Guest Post: It’s Okay to be Creepy This Christmas by Alex Foulkes

Hello everybody, and welcome to day 13 of blogmas! Given the associations with the number 13, today’s post just had to be the one by 2021 debut author Alex Foulkes, who’s written a piece about how it’s okay to be creepy at Christmas time. Onto the post!

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Hello from the library at Castle Motteberg! This high on Mount Moth, snow is already flurrying around the castle turrets and there is frost on the windows. I hope all of you ghosts and ghouls are staying warm and cosy by the fire. Don’t mind the bones in the hearth – that was just Lady Sieglinde’s last meal.

My name is Alex and I’m so excited tonight to be writing for Amy… and, of course, for a spine-chilling edition of the Golden Books Girl blog! Pull up an armchair. Grab a mug of something delicious. Let’s talk about all things spooky during this festive time of year.

Minna from Otto’s End asks: “Alex, I want to enjoy Christmas. Now that I’m dead, though, I’m worried that I’m less holiday and more spirit! Can I be merry and menacing at the same time?”

Rodrigo from Leo’s Sock Drawer adds: “Bah! All of this fuss surrounding Christmas – can’t you just let us crawlies relax in peace? Why should we have to pretend to be jolly? It’s too much pressure! Oh, what was that? Mince fly pies? Well, go on then, I wouldn’t want to be rude…”

Minna, Rodrigo, don’t worry. I know exactly what you need. You could watch The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Muppet’s Christmas Carol on a loop through December. Or… you could embrace the unnerving, welcome the weird, and understand that it’s okay to be creepy this Christmas.

Not sure where to start? Turn on the Christmas lights, put on your warmest jumper and curl up beneath a fluffy blanket. Here are some of my favourite sinister stories to help you get frightfully festive this year…

His Royal Hopeless by Chloë Perrin

Robbie is heir to the evilest dynasty in the world: the Sinistevils. He can’t wait to pledge his heart to the menacing power of the family Sceptre and embark on his bloodthirsty future. The thing is, Robbie is… well… hopelessly nice!  Life in this royal family is about to get horribly complicated…

The perfect NAUGHTY OR NICE adventure, where good is bad and right is wrong. I don’t know about you, but I love a good twist in the tale. This one has a hero you will love to root for; Robbie will warm even the coldest of hearts. I envision His Royal Hopeless becoming a beloved animated film or tv series in the future!

Monster Hunting for Beginners by Ian Mark and illustrated by Louis Ghibault

Every hero has to start somewhere… Monster Hunting isn’t as easy as it looks. And Jack should know. Because an ogre has just appeared in his garden and tried to EAT HIS AUNT. (She was the winner of the World’s Worst Aunt competition, but that’s Not The Point).

After (sort of accidentally) defeating the ogre, Jack finds himself apprenticed to a grumpy, 200-year-old monster hunter called Stoop and heading off to Cornwall, where more ogres are causing havoc. All he has are his wits, his catapult and a magical – sometimes unreliable – book called Monster Hunting for Beginners. Jack’s a bit worried he might not be the hero everyone’s waiting for.

But then again, how many terrifying, bloodthirsty monsters can there really be? (Answer: ABSOLUTELY LOADS. And a bear called Humbert).

Christmas is the perfect season for unlikely heroes. It’s the time to look back on our year and think about everything we’ve learned – and Jack certainly has to learn FAST, if he’s going to avoid becoming an ogre’s dinner! There are petrifying pictures and frightful footnotes galore in this monstrously funny adventure.

The Bewitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes and illustrated by Keith Robinson

Turn on your torches and join Aveline Jones! Aveline is thrilled when she discovers that the holiday cottage her mum has rented for the summer is beside a stone circle. Thousands of years old, the local villagers refer to the ancient structure as the Witch Stones, and Aveline cannot wait to learn more about them.

Then Aveline meets Hazel. Impossibly cool, mysterious yet friendly, Aveline soon falls under Hazel’s spell. In fact, Hazel is quite unlike anyone Aveline has ever met before, but she can’t work out why. Will Aveline discover the truth about Hazel, before it’s too late?

Join the world of Aveline Jones, where mysteries are solved, spirits are laid to rest, and everybody gets to bed on time. Are you feeling witchy? This is the second in the Aveline Jones series and a truly eerie mystery to get your heart racing! I love the exploration of friendship and free will. If you’re looking for some dark magic this Christmas, Aveline and Harold are waiting for you.

I hope these hair-raising delights will give you the shivers this wintry season, no matter the holiday you are celebrating. Let me know which books are still haunting you, even though Halloween is now over! You can find me here in the Castle Motteberg library, or online @foulkeswrites in the usual places.

Ah. Do you hear that? Sounds like a coffin lid to me. You’d better get going; it appears that Lady Sieglinde is awakening from her vampiric slumber. She’s a big fan of Christmas. Especially the food.

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Alex Foulkes is the author of RULES FOR VAMPIRES: a spooky, funny 9-12 adventure out now from Simon & Schuster. Illustrated by award-winning artist Sara Ogilvie, Rules for Vampires follows the misadventures of Leo von Motteberg, after she accidentally creates two ghosts who are at war with each other. The perfect Christmas gift for the any creature of the night!

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Thank you so much for reading! What are some of your favourite creepy books? Are you planning to pick up anything spooky over the Christmas period? And have you read Rules for Vampires?! I’d love to hear in the comments!

Amy x

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