, this has made me want to turn back to Horowitz's longer adult work. I haven't read his Alex Rider series so I don't know whether this is because his talent is more for adults or more in longer stories or it was just a blip and his other short stories are much better but it just wasn't very strong compared to the other stuff I read from him which really I liked so much.
There are three and the first two are based on very well-known story tropes/formulae. The first, the "murderer who is really pretending to care but turns out to be a murderer". The second, "wishes that go wrong". As those aren't exactly new ideas, the greatness of the story comes in the execution.
The first story is perhaps the most disappointing. From the very first I knew what was happening. Maybe not the exact detail but it was pretty obvious what was going on generally and we were just waiting for it to finish. It was drawn out. There was no tension, no horror, no surprise twist (I think Horowitz intended for it to be a twist but it was signalled so badly) and the protagonist's reaction was bland. End of story.
The second story, involving four wishes rather than the usual three, was pretty good as a comedy rather than a horror. If we take it as a comedy it was pretty enjoyable. I could imagine this being on a more modern version of The Twilight Zone. I liked the idea of "The Monkey's Ear" misinterpreting wishes and it was a pretty simple idea.
The way that it played out was predictable (people ALWAYS crap up their wishes!) but the ending was kind of both funny and unsettling. Not really creepy, this won't keep you tossing and turning at night, but a little bit of dark humour.
The third story had a good voice and a good gimmick. I won't give it away. It is not so much a real story as a gimmick and rant but the protagonist's voice is done well, and for a young audience, it's a fun one. Again, it has a dark theme but is not horrific. It's clearly a gimmick - not a creepiness you'd take seriously, but I think it was good and original.
However when all is said and done, this has made me want to turn back to Horowitz's longer adult work. I haven't read his Alex Rider series so I don't know whether this is because his talent is more for adults or more in longer stories or it was just a blip and his other short stories are much better but it just wasn't very strong compared to the other stuff I read from him which really I liked so much.
October 4, 2022
I feel like I'm cheating by including this as a book, as it's really only two and a half stories. When I bought it on Kindle special I did not realise this.
The two stories demonstrate Horowitz's typical wit: the first has a predictable but still nasty twist in the tale; the second is a riff on the Monkey's Paw.
The two stories demonstrate Horowitz's typical wit: the first has a predictable but still nasty twist in the tale; the second is a riff on the Monkey's Paw.
August 31, 2023
Clever horror stories for a younger audience. My daughter liked two of them but was a bit disturbed by one. I don't think she will be reading anymore of his scary books. It did hold her attention though and get her talking about what she had read which is great! I enjoyed it and I will use the stories in school. I would say it is more suited to 12 year olds.
July 14, 2020
I found myself enjoying the monkey’s ear. The four wishes are indeed dangerous but not in a conventional way. An unexpected tale in the manner of Roald Dahl’s short stories which I enjoy the most. And the final story, the shortest horror story makes me look out my window for a bit at the end haha.
May 12, 2017
this is a good book it makes you think and you think you have worked it our but you haven't I really recommend that you read this book xx
June 8, 2023
it's was ok, I read it in school with my English class.
August 7, 2024
What was i thinkin reading it as a 19 yo grown ass guy
October 25, 2024
Love all books by Anthony Horowitz. The first two stories were not as scary as some other stories he wrote but the last one was fantastic
March 9, 2011
This was the second story of the short story bingo board.
In my last review I stated that i wanted to read the book because
Anthony Horowitz is a brilliant author.
I really liked the originality and creativity used to make this
story because I have never read anything like it so there was lots of
surprises.
I don't like how the author makes the protagonist unsure of himself constantly,"Maybe thats why I got up," And a few lines later,"I don't know why I tiptoed but I did," Because it sends a wrong image of
the characters personality.
Overall a good book for teens and tweens.
In my last review I stated that i wanted to read the book because
Anthony Horowitz is a brilliant author.
I really liked the originality and creativity used to make this
story because I have never read anything like it so there was lots of
surprises.
I don't like how the author makes the protagonist unsure of himself constantly,"Maybe thats why I got up," And a few lines later,"I don't know why I tiptoed but I did," Because it sends a wrong image of
the characters personality.
Overall a good book for teens and tweens.
June 20, 2012
burnt is a murder mystery about a couple thats go away on holiday and brings their nephew, but the wife changes the husbands sunsreen with cooking and burns him to death
October 3, 2012
Wasnt too scary. The horror contained was more just a slight hatred between two people, then one person got caught up in the middle, making it complicated.
April 11, 2013
Creepy with a horrible twist at the end, my favourite kind of horror
May 5, 2013
this is a very interesting and funny book with a good twist at the end. in this a boy goes on holiday with his uncle and aunt and the uncle goes crazy on tring to get a tan.
April 20, 2015
I LOVED this book. It was an amazing book written by Anthony Horowitz. I would be pleased if Anthony Horowitz made another book similar to this one.
My favourite character was Uncle Nigel.
My favourite character was Uncle Nigel.
August 7, 2016
This book is a four star purely for the addition at the back of the 'shortest horror story ever written'. Genuinely spooky. Well done Horowitz!
October 27, 2016
This is three very short but disgusting amazing horror stories I would definitely recommend reading them .... if you dare!!!!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews