In Tales of the Macabre you can find three original horror stories suitable for brave young readers. Published by Burlington books and written by Dominic Butler, these tales are reminiscent of urban legends whispered about in school yards and joked about on camping trips. Yes, they might seem amusing enough in the daylight, but when you switch off that reading lamp at night, you just might hear a whistling coming from the nearby woods, or a the sound of dark laughter from just outside your window.
On a school trip to Romania, three children follow a weathered path out of the town and towards the broken old house the hill. They seem almost drawn there, and even when they receive a dark warning from a local woman to venture no further, they can’t resist the lure of the house. What they find there, however, will change one of their lives forever, and all of their nightmares will be forever more filled of the House of Broken Mirrors.
Nobody goes into the dark woods at the edge of town, but when Emily and Will miss their bus home, Will insists that they should follow the dark paths in order to get home on time. Emily knows that they shouldn’t but when her twin brother threatens to leave her, she is forced to follow.
All seems well, at first, but then, from somewhere in the trees, they hear her; the Whistler in the Woods.
There is something strange about Kilcairn school for boys, the new teacher is sure. Not only is the remote Scottish Highland location impractical, but the headmistress and other teachers seem to be hiding something. All the new teacher knows is that he must protect the boys from whatever is going on. Soon, however, the new teacher will learn something so shocking that he may not leave the school alive. Yes, he will learn, and they will be Lessons in Blood.