Jack's used to danger. His asthma has nearly killed him more than once. But his new home has a danger he's never known before - the spirits of the dead. They can't breathe, but in Jack's house they CHASE, HIDE, SCREAM. Only Jack can see them. Only he can hear them. And only he can learn their secrets in time to save himself... and his mother... Read an extract from Breathe
Lonely, invisible, and still wearing the clothes they had died in: the ghosts of four children were in this house. Something had disturbed their spirits, and now they were rising slowly up from the cool darkness of the cellar. The cellar was closed, but that did not stop them; their bodies, though unable to pass through solid objects, could squeeze into small spaces or under the crack of an old door. Ann, the eldest, fourteen when she'd died, emerged ahead of the others. The first thing she did was shield her eyes against the intense glare of summer sunshine. As she raised her arm, the light reflected off her thin white cotton slip. It was her death robe - the only item of clothing she'd been able to bear against her feverish skin in the last days before scarlatina killed her sixty-five years earlier. Once Ann was sure the corridor was safe to enter, she called the others out of the cellar gloom. Oliver floated ahead, while the youngsters, Charlie and Gwyneth, held her hands. Ann led them in a slow-motion, stately drift towards the front of the house. The ghosts never walked. They couldn't. Being almost weightless, the moment they pushed off with their feet the least little draught wafted their bodies to and fro like dry, dizzy leaves around the house. With patience, they'd learned to guide themselves on the breezes stirred whenever a door or window was opened. But the house had been locked up and empty for weeks, making today's journey a particularly tricky one. Only Oliver could easily ride the sluggish tides of air around the rooms at such times. Gliding along the corridor, Ann remained alert to danger. She never stopped calculating the fastest escape route if they had to hide from her. Oliver, twelve years old when he'd died, was less careful. Part of him enjoyed the risk of travelling between rooms, knowing he was quick enough to flee if he had to. Drifting impatiently ahead of the others, he rose halfway up the pane of glass in the front door. 'Don't rush,' Ann hissed. ˜You know it's dangerous. You'ree stirring up too much air. She'll notice. ˜Keep up then,' Oliver hissed back. 'If you want to miss whoever's arriving, that's up to you. Anyway, stop worrying. She's asleep. She hasn't woken for ages. ˜But if someone new is coming, sooner or later she's bound to want to see who it is. You know that. Especially if it's a child. ˜So what. Let her wake. Let her freak out for all I care. She'll never catch me. ˜But she might catch us,'Ann growled. 'And you know what she'lll do to us if she does.' 'A true ghost story - the kind that lays its cold fingers on you, grips tight and doesn't let go even when the last page has been turned - Wonderfully spine-chilling' - The Bookseller 'Such is McNish's skill that when you read of the young hero Jack's asthma attacks, you'll find your own breathing feels constricted. He evokes the same empathy when dealing with the ghosts who haunt Jack, taking us into the realms of inventiveness that are his trademark. Breathtaking.' - Guardian 'An intense supernatural story that haunts the reader' - Funday Times 'Just the thing for adolescents in search of something engagingly horrible ... startling.' - The Independent 'Scary, disturbing and intense, a thoroughbred amongst haunted house tales' - SFX 'Jack's susceptibility to frightening asthma attacks matches the consumptive sufferings of a long dead girl - readers aged 10 and above with be gripped and spooked' - Times Educational Supplement 'Breathe is a brilliantly inventive ghost story, compellingly written. It is spine-chilling, disturbing and truly frightening. A real page turner' - Booktrust 'An astoundingly creative story, with some truly scary moments ... the remarkable way in which Mcnish develops the theme of breathing, including an acutely well-drawn represntation of Jack's chronic asthma, and you find yourself with a multi-layered story that will genuinely unnerve the reader, in a way so many ghost stories fail to do' - Books for Keeps 'A genuinely spooky ghost story that leaves you breathless' - First News 'This is a tautly-written psychological thriller. A genuinely spooky story; the kind you read at arm's length, neck prickling and with the lights on.' School library Association. 'Nothing is as simple as it seems until the very last explosive climax. A brilliant winter warmer' - Insight 'A terrifyingly well-written and disturbing story - the ending is moving testament to the transforming power of love' - Undercover 'If you're after a seriously spooky story, this is the one for you - a truly terrifying tale' - TBK 'This title is pure, traditional ghost story. It sets out to chill and it does ... a suspenseful page-turner ... a spine-tingler.' - Achuka 'Gripping in its claustrophobic intensity ... An irresistable page-turner' - Carousel 'You shouldn't really read this before you go to sleep' - The Independent on Sunday 'A brilliant ghost story - The descriptions are wonderfully vivid' - Dunmow Observer Background to Breathe
My wife said to me one day, 'Youre always writing these dark and scary fantasies. Why don't you write a proper scary story for a change - a ghost story? I didn't think much about it at the time, but the idea must have lodged somewhere in my head because I started to talk to young people about ghost stories, and I soon realized two things: first, that everyone loves a real, true frightener of a ghost story; and second, that hardly any of them could name a single novel-length ghost story of any substance. So I started to think a bit more about this, and pretty soon the image of Isabella came into my mind: an ill girl, stuck in a chair, barely able even to move any longer, but somehow holding onto life. The rest of the story flowed from that eerie image. This is a very different book from my other novels. It has a more realistic setting for a start. Plus I had to do plenty of historical research to get the feel of the ghosts right. The whole novel was intriguing to work on, but perhaps I had most enjoyment when I donned my pure fantasy hat again to create the desolation of the Nightmare Passage. I’ll let you find out about that for yourself... Want to hear my detailed thoughts on BREATHE? Go to the excellent WRITEAWAY.ORG website for my interview with Nikki Gamble. It's at http://www.writeaway.org.uk/images/stories/Interviews/cliffmcnish/cliff mcnish interview.pdf |
