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The Dogs
This book is suitable for reluctant readers of 13-16 with a reading age of eight years. It is printed on cream paper, which is proven to be more restful on the eye. The font is specially designed to encourage a smooth and easy read. There are frequent page breaks, short, headed chapters and illustrations on almost every page. A wide range of specialists, including children themselves, have read and commented on the book prior to publication.
- GenresHorror
103 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
28 people want to read
About the author
Mark Morris
133 books239 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.
His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.
His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.
His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.
His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 26, 2009
First published back in February 2001 by Barrington Stoke as part of the reluctant readers series, Mark Morris's 103 page ghost story `The Dogs' really forms more of a short story than that of a proper novel. Indeed, the font size on each of the 103 pages is incredibly large, with new paragraphs drastically reducing the word count per page even more so.
The book begins with `A Note From The Author' whereby Morris explains that his inspiration for the tale came from a friend of his who lost her dogs and that Morris had found himself pondering the `what if they suddenly turned up out of the blue after all these years' question.
Morris explores this idea by way of a downbeat ghost story, where we find an unfortunate young girl named Alice Manly lose her parents in a plane crash and as a result, she has to live with her Aunt Vanessa. Soon enough the story begins to unfold it's creepy undertones, as first a local schoolgirl goes missing on the close by moors and then their beloved dogs go missing.
Morris throws in some hints of ghostly apparitions, leaving the reader not entirely sure if they are merely a dream or perhaps the apparitions stem from stressed induced hallucinations.
Sure enough, the tale is cranked up a notch in the horror scale as it spirals to the eventual heart stopping conclusion.
Not an entirely original or clever tale, this very much Ambrose Bierce style short is however well written and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Admittedly, the average reader will plough through the entire book from start to finish within an hour, but this should not put people off reading it.
The book includes several pen and ink illustrations by Roy Petrie, which adds a nice little touch to the book as a whole. The novel was also later reprinted in 2005.
The book begins with `A Note From The Author' whereby Morris explains that his inspiration for the tale came from a friend of his who lost her dogs and that Morris had found himself pondering the `what if they suddenly turned up out of the blue after all these years' question.
Morris explores this idea by way of a downbeat ghost story, where we find an unfortunate young girl named Alice Manly lose her parents in a plane crash and as a result, she has to live with her Aunt Vanessa. Soon enough the story begins to unfold it's creepy undertones, as first a local schoolgirl goes missing on the close by moors and then their beloved dogs go missing.
Morris throws in some hints of ghostly apparitions, leaving the reader not entirely sure if they are merely a dream or perhaps the apparitions stem from stressed induced hallucinations.
Sure enough, the tale is cranked up a notch in the horror scale as it spirals to the eventual heart stopping conclusion.
Not an entirely original or clever tale, this very much Ambrose Bierce style short is however well written and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Admittedly, the average reader will plough through the entire book from start to finish within an hour, but this should not put people off reading it.
The book includes several pen and ink illustrations by Roy Petrie, which adds a nice little touch to the book as a whole. The novel was also later reprinted in 2005.
Read
November 3, 2018Can't believe I tracked this down again. This is the book that made me afraid to go to sleep for about 2 years in case fleshless dogs ate me. So... ehhh... thanks for that, Mark Morris.
August 4, 2011
Decided to read this again after my partner nabbed it from my collection. 'The Dogs' is a simple, interesting and enjoyable tale. It may be a book for reluctant readers, but there's plenty of intrigue surrounding Alice Manly's character (and the chilling, unfortunate world she enters) to satisfy even ardent readers. So for passionate readers looking for a short, tightly written novella of quality, it literally takes a few minutes of your time (and it's worth it). For those wanting more, the story has been fleshed out in an upcoming collection called 'Long Shadows, Nightmare Light', which I am quite excited about!
November 11, 2024
I enjoyed this creepy tale. It was written in simple and unpretentious language, which added to the suspense; there was no beating about the bush when it came to the horror. The description of the supernatural monster was both gruesome and gory and the ending worked well, with the fear being in what wasn't said rather than what was.
January 10, 2016
Brilliant for what it is: a short, simple but still effectively creepy story. I read this in about 5-10 minutes on a bus journey but by the end I was smiling with satisfaction, remembering why I love it so much. The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger which I liked, and I liked that the mystery of the dogs wasn't ever really explained; with a story like this, your imagination is always going to come up with scarier outcomes than the book itself.
Was nice to change what type of book I was reading, first book I've read in a while that's been less than 200 pages. Reminded me that books don't have to be mature and drawn out to be good :)
Was nice to change what type of book I was reading, first book I've read in a while that's been less than 200 pages. Reminded me that books don't have to be mature and drawn out to be good :)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews