Uncanny!

This is a collection of nine supernatural stories, set in Australia and all told from a boyish point of view. The well-crafted horrors are refreshingly bloodless, but seasoned with lashings of dung and puke, which a test audience of eight-year-olds found irresistible. The tales are very moorish, and I felt quite queasy after devouring the lot at one sitting; I would advise others to approach the collection more temperately. The book is an excellent source of stories for reading aloud. The first one, about a boy whose skin is invaded by someone else's tattoos, is particularly striking.