Creepy Araminta

The portrait of a beautiful girl with tumbling red hair takes on sinister undertones in this unnerving tale from much-loved, multi-award-winning author Anne Fine.

Jess’s mum is furious when she discovers a muddy, football-shaped splodge on her bedroom wall and sends Jess on a mission to find something to cover it up. Luckily, Jess manages to bag a bargain in her local charity shop: a beautiful portrait of a girl with tumbling red hair in a frame exactly the right size.

But when she hangs it in her room, Jess is plagued by disturbing nightmares featuring the young Araminta from the portrait. At first Jess’s mum and her friend Tina think that she is making it it up, but they’re soon in for a shock when they experience the power of the painting for themselves …

Reviews

"With the black-and-white illustrations of Emily Jones adding extra atmosphere … this is the perfect read for reluctant readers hooked on eerie adventures … Young readers will relish the sinister undertones in this easy-to-read and wickedly weird story!" – Lancashire Post

"A spooky, supernatural short tale guaranteed to send shivers down the spine … It may be short in length, at just over 50 pages, but it masterfully encapsulates a deliciously dark, creepy story. I have no doubt it will hold young readers entranced." — Book Craic, blogger

"The text, the design – and the narratives are immediately accessible. Here Anne Fine conjures up a neat horror story for those who are looking for just such a frisson, but who might find other texts daunting. It is creepy too – as the title suggests, though the author does not over burden the reader with details or a pre-history. Within a well established genre she provides just enough to create a worrying ending." – Books for Keeps

About the author

Anne Fine is an award-winning author who was the second UK Children’s Laureate. She has written over seventy books for children and amongst her best known are Goggle-Eyes, which won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Carnegie Medal, Madame Doubtfire, which was later adapted into the film, and Flour Babies, which won the Carnegie Medal.