Is there anybody else out there who thinks that toy dolls – especially toy dolls with china faces – are terrifying? I have always felt very uncomfortable looking at their silent faces and it appears that Susan Hill – author of the classic ghost story The Woman in Black – felt the same way.

Dolly is a super scary tale of the revenge a particular doll takes on a haughty and arrogant child. The story is set in the windswept Cambridgeshire fenland – a perfect haunt for ghosts if ever there was one – and the storms batter the house and the story itself as the tale creeps along to a terrifying conclusion.

Read it if you dare but – if you still have a dolly sitting anywhere in your bedroom – better turn its face to the wall before you begin! Susan Hill’s novella is only a 200 page read, and so is perfect for a holiday choice. It is brilliantly written, with excellent character sketches and wonderful descriptions, and well worth every page.
And if you still have a dolly of your own, treat it well…..it could come back to haunt you!

Have a look at the work of one of our finest contemporary novelists at www.susanhill.org.uk

Mr Holroyd, a Langtree School Book Blogger