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Phantom Fear
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Spook School: Curse of the Rat-beast

Charlie is now a fully-fledged member of Spook Squad and ready for his most puzzling mission yet - to investigate a rat which expands as you watch it into a giant and terrifying monster! At first Charlie and his friend, Lewis, think that they're dealing with a mysterious and terrifying ghost, but they're in for a big surprise.

Stripes Publishing   |  144-page paperback
ISBN-10: 1847150926
ISBN-13: 978-1847150929

Read an extract . . .

Tim thinks he is being haunted by a terrifying rat-beast in his bedroom. Susie, his friend, is watching with him to see if it will re-appear. But Tim and Susie don’t know that two ghosts from Spook School – Lewis and Charlie – are there too, investigating this mysterious rat-beast.

‘I don’t believe in ghosts,’ said Susie. ‘In fact, I’m certain they don’t exist.’

Lewis and I grinned at each other.

‘I wonder what Susie would say if she knew there were two ghosts in this room right now,’ I cried. And I flew down and blew into Susie’s ear. She jumped. Lewis giggled. Then I blew down into her other ear. Her whole face flinched.

‘Are you all right?’ asked Tim.

Susie gave a tiny gulp. ‘I’m fine.’

Lewis was really laughing now. ‘I’ll move some CDs about,’ I said.

‘Go on then,’ chuckled Lewis. But a second later he cried out. ‘What are we doing? We’re not here to mess about. We’re here to solve a mystery.’

‘Can’t we do both?’ I asked.

‘No,’ said Lewis firmly. ‘You’re acting like a three year old again.’

‘No I’m not,’ I said, feeling annoyed. ‘And you were laughing too.’

Lewis ignored this. ‘I’m the boss of this mission and you’ve got to do what I say. Now come back here. We flew back on to the top of the wardrobe.

Tim and Susie started playing on the computer. Suddenly Susie said. ‘It’s quite cold in here, isn’t it?’

‘Yes it is,’ he replied. ‘The air’s gone all chilly. That’s a sure sign a ghost is nearby.’

‘Or that there’s a terrible storm outside,’ said Susie firmly. But her voice rose. ‘Like I said, ghosts only exist in stories.’ She returned to the computer and for a moment the only sound was the wind rattling the windows.

‘And that’s not a ghost trying to get in,’ said Susie.

‘I know,’ said Tim. ‘But don’t you think the room feels quiet in a weird way, as if something’s about to happen?’

‘Now you’re just being silly,’ began Susie.

‘Listen,’ hissed Tim. ‘Don’t you hear something?’

Tim got up, then he froze in horror. He’d heard something. And then, quite suddenly, Lewis and I did too. It was a tiny chattering noise, like the sound a baby monkey might make.

‘Did you hear that,’ said Tim.

‘No,’ said Susie, but she looked anxious.

And then scampering out from behind the bookshelf came the tiniest rat you’ve ever seen. It was not much bigger than a spider. ‘It’s here croaked Tim. ‘Look.’’

‘I can’t see anything,’ cried Susie. But I think she was just pretending.

Then the rat started to grow. Soon it was the size of a large spider. Then it was as big as a mouse.

‘You must see it now, you must!’ yelled Tim, open-mouthed with horror.

Susie got up and gazed down at the rat as it continued to grow, her expression turning to one of terror.

It was now as big as a terrier, and its eyes had a ferocious gleam.

Meanwhile, that funny, chattering noise grew much louder. In fact, the rat seemed to fill the whole bedroom with its nerve-tingling sounds.

‘This is weird,’ said Lewis.

‘Very, very weird,’ I agreed.

Then Susie let out a piercing scream and fled down the stairs. Tim tore after her.

‘It’s time we did something,’ said Lewis. ‘Come on.’

We flew down towards the rat which was now the size of an Alsatian. Lewis hovered in front of the beast. ‘We’re the Spook Squad,’ he said, his voice high and quavery. ‘And we’re very strong, just in case you were wondering

‘Very, very strong,’ I added.

‘And,’ said Lewis, ‘we want you to answer some questions NOW.’