Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull: Selected for Bookbuzz Primary 2026

Mallory Vayle has always been surrounded by dead people, but most of the time she ignores them. So, although her parents’ funeral is pretty awful, it could be worse. She won’t feel their arms around her ever again, but at least she has their ghosts to chat to and keep her company.  

Given her limited choices, Mallory goes to live in scary, haunted Carrion Castle with Aunt Lilith, a fraudulent psychic who sees money-making potential in Mallory’s ability to communicate with the dead. 

Once installed with Aunt Lilith, two important things happen: her parents are ghost-napped by an evil spirit and Mallory discovers a skull named Maggoty who has been locked in a box in a dungeon for 500 years and is desperate for a blonde wig.  

And so a bizarre pact is made. Maggoty will help Mallory get her parents back in exchange for a wig and assistance in lifting the curse that keeps him trapped in his own skull. 

With creepy, atmospheric, black and white illustrations, this is a scream of a comic horror story packed with excitement, plot twists, spiders, cobwebs, rats, rusty hinges and creaking floorboards. 

Any fan of Halloween and the macabre will love it!