Official Website of the Fantasy and Horror author Cliff McNish

A monster's out there... Only one girl can stop it. But will love get in the way?

It's a difficult time for fifteen-year-old Savannah Grey - she's settled into her latest foster placement, but her body is acting oddly. Then other strange things begin to happen. Birds behave erratically; gusts of wind blow leaves so fiercely they seem to lure people away. And Savannah discovers she has supernatural powers.

Only new boy Reece Gandolfo thinks Savannah's powers are a special gift. No wonder she's attracted to him. But there's another force that wants to lure Savannah from safety into danger...

From the multiple-award winning author of Breathe: a ghost story and Angel, comes Cliff McNish's third stand-alone novel, a chilling story of love and horror.

Read an extract from Savannah Grey

It was long past midnight when the Horror appeared at the end of Westmoreland Road. No one in the run-down housing estate saw it. No one heard it as it burst through the washing lines of the poky little gardens.

Reaching number thirty-three, Savannah Grey's house, the Horror dropped its star-shaped head on one side, knotted its murderous claws behind its back and tried to work out the most entertaining method to reach her bedroom. There were many ways available, but the Horror was young and like all young things it liked to use its teeth.

Biting a path up the brickwork, it anchored its incisors into Savannah's window ledge. Then, thrilled with excitement, it raised its single cobalt-blue eye to the night winds and howled.

The Horror wasn't meant to do that. It wasn't supposed to call attention to itself. But it was free for the first time in its life, and dying to do everything at once.

A city! Such glorious lights! Never having been unchained for this long before, the Horror's restless claws had been on the move all evening, playing freely and greedily with everything it touched. And on the way to Savannah's, it had chanced upon something that truly made it squeal with delight.

An adolescent girl, dancing in her living room.

Blonde-haired, and dressed in a stretched yellow tutu, she was strenuously performing ballet exercises. Seeing the way she whisperingly plotted a path across her carpet - 'pas, pas', formal steps followed by sudden acrobatic leaps - the Horror had stopped to watch, mesmerized.

So this was what humans did in private. They danced! How wondrous! And all the way to Savannah's, the Horror copied what it had seen, shooting over lampposts and rooftops in a series of risky pirouettes and sweeping vaults.

Reaching Savannah's front door, it used its subtle tongue to pick the lock. It wasn't afraid of being caught. If anyone did so it would simple kill them. Killing was a lovely distraction, a game, to this creature.

Padding merrily on its dog-like body, it eased into the hallway, humming softly to itself.

Up the staircase. Onto the landing.

Pitter-patter past the toilet.

Toward the bedrooms.

 

Reviews of Savannah Grey

“Inventive and menacing ... the novel’s strengths are its clear, unclichéd prose and its power to evoke creepy events without descending into a mere gorefest. It offers a forceful frisson and yet, unlike some books in this genre, it is possible to finish reading it without feeling sullied.” Nicolette Jones, SUNDAY TIMES

“An excellent horror story ... The Ocrassa is an alien which ranks with any of H.P.Lovecraft's monsters." SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

“It’s remarkably good ... What’s more, the intelligent, tortured Nyktomorph and its child, the ugly, ballet-dancing Horror, are two of the best villain’s henchthings in any recent fantasy ... This is head and shoulders above most other teenage fantasies.” SFX

“This is the strangest eco-warrior story I have ever read and also the most poignant. Savannah Grey is good, solid writing, with characters that sizzle and baddies that pray for a hero to come along and save the day ...” Liz de Jager, SFREVU

“It's beautifully written; rhythmic, lyrical ... the prose resonates, blending with its themes to stunning effect. And it's genuinely creepy too ... I made the final page after an evening's breathless reading, and put down the book with a real sense of regret that it was all over.” THE BOOKBAG

“A horror/sci-fi/romance that even the most reluctant reader will be hard pressed to ignore ... it works incredibly well ... it's like opening the door to a breath of fresh air.” WONDROUS READS

“This is a highly original take on a good versus evil horror story, with a touch of romance. The heroine of the story, Savannah, is a brave and intelligent girl with a mind of her own, but the creepy and brilliantly drawn Horror and Nyktomorph are the monstrous stars of this book.” WRITEAWAY

“Cliff McNish has a poetic lilt and literary charm not always seen in the horror genre. Once started, it's a difficult book to put down.” CAROUSEL

“Haunting and powerful prose. What we have here is a genuinely creepy horror story, with elements of science fiction, fantasy and romance, but don't worry boys, although the romance plays an important part in the plot, it is by no means the principle theme - this honour most definitely belongs to the horror.” THE BOOK ZONE

“Almost poetic at times. Add to this a cracking story arc, a wonderful understanding of prose and a tale that’s fascinating from the multiple viewpoints and it’s a tale that I think is perhaps McNish’s best to date.” FALCATTA TIMES

 
Background to Savannah Grey

If I were to condense Savannah Grey into one central idea it would be: To kill a monster, do you have to become one? I've always been unconvinced by the way in so much 9-12 and YA fantasy/sci-fi/horror the youngsters defeat the monsters by an unlikely combination of sheer luck and bravado. Nothing wrong with those things, but it seems to me that when you're up against real monsters with big claws you probably need sizeable claws of your own to compete. Either that, or you'd better have a more lethal and subtle surprise up your sleeve.

In this novel the teenagers confront true monsters which are - like all respectable monsters should be - exceptionally hard to kill. Three monsters, in fact: one a child, another so powerful that the whole of nature is pitted against it, and a final creature that ... well, you'll just have to see ...