After seeing a phantom ship, the Blackwell kids run aground on a mysterious island with warring mermaids, zombie pirates, and a strange dolphin-boy named Finn.

They’re troubling. They’re bizarre. And they JUST might be true. They’re Weird Stories Gone Wrong. Here are six spectacularly spooky books from acclaimed children’s author Philippa Dowding that will have you wondering about tall tales, giant flies, and mysterious monsters in the dark. Jake and the Giant Hand—Book #1 Jake doesn’t really believe a giant’s hand was found in a field near his grandfather’s farm, but when Jake begins noticing giant flies buzzing around and Grandpa says the basement is off-limits, he doesn’t know what to believe. Myles and the Monster Outside—Book #2 2016/2017 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award — Shortlisted A series of creepy events follow Myles and his family one rainy night as they move across the country. But the scariest thing has to be the misty, red-eyed figure that won’t leave them alone. Carter and the Curious Maze—Book #3 Carter discovers a creepy maze at the fair and travels farther and farther back in time. How will he ever get back to the present? Alex and The Other—Book #4 Alex is a lonely boy, not exactly bullied but not popular either. Then a girl — named Alex! — arrives who looks just like him. She is popular, and better than him at everything. Soon, she’s even better than he is at being him. Will Alex get his life back, or will his evil twin take over for good? Blackwells and the Briny Deep—Book #5 After seeing a phantom ship, the Blackwell kids run aground on a mysterious island with warring mermaids, zombie pirates, and a strange dolphin-boy named Finn. Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet—Book #6 On Quinn’s third day at the Work Centre he sees a girl run away. After he’s questioned about her escape, suddenly a renegade Officer and Work Bot want Quinn to help the oldest children find sanctuary in the Quiet, Quiet. But why are the children turning blue? How can Quinn help them? And more than that: what’s the Quiet, Quiet anyway?

They’re troubling. They’re bizarre. And they JUST might be true. They’re Weird Stories Gone Wrong. Here are five spectacularly spooky books from acclaimed children’s author Philippa Dowding that will have you wondering about tall tales, giant flies, and mysterious monsters in the dark. Jake and the Giant Hand—Book #1 Jake doesn’t really believe a giant’s hand was found in a field near his grandfather’s farm, but when Jake begins noticing giant flies buzzing around and Grandpa says the basement is off-limits, he doesn’t know what to believe. Myles and the Monster Outside—Book #2 2016/2017 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award — Shortlisted A series of creepy events follow Myles and his family one rainy night as they move across the country. But the scariest thing has to be the misty, red-eyed figure that won’t leave them alone. Carter and the Curious Maze—Book #3 Carter discovers a creepy maze at the fair and travels farther and farther back in time. How will he ever get back to the present? Alex and The Other—Book #4 Alex is a lonely boy, not exactly bullied but not popular either. Then a girl — named Alex! — arrives who looks just like him. She is popular, and better than him at everything. Soon, she’s even better than he is at being him. Will Alex get his life back, or will his evil twin take over for good? Blackwells and the Briny Deep—Book #5 After seeing a phantom ship, the Blackwell kids run aground on a mysterious island with warring mermaids, zombie pirates, and a strange dolphin-boy named Finn.

Alex is a lonely boy, not exactly bullied but not popular either. Then a girl — named Alex! — arrives who looks just like him. She is popular, and better than him at everything. Soon, she’s even better than he is at being him. Will Alex get his life back, or will his evil twin take over for good?

Quinn might get used to the food, Work Bots, and creating the Blue BrickTM ... but why are children all around him turning blue? Quinn Fleet, twelve, Packager (QF12P) has only been at the Work Centre for three days, but he’s already seen a Caver run away, faced interrogation, and been made to stand in front of a crowd of children in the Grand Hall to apologize for breaking a Blue BrickTM. That's when he notices that all the children at the Work Centre look so thin, ragged, and blue. Why are the children turning blue? Why can they make the strange blue spark when they snap their fingers? What’s the blue shimmer in the air? And why do a renegade Work Bot and an Officer want Quinn to lead the NewBlues to the sanctuary of the Quiet, Quiet? But more than all that, what is the Quiet, Quiet, anyway?

Do you hear the distant drums? And what about that weird screaming ... Emma Blackwell used to love mermaids. Jonah Blackwell used to love pirates. And William Blackwell tried to be a good captain. Which he would be, if he could get his twin brother and sister to stop fighting long enough to sail their boat, the Peregrine, across the bay. But after the Blackwells see a phantom ship, barely survive a terrible storm, and then mysteriously wake up with seaweed in their mouths, everything changes. They’re becalmed in fog. They run aground on a strange island. They hear distant drums, and their weird adventure begins! The Blackwells face zombie pirates, terrifying mermaids, and a shipwrecked group of cursed ship’s figureheads, including a Roman gladiator and an English knight, all led by the strange dolphin-boy, Finn. It’ll make a great sea yarn one day, if they can just survive it.

2017 Silver Birch Express Award Honour Book • 2017 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award — Shortlisted • 2017 Diamond Willow Award — Shortlisted The second instalment in a series of scary tall tales from acclaimed children’s novelist Philippa Dowding. I will never leave this car, the back seat reeks of everything my little brother has ever eaten, and that thing is still out there ... Myles and his family have been driving for four days. It’s their final night on the road, but Myles knows they will never arrive at their new house. It will never stop raining. And even if they do get there (which is doubtful), he knows he will never have friends again. He also knows that something is following them in the dark, rainy fields outside their car. Something monstrous. Once the monster arrives, things go very wrong. Myles and his family get lost, their car keeps breaking down, and a strange old man and his dog turn up, again and again. Then things get really weird. Myles is pretty sure it’s all his fault: he’s the only one who can see the monster. He’s the only one who can hear the monster. And hardest of all? He’s the only one who can make it go away.