Our staff share some of the books that scared them when they were children.

Emily Gale on the Long Legged Scissor Man:

I still have my childhood copy of Struwwelpeter, a picture book first published in 1845 which is basically a catalogue of children wilfully ignoring the good advice given to them for their own safety and, as a result, ending up maimed, bedridden, tortured, alone, or just plain dead.

As a child, these stories became part of my family’s everyday conversation. My mum would call us ‘Fidgety Phil’ if we wouldn’t sit still during dinner (Phillip flipped his chair back and ended up buried under a heavy table). Or she’d remind us of what happened to Augustus who wouldn’t eat his soup (he ended up dead). Or Harriet who played with matches (also dead). But she’d reference them with playful drama and a wink of the eye so that along with our morbid fascination with these stories we had a healthy dose of humour.

The story that terrified me was about the Scissor Man who was going to cut off my thumb with giant scissors if I didn’t stop sucking it. The image of Conrad standing there so forlorn with his hands held out to show the stumps of his former thumbs chilled me to the bone. Sadly, I have the teeth to prove that fear didn’t work in this case, but on the other hand I am to this day very well-behaved at the table and never, hardly ever, play with matches.

Kara Nicholson on Beatie Bow:

Although I loved this book as child, the description of the game Beatie Bow absolutely terrified me. The children chanting, ‘Oh, Mudda, what’s that?’, the bloodcurdling moan and the ghost of Beatie Bow risen from the dead - not to mention the mysterious furry girl. It still gives me chills!

Bronte Coates on Slappy:

As a child, I loved spooky things. I loved Halloween, I owned witch handbooks (with advice I followed) and I had fake cobwebs decorating my room. I particularly loved horror that was funny: think Roald Dahl or the Goosebumps series. No other villain from Goosebumps (which I loved indiscriminately) filled me with the same kind of dread as that of Slappy. I’m going to assume most other fans of the series will agree because, let’s face it, if the idea of a living dummy with murderous intent does not give you a deep chill of fear then you obviously have a heart of pure steel.

I’ve always found stories of dolls particularly creepy and unsettling in general and I still think one of the most horrifying myths of childhood is that dolls come to life when you’re not around. Partly because they might have murderous intent (AKA Slappy) but also partly the guilt factor the idea promotes that you’re not giving your dolls enough attention (think Toy Story or Sara Crewes’ ‘fun fantasy’ about her doll in The Little Princess).

Yep, still horrifying to imagine.

Athina Clarke on Baba Yaga:

I was one of those naughty children who read way after lights out (yes, with the torch).

I remember being scared witless by Grimm’s tales, convinced some of the characters lurked in cupboards, behind doors and dared not pull the curtain aside because they’d be there! My collection of Grimm’s had no pictures so I conjured up all sorts of delicious horrors. I’m almost certain in my version of Cinderella the wicked step sisters chopped off parts of their feet so they could claim the slipper… (Maybe I imagined that!) But the story of Baba Yaga was queen of scary for me, which my dad first read to me in Greek. My ‘witches brew’ of an imagination conjured up the most horrible hunched back hag, craggy wrinkles, toothless grin, face spotted with warts and moles.

I have to say, though, that I loved every one of those scary stories, and read them over and over.

Nina Kenwood on Del-Del:

I can’t remember exactly how old I was when I read Del-Del (nine? ten?) but it’s always the first one I think of when asked about books that scared me as a child. It tells the terrifying story of a girl whose younger brother becomes possessed by an evil spirit, and her family’s struggle to deal with this horrible turn of events. I cannot overstate how genuinely creepy I remember this book being. Even reading the description now freaks me out. Saying that, I recall checking this book out of my local library on more than one occasion, so I obviously enjoyed the terror of reading and re-reading it.

I don’t see a problem with kids reading scary books. I liked scary stories a lot more when I was younger than I do now – I’ve steadily grown into more of a wimp as I age. Throughout time, children have always liked creepy stories (that’s why RL Stine is a millionaire) and as long as a book is age appropriate, then it seems best to let kids develop their reading tastes naturally and gravitate towards what they want to read. Any reading is good reading, is my motto, and that includes everything from Goosebumps to The Babysitter’s Club – both of which I devoured as a child.