Monster Maker

by Nicholas Fisk, Kenneth Shanley (Reading)

Chancey Balogh makes all the best monsters for horror and science-fiction films and he is the man twelve-year-old Matt admires most in all the world. Because he is good with his hands, Chancey allows Matt into his studios as a kind of sorcerer's apprentice, where he works happily on some reptilian monsters called Slurks. Gradually Matt becomes obsessed by them not their mechanics, which he knows very well, but by their very nature. Are they real? Matt's suspicions that they are appear to be confirmed when the local hooligans invade the studios and give the monsters their chance.

MP3 CD

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

(1923–2016), British author of more than forty books and television scripts and a master of science fiction for children. Fisk, whose real name is David Higginbottom, grew up during the Second World War and served in the Royal Air Force. His autobiography, Pig Ignorant (1992), covers the years 1939–1941 and details his life in Soho, a bohemian section of London, where he played jazz in the evenings until he was called to enlist. After the war Fisk worked as a musician, journalist, and publisher. He started writing in the 1960s, and his popularity was at its height in the 1970s and 1980s. His most impressive work, A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair (1982), is a thrilling futuristic novel set at the end of the 22ndcentury. The government is cloning new people and has manufactured a 1940s wartime family whose members are unaware that nothing they know is real. This moving story is a dark representation of the threat posed by technological advancement but is optimistic in its message about the triumph of the human spirit. Fisk's most enduring books include Grinny (1973), which features a technologized extraterrestrial threat in the form of a great- aunt who glows at night, and Trillions (1971), an eerie story about mysterious hard shiny objects that contain an alien intelligence. Monster Maker (1979) was made into a film.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this when I got it out of the school library when I was about eight or nine. I loved it so much I've been looking for my own copy ever since (not to the exclusions of all other activities, you understand... oh, and to put this in perspective, I'm forty four as I write this). When I saw it was available on Audible the other day, I immediately used a credit on it.

I returned to it with some trepidation, as I was worried it wouldn't live up to the (incredibly old) memory. I needn't have worried; I enjoyed every minute of it.

A young lad wants nothing more than to be a 'monster maker' and work in movie special effects. It's not a spoiler to say that he gets his wish... but he also gets a whole bunch of trouble at the same time. Will his youthful tech savvy be enough to get him out of some pretty dangerous scrapes? Well, that would be telling...

I'm giving this 5 stars, but a nostalgia-free rating would probably be 4. Sometimes, you CAN go back again. :-)

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt is thrilled to get an unpaid job with his icon, movie monster maker Chancey.

This is a re-read of a book I loved as a kid and it held up pretty well. When Matt starts to think the monsters might be coming alive, the story turns creepy (creepy for a pre-teen reading it, that is). Matt is a character who you care for and root for. The bullying in this book, of other kids as well as the person who townspeople think is odd, was so blatant and unanswered that it hurt to read. Some things have gotten better - at least we tend to be more aware of this issue now.

[Craig Crumpton · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it's not as entertaining or as enjoyable as the 1989 TV adaptation produced for "The Jim Henson Hour," it would still be a good read for imaginative gradeschoolers and early teens who are looking for an adventure rooted in reality. You would expect a supernatural element in this kind of story, but everything makes sense. Adults who wish to give this book a try will find it a quick, easy narrative that feels like a loving tribute to the legacy of special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen, one of the most famous "monster makers" of all time.