They were popular during the Victorian period and are based on a ballad about a young woman who refuses to wrap up warm for a sleigh ride to a ball and, when they arrive, her fiancé discovers that she’s frozen to death during the journey. The dolls are normally made of white porcelain and have unjointed “frozen” limbs that are intended to portray a corpse. It seemed so typically macabre of the Victorians to create dead dolls for their children to play with! The dolls all come naked, with only painted hair, facial features and shoes. The idea was supposed to be that children would make dresses for them out of any spare fabric their mothers might have lying around. The revelation of how the evil little Frozen Charlotte dolls came to have their power is unsettling and chilling, and reading parts of this late at night in a quiet house I ... admit to looking over my shoulder more than once!... I'd love to see more historical type novels from Alex Bell in future, and eagerly await her next offering. -- Michelle Harrison author of The Thirteen Treasures Teens looking for a novel to keep them up at night will find it in this one.” — School Library Journal Author Guy Bass introduces SCRAP, about one robot who tried to protect the humans on his planet against an army of robots. Now the humans need his...

Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments It’s commonly accepted that these dolls were didactic tools, physical representations of the consequences of parental disobedience. It’s widely believed that Victorian children were well-aware of the origin story of these dolls and played with them nonetheless. After all, many aspects of Victorian culture are openly macabre and death-obsessed, so this grisly historical narrative isn’t entirely outlandish.There isn’t a single reference (in magazines, books, newspapers, or anything else for that matter) of these porcelain dolls being called “Frozen Charlottes” in the entire 19th and early 20th centuries. This is pretty remarkable, considering the near-universal belief that this time period was the origin of the dolls’ name. A Frozen Charlotte is a specific form of china or bisque doll made in one solid piece without joints from c. 1850 to c. 1920. They were typically inexpensive, and the name Penny doll is also used, in particular for smallest, most affordable versions. The dolls had substantial popularity during the Victorian era. Not one to learn from past experience, Alex started the Legal Practice Course in London. There she met some great people and had a lot of fun messing about during lessons that were clearly meant to be extremely solemn affairs. Thankfully, she dropped out just before the point where all students must submit to the personality-removing process that is a compulsory part of being an esteemed member of the legal profession. I also researched Ouija boards and old schoolhouses. The research was definitely the creepiest part of the process, especially all the stuff I read about haunted dolls. Some of them look terrifying as well! I had to try to put it all out of my mind before turning out the light to go to bed, but I have to admit to being generally more easily startled whilst I’m writing a horror novel!

I loved reading the Point Horror books when I was a teenager. There always seemed to be that extra element of excitement about them that made you more eager to discuss them with friends. I think the appeal of horror is that it allows us to dip our toe into a pretty murky pool that we have no desire whatsoever to actually dive into! There’s a particular thrill that comes from putting yourself in the mind set of characters who are going through hell. I also like that horror is high stakes (someone is almost guaranteed to die, or be horribly injured at some point) and if there’s a supernatural element then you never know what awful thing might happen next.

Synopsis

Both Charlotte books hit the nail on the dead, having an excellent balance of fast placed plot, the supernatural, characters you care about, and nasty little dolls ... -- Ginger Nuts of Horror