Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids facts for kids
The first edition front cover, illustrated by Ross Collins.
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| Author | Jamie Rix |
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| Audio read by | Nigel Planer (2000) |
| Illustrator | Ross Collins |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids |
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Release number
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3 |
| Genre | Children's horror |
| Publisher | Hodder Children's Books |
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Publication date
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8 April 1996 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 978-0340667354 |
| Preceded by | Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids |
| Followed by | More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids |
| Went out of print in May 2005 | |
Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids is a children's fantasy horror book written by British author Jamie Rix. It was published in 1996. This book is the third one in the popular Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids series. It was the last book in the series to be released before the stories were made into a cartoon show. This book contains 16 short stories, which is one more than the first two books in the series.
Contents
Story Summaries
The Cat Burglar
Fedora Funklefink was a tricky girl who loved to cheat people. She would make up ways to get money, like charging girls to use the bathroom or faking notes to skip gym class. One day, she saw a poster about a missing cat with a £10 reward. Fedora quickly grabbed a stray black cat and tried to pass it off as the missing pet.
The cat's owner, Angela Tearful, was very sad when she saw the black cat. It wasn't hers. Fedora tried again, painting the black cat to match the description, but it didn't work. She even brought a white cat, a dog, a tennis racket, and a pepperoni pizza! Angela's mom just yelled "NO!" every time.
Fedora was about to give up when she saw a cat get hit by a car. It had the exact markings of Angela's missing cat! Fedora took the dead cat home and used a bicycle pump to make it look alive. She tricked Angela's family into giving her £50 for the "returned" cat. Fedora ran off, laughing about her trick. Then she saw another missing cat poster with a huge £5000 reward. She heard a purr behind her and turned to see a circus tiger, which then ate her whole.
Prince Noman
In a desert town called Misery, the Volgar family had ruled for over 400 years. The old king and his young wife had a new baby boy. Everyone in the family admired the baby, but they didn't say he looked like the queen. The king wanted to name his son Norman, but at the naming ceremony, he forgot his glasses and read the name as Noman. This worried the family because "Noman" sounded like "No man."
The new prince Noman kept turning invisible. This made the royal family very worried, especially since the king was getting sick. The queen sewed a special baby outfit from lead to make him visible, but she couldn't cover his face. The king's doctor said the king couldn't rule anymore. The family wanted Noman to be the new king, but the queen worried people wouldn't trust a king without a face. Her sister-in-law told her to find a solution by the next day, or she would be buried in sand with scorpions.
The next morning, King Noman was shown to the people of Misery with a normal face. The rest of the royal family stayed in their rooms forever. Inside the palace, all the mirrors were broken.
The Dumb Clucks
The Clucks were a very trusting family who lived in a village called Dork. One rainy day, a cowboy rode into Dork. He told everyone he was the "Son of God" and could make wishes come true if they followed his rules. The villagers were amazed. Mrs. Cluck wished for hair rollers, a child wanted a hoverboard, and Mr. Cluck asked for new golf clubs. The cowboy promised to grant their wishes.
Mr. Pojo, the village shoemaker, said the cowboy was a trickster, but no one listened. The cowboy told the villagers to break all their mirrors and put the glass in a circle around the village. He also told them to burn their shoes and cover themselves in ketchup and mustard. The Dorks obeyed, and Mr. Pojo was kicked out of the village.
The cowboy called "his father" on his mobile phone. Heavy footsteps shook the village, and a giant cyclops named Nigel appeared. The cowboy admitted he had lied; Nigel was not a wish-granter. The Dorks tried to run, but they couldn't cross the glass ring without shoes. Nigel ate all the villagers and their buildings, then left with his "son." Years later, a new village called Pojo was built, with only one person living there: Mr. Pojo.
Doctor Moribundus
Lorelei Lee often pretended to be sick to avoid school. Her family always believed her, even when her excuses were silly. She would recover quickly on weekends and holidays, only to feel "sick" again on Sundays. She used tricks like putting thermometers in hot drinks or making herself cold. Her dad always brought her a present when she was "sick."
One morning, Lorelei Lee put toothpaste on her mouth and pretended to have a seizure. Her mom thought she had rabies and called a doctor. This doctor was different. He saw through her tricks and smelled the toothpaste. He wrote a strange prescription and left. Lorelei Lee's mom couldn't find the medicine anywhere.
Then, a bearded man named Dr. Moribundus and his nurse arrived. They went to Lorelei Lee's room. She said she was fine, but they ignored her. They put leeches on her back and rubbed mustard all over her body. Lorelei Lee screamed that she was healthy and promised to go to school every day. Dr. Moribundus then said he specialized in alternative medicine and prepared for brain surgery. He took out a giant injection. Lorelei Lee confessed she was pretending. Moribundus said, "I know," and injected her head. She became numb, and a hole grew through her tongue. Moribundus sawed off the top of her head, dug around her brain with a teaspoon, pulled out a piece, and ate it.
Lorelei Lee went to school the next day and every day after. She was so scared of Dr. Moribundus that she even hid common colds from her parents. She still had a hole in her tongue. One morning, the top of her head blew open in a breeze and had to be stapled shut. In her Latin class, her teacher asked about "Medicus moribundus." Lorelei Lee, with a lisp, suggested it meant being injected in the head. The teacher, stroking his beard that looked like Moribundus', laughed.
The Stick Men
Chico loved to draw on the walls with felt tips, even though his busy parents always scolded him. They often told him they never wanted him. One day, his mom found his stick people and buildings all over his bedroom walls. They grounded him and left him with a babysitter who didn't care about him. Chico kept drawing, creating a magical land called Fiddle-Dee-Dee with a river, a blind sorceress in a castle, and goblins in caves. The babysitter came in and insulted his drawings.
Suddenly, a stick man named Stan pulled himself off the wall. Other stick characters jumped off too and started drawing all over the walls. Chico panicked. The leader of the goblins appeared, drew Chico's babysitter with a snake coming out of her phone, and a scream was heard downstairs. The goblin then drew two crashing helicopters, but Chico quickly wiped them out, chasing the goblin away.
Magically, Chico was taken to the sorceress's castle. She thanked him and explained that a human living in Fiddle-Dee-Dee would make the stick people come alive. Chico wanted to stay, but he felt he should be with his parents, even though they treated him badly. From the castle window, he saw his angry parents looking at the mess on his bedroom walls. His dad came back with soapy water and dumped it on the wall where the castle was drawn. This trapped Chico inside Fiddle-Dee-Dee forever.
Chico lived happily ever after with his new friends in Fiddle-Dee-Dee. The stick people became human, the sorceress could see again, and Chico's world became truly magical. In the real world, Chico's parents died in a helicopter accident over the sea.
Bessy O'Messy
Bessy was a beautiful Irish girl with red hair and green eyes, but she was very messy and forgetful. Her brother Callum was super neat and always cleaned up after her. Bessy thought he was trying to make her look bad. One morning, her mom found a huge pile of dirty clothes and empty containers behind Bessy's bedroom door. She told Bessy to clean her room. Bessy refused, and her mom wouldn't let Callum help. Bessy tried to climb the mountain of mess but fell into it.
She landed outside a cottage where six leprechauns lived. They were all named O'Reilly (except one, Rafferty). They told Bessy they loved messy places. Bessy realized she had a lot in common with them and agreed to live with them. The leprechauns led Bessy into their home and pointed to the kitchen. Confused, Bessy asked why. They said she was their new housekeeper and had to clean whatever they told her. Bessy argued that they never said she would be a housekeeper. The leprechauns reminded her they shook hands, but Bessy said they didn't agree on housekeeping.
The leprechauns' fingers turned into claws, and they threatened to kill her if she didn't clean. Bessy shoved one aside and ran out of the cottage. She ran towards what looked like an escape route—a black hole under a jumper—as the leprechauns chased her. The hole disappeared, and the ground shook. The leprechauns gloated, but then a jet of water sprayed them flat, and the world crashed down.
Later, Callum was ironing Bessy's clean clothes. He found his sister, now only about 6 inches tall, with white hair. She snapped at him for making "her colors run" and then apologized for her behavior. She even offered to help him clean her room.
Jack in a Box
Jack Delaunay de Havilland De Trop was a boy who always interrupted adults. He would interrupt his mom at parties, even the Queen, the Prime Minister, and people who were just talking. He would always offer to show them a wart on his foot.
On his sister's birthday, Jack's parents hired a children's entertainer, Mr. Frankenstein the Ventriloquist. Jack bothered Frankenstein the whole time, asking questions and interrupting him. He finally stopped when he heard a muffled voice from Frankenstein's suitcase. The suitcase opened, and a ventriloquist dummy jumped out. It latched onto Jack and told him to run away. Jack thought it was a trick, but Frankenstein said the dummy was magic. He gave Jack an address card to a joke shop.
The next day, Jack sneaked to the joke shop. He went inside and looked at the creepy ornaments with eyes that seemed to follow him. He turned to leave, but a light came on. Frankenstein walked in, sewing a new dummy, and picked up an axe as Jack begged for mercy.
A few days later, Jack's parents were worried about their daughter. She stood in the garden, mumbling a song that asked for her brother. Jack's dad opened a suitcase and pulled out a dummy with a sewn-closed mouth. He said he bought it from the joke shop, hoping it would cheer his daughter up. Jack's mom said the dummy reminded her of Jack. The dummy then blinked.
Adaptations
The audiobook version of Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids was read by Nigel Planer. He was also the voice of the narrator for the cartoon series called Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids. Nigel Planer was also a co-founder of Jamie Rix's production company, Little Brother Productions. The audiobook was first released in December 2000 and later re-released by Audible in 2016.
One story from the book, "The Matchstick Girl," was not made into a cartoon for the CITV and NickToons shows. This was probably because it was much shorter than the other stories.
Images for kids
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Eli (right) defending herself against a giant fly (unknowingly, sister Serena); drawn by Kerstin Meyer for Scary Stories for Eight Year Olds.
