The Nightmares of Finnegan Quick

This new horror story for children takes readers into the nightmares of one young boy, Finnegan Quick, whose powers of imagination are as powerful as they are frightening!

The story is genuinely scary, in a much more grown-up way than most horror adventures aimed at this age group. Written in a journal style, the very first pages describe the heartbreaking loss of Finn’s beloved parents and pet dog, in a mysterious manner that is somehow linked to the violent, lucid nightmares that Finn suffers every evening.

Finn is forced to confront the truth that his dreams can become real…and so can his nightmares. This makes for a stressful, traumatising and exhausting existence, as Finn tries to avoid his nightmares while still getting enough sleep to survive the everyday routines of school, including persecution from unfair teachers and taunts from the school bully.

Things appear hopeless for Finn, and his recent nightmares show him that soon even his Gran – his beloved guardian and only surviving family – will disappear from reality, too. He finds a glimmer of hope, though, when a new girl crashes into school. Cass cares nothing for school rules or social norms and appears to know more about Finn and his problems than Finn does himself! With further support from Squid (Finn’s oldest mate, who has a voracious appetite for reading and a willingness to spend every waking hour researching ancient stories about dreams and monsters), Finn sets about entering the world of his nightmares and finally taking his Gran’s advice to ‘face his fears’.

In Finn’s nightmares, the trio have to overcome chilling encounters with goblins and gruesome, eyeless grown-ups who seem eerily familiar. There are moments of shock and action as well as a hearty dose of gore and violence – which will test the scare-tolerance of many young readers. Because the boundary between dreams and reality is not always clear for Finn, scary moments could arrive at any time, so there is a tense and gripping feeling throughout.

Like all good horror-stories for children, the book’s adult characters are flawed and unreliable, and clearly hiding secrets. However, it is clear to Finn and Squid that Cass is also hiding something: is she just a typically aloof teenage girl, or could her own agenda spell disaster for Finn and his Gran?

The Nightmares of Finnegan Quick is more successful than most horror adventures in delivering a tone that is properly scary rather than merely spooky (though the green, slimy font used on the cover and as chapter headings feels unnecessary). The balance is not always perfect, as such young characters grapple with such mature themes, but the overall effect is original, exciting and, most of all, frightening!