Beware! Beware!

Eight of these nine 'Chilling Tales' involve the supernatural and each of them is engrossing. Peter Dickinson's 'The Spring' is about a young boy who meets the 'ghost' of his unborn twin brother; Adele Geras' beautifully written 'We'll Meet Again' is a poignant story in which the past (wartime Britain) and the present are inextricably mixed. In Jan Mark's 'Efflorescence', two boys' fascination with codes is given a supernatural twist. Jean Richardson, in 'The Road Home', creates effective suspense when a teenage girl, driving alone on a foggy night, is forced by the breakdown of her car to continue on foot. These stories seem most convincing when the ghostly elements are lightly drawn, and are subordinated to other events and relationships for the majority of the tale. Supernatural stories are always popular with young readers, and this selection of works by such distinguished writers as Jane Gardam, Vivien Alcock and Berlie Doherty, besides those already mentioned, will not disappoint.