Mallory Vayle and Maggoty Skull – serie

Super funny, super spooky MG for budding horror fans about a talkative skull and a necromancer-in-training - perfect for Lemony Snicket readers!Mallory Vayle would list her interests as being normal, books about ponies and very definitely NOT talking to dead people. But when her parents' carriage takes a leap off Gibbett Bridge - an accident for which there appears to be no explanation - she is taken in by a strange aunt the family disowned years ago and brought to her new, and very spooky, home. Aunt Lilith, a charlatan psychic, is quick to monetise Mallory's prodigious skills in talking to dead people and starts to advertise grand seances (ticketed obvs) in her spiritual news sheet.The ghosts of her parents also take up residence in the house but are cruelly snatched away by the shadow of Hellysh Spatzl, the grimmest, wickedest necromancer in all of history. To get them back, Mallory will have to learn how to use the talents she hates and raise the old hag from the dead. Her teacher? A talking skull called Maggoty, who wants some favours in return for his help - not just a gorgeous blond wig and some sparkly earrings, but for Mallory to break the curse that has left his spirit locked inside his own skull for 500 years.Mallory will have to lean into who she is and what she can do and make a pact with the evil Hellysh Spatzl to get her parents back while at the same time putting on a sensational Halloween spectacular at only five shillings a head for an amazed audience at Nightmare Castle. And learn to love her chatty sidekick and his glorious wig...As darkly hilarious as The Addams Family, this is really good fun. An alternative spooky Victoriana packed with laughs and outrageous characters, at its heart, it's a story of a young girl coming to terms with her own gifts and accepting that nobody is 'normal'.

The second in a spooky and hilarious new series about a talkative skull and a necromancer-in-training. Full of brilliant illustrations!Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Wednesday.Mallory Vayle and her talkative skull, Maggoty, star in another fabulous adventure!Mallory is getting to grips with her new powers and her new talkative friend, Maggoty. But when Maggoty sees a wig in Les Wigs shop, he just won't shut up about it! It's expensive, and no one seems able to pay Mallory properly for her cosmic services.So her Aunt Lilith takes matters into her own hands, but in her quest to increase her own supernatural skills, she accidentally summons a Nightmare. It, inevitably, goes HORRIBLY wrong and Mallory must take a perilous journey into the bowels of Carrion Castle in search of the solution to Aunt Lillith's problem... But it's only when a bony fella with a scythe turns up (that's Death - himself! - by the way) that she knows she and Maggoty are in for some terrifying fun and games!With proper laughs and proper scares, this series is not only the perfect Halloween treat but a side-splitting and spine-tingling year-round read.Have you read the spooktastic...Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull (Waterstones Children's Book of the Month, October 2024)Praise for Mallory Vayle and Maggoty Skull:"Effortlessly blends outrageous humour and genuine creepiness" - The Guardian"Skullduggery pleasant meets A Series of Unfortunate Events. Do not miss! Spooky AND funny, a killer combo!" - Louie Stowell