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Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids
What terrible fate lies in store for the girl who feigns illness when it's time to go to school? And what about Serena Sharp, the greedy guzzler who can't stop gorging? Or Johnny Bullneck, the bully who gets his fingers burnt. Or Bessy O'Messy, whose bedroom is like a bomb pit.
Audio Cassette
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2012
Generally speaking, I was a party of one in primary school: as far as reading books was concerned. It just wasn't the cool thing to do. However, there are two books that EVERYBODY must have borrowed from the school library during their time there. One of those was 'Where's Wally?'. The other was 'Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids', which was part of a series of four story compilations by Jamie Rix.
Not ringing any bells? Try this one on for size: 'Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids'. That was another book in the series, and it gave its name to a popular cartoon series on ITV in the early Noughties. The series adapted each of the stories in every book for the small screen.
Remember that? I certainly do. It scared the bejeezus out of me when I was little, because both the books and the TV series depicted naughty children getting their comeuppance. Their comeuppance was, more often than not, a grisly death or a horrible punishment from which they'd never escape. For example, 'Fiendish Tales' saw one girl (who pulled sickies almost every school day) being impaled on a giant needle, and a boy (who bullied anybody he felt was weaker than himself) being spectacularly electrocuted by a lightning strike. To name but two.
Of course, I read the book because everyone else had. I had avoided the TV series like the plague - the sound of the ominous organ-based theme tune was enough to make me burst into tears, never mind the show itself. However, the book was somehow easier to deal with: though not by much. It doesn't matter whether you read the description in a book or see it unfold as a TV cartoon: a grisly death is a grisly death. You would do well to inform young, nervous potential readers that the book pulls no punches in the descriptions of the naughty children's punishments. Despite all that, I still enjoyed the book.
Why? Because it was entertaining. For God knows what reason, people love being scared. It certainly makes for a memorable read. Which leads me very nicely into my next point: the book is instructive. Granted: naughty children aren't generally skewered on surgical needles like kebab meat if they act up: but this does show them that bad behaviour has consequences. Such a memorable fate would always remind them of that and hopefully teach them a lesson they'd do well to learn.
A couple of years ago, when Nickelodeon began to broadcast reruns of 'Grizzly Tales', I braved a few episodes. For closure. Actually, they were pretty entertaining: but I still had nightmares, and that creepy theme music still filled my very soul with fear.
Once a scaredy-cat, always a scaredy-cat.
Not ringing any bells? Try this one on for size: 'Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids'. That was another book in the series, and it gave its name to a popular cartoon series on ITV in the early Noughties. The series adapted each of the stories in every book for the small screen.
Remember that? I certainly do. It scared the bejeezus out of me when I was little, because both the books and the TV series depicted naughty children getting their comeuppance. Their comeuppance was, more often than not, a grisly death or a horrible punishment from which they'd never escape. For example, 'Fiendish Tales' saw one girl (who pulled sickies almost every school day) being impaled on a giant needle, and a boy (who bullied anybody he felt was weaker than himself) being spectacularly electrocuted by a lightning strike. To name but two.
Of course, I read the book because everyone else had. I had avoided the TV series like the plague - the sound of the ominous organ-based theme tune was enough to make me burst into tears, never mind the show itself. However, the book was somehow easier to deal with: though not by much. It doesn't matter whether you read the description in a book or see it unfold as a TV cartoon: a grisly death is a grisly death. You would do well to inform young, nervous potential readers that the book pulls no punches in the descriptions of the naughty children's punishments. Despite all that, I still enjoyed the book.
Why? Because it was entertaining. For God knows what reason, people love being scared. It certainly makes for a memorable read. Which leads me very nicely into my next point: the book is instructive. Granted: naughty children aren't generally skewered on surgical needles like kebab meat if they act up: but this does show them that bad behaviour has consequences. Such a memorable fate would always remind them of that and hopefully teach them a lesson they'd do well to learn.
A couple of years ago, when Nickelodeon began to broadcast reruns of 'Grizzly Tales', I braved a few episodes. For closure. Actually, they were pretty entertaining: but I still had nightmares, and that creepy theme music still filled my very soul with fear.
Once a scaredy-cat, always a scaredy-cat.
November 8, 2011
One of the best books I've ever read; I read it as a kid and it quickly became a lasting favorite. The writing is fresh and upbeat, and it doesn't 'dumb down' the stories. These are fables anyone can appreciate.
September 10, 2023
What a great collection of wildly inspirational and fiendish short stories by a writer who obviously knows his audience. There’s nothing stale or rank about the writing in this collection, which range far in each stories subject matter with each having the running theme of involving the appropriately titles books problematic children. A recommended read that was pursued solely based on the fact I loved the cartoon on CITV when I was younger.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews