Just So Stories

Penguin Australia

May 2026

• ISBN: 9781761355462
• Imprint: Penguin
• RRP: $19.99

Eeek! I read this halfway through on a sunny Sunday afternoon – thank goodness, because this is absolute superb, spooky, supernatural Gothic horror at its best.

Drawing on Cornish folktales and superstitions and set around the 1930s, readers who love a truly suspenseful, twisty-turning creepy narrative will eat this up with relish.

Teenaged Charlotte, and her younger brother and sister, Jack and Emily, have been left orphans after a car accident has killed their parents. With barely time to think they have been taken from their comfortable London home, and sent to a remote part of Cornwall to a grandmother of whom they have no knowledge.

With not even their own clothes, and no money at all, they are packed off on a long train trip to fend for themselves. It’s a bit of luck that a young man, Barnaby, is heading in the same direction to the self-same location – or is it?

A totally black island, a weird house that seems to have a life of its own, no sign of a grandmother for days, almost drowned getting to the island unaided, no food, nothing of comfort – the children are not only distraught from their grief but also bewildered and frightened by this horrible house with pests, dead cats that seemingly come back to life, suspicious ravens that seem to follow their every move and no means of contact to anyone outside.

But then, who would they contact? They have no family left, except it seems, the grandmother who finally appears – but is as frightening in her own way as the mysterious house itself.

Delving back into the past hundreds of years, this is a story of undiluted revenge and hatred, in which the innocent are blamed for the sins of their ancestors. The past has come back to life and is seeking retribution, with not a shred of compassion for 3 orphaned children.

Buckle up readers, because this one is one hellish ride to the very depths of the underworld and back. Well done Mike Lucas on this complex and absolutely well-executed supernatural mystery. The characters, particularly the children, are so finely drawn and especially Charlotte, whose level-headedness, resourcefulness and sense of responsibility shines throughout. ‘Grandma’ is also deliciously vile, as is her not-dead cat Jasper, and both are absolutely scary as….

I think if you had some really mature upper primary readers they would cope with this – both in terms of horror and complex plot but essentially I see as more well-suited to your YA readers from around 13 upwards. Cracking read altogether and a 5 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤rating.