Spooky stories from Cornwall

Ben Towe, the headmaster of Lewannick Community Primary School in Cornwall, has sent me two fantastic spooky stories written by his pupils after my ghost-story writing workshop there in February.

Well done, Florence and Rosie-Jane - your stories are utterly spine-tingling!

Here are a few extracts, first from Florence's story 'Drugged in Hell!!'

'Her croaky voice echoes round the hollow building. "The stables need cleaning, the horses need feeding, and I think one's dead! I saw it on the floor this morning!" She bellows at me as if I'm her pet....'

'Covered in mud, horse dung and smelling like a dead dog, Liza slowly walks home. The joyful sun disappeared and the coral moon rises. A glow shimmers as bewitched barn owls alight. Liza trips, her head buried in the oozing mud. Puzzled and confused, Liza pulls herself up. Was she pushed over by a kid? Or did she trip over a log? She soon discovers that at the bottom of her sore feet was a rotting, crumbling skull with wriggling maggots and slimy worms crawling in and out of it! It looked like something out of a horror movie! A white trail of marrow lead to a nearby muddy lane flowing through aqua-green trees....'

' A cheesy grin grew on the skull's smug face. "Nooooo!" Liza bellowed. "It was you!" she shouted at it. "I have to find out what's going on." And with that, Liza grabbed the skull and dashed to Oak Wood Library. Maybe she will get some answers, maybe not..."

Brrr! I hope she does! That's pretty scary! Congratulations, Florence!

And here come some bits from Rosie-Jane's story, 'The Demon Doctor'.

'As I walked out of the old thatched cottage to see what all the banging noise was about, all I could see was a spooky nightmare. I curiously stepped out onto the cracked path, and as I did so the door slammed behind me. I squealed in fright and ran off into the distance, branches slapping me in the face, stones scattering as I ran...'

'When I woke up, I found the old box lying hopelessly on my bed. "But the nurse put it on the bedside table," I thought warily. Now I heard voices - but no one was here. I checked my digital clock. It was only 3.15 in the morning. I didn't think anyone would be here because it was early. I listened to what was being said: "The moment you open the box...the myth will come true. Your nurse will be killed by the Demon Doctor!"

Terrifying stuff! Especially in a hospital - what a great setting for a ghost story, Rosie-Jane!

Thank you both and to all the pupils at Lewannick who took part and wrote such great stories.