JENNI SPANGLER: BRINGING BAD DREAMS TO LIFE
‘When I was age ten or eleven, I adored spooky and mysterious books. I think if you read enough of something it seeps into your brain and becomes part of your own thought process. Maybe on a subconscious level I’m working out all my childhood fears and nightmares – the monsters under the bed work for me, now.
‘The Vanishing Trick is about a lonely orphan, Leander, who gets a job working for a travelling medium, the beautiful and ice-cold Madame Pinchbeck. But Pinchbeck’s offer is a trap – she uses magic to trap children’s souls in everyday objects and makes them act as ghosts in her travelling show, appearing and disappearing on command. Leander has to team up with two other captives to break the spell before they vanish forever.
‘The Incredible Talking Machine follows Tig, the lowestranking stagehand at the Theatre Royale. She’s bold and smart, but also impulsive and a bit of a know-itall, putting her in constant conflict with the manager, Mister Snell. A professor arrives to exhibit his invention – a machine which can speak with a human voice. The professor is prickly and bad tempered, and Tig is made his assistant as punishment. She quickly discovers the professor’s secret: the machine doesn’t just speak, it predicts the future. And it’s predicting a terrible tragedy that could destroy her precious theatre for-ever.
‘Both books are set in the Victorian era. I love including real places and events in my books and that’s where the inspiration comes from. I love this era because it’s a time of great invention and progress, but still holding onto some older superstitions. The Vanishing Trick was inspired by real Victorian mediums attempting to catch ghosts on camera – the perfect combination of technology and magic.
The Incredible Talking Machine was inspired by a real inventor - Professor Joseph Faber – and his creation. His talking machine was decades ahead of its time and a wonder of engineering, but sadly for him, most people hated it and found it really creepy. It just begged for a story.
‘Children know the world is dangerous and scary. It’s reassuring and encouraging to read about kids their own age taking on all manner of horrors and ultimately being strong and clever enough to overcome them. We’re offering up those bad dreams but in a safe, cosy way. They can step into the hero’s shoes and think yes, I can be brave too.
Jenni’s top tips
• You can cover almost anything in middle grade as long as you do it carefully.
• Don’t hold back. Kids are braver than they get credit for, and it’s easier to pull back a too-scary story than to make a tame one more exciting
• Fairy tales, urban legends, and superstitions are a great source of inspiration because they developed around common fears. Stripped to the bones, they’ll give you a great starting point for something terrifying.
• Get really specific and weird with your baddies and monsters - it makes them memorable.
• Keep your main character as active and decisive as possible, otherwise they’re just a victim of horrible events rather than a hero.
• Spare graphic details and make sure there’s light moments along the way. And the further you go from the real world, the darker you can be. A mugging or a burglary in a realistic setting might feel much scarier than man eating goblins in a fantasy book because the first one is possible, and the second is clearly fantasy.
• Have lots of hopeful moments, a few jokes, and a trusted friend – these can all balance the darkness and keep it on the fun side of scary.