Room 13 is a Gothic-horror children's novel written by the acclaimed award-winning children's author Robert Swindells. He left the local Secondary Modern School at fifteen to work as a copy holder on the local newspaper.

Un horror per ragazzini (come età di lettura non andrei oltre gli 11/12 anni) che mi ha ricordato un po’ la serie dei “Piccoli Brividi” (come anni mi sa che ci siamo). The main protagonist (Fliss I think) realises there is no Room 13 except at Midnight when a cupboard transforms into it.Un horror gotico per ragazzi intrigante e coinvolgente, capace di catturare l'attenzione fin dalle primissime righe. The other characters were very stereo typical of the time, but the reader did see them actually not be who they were seen as in society. I first read this book in my English class at school when I was about 14, at first I wasn't too into it, but after the first couple of chapters I really started to like it. The events were well written and constructed in such a way that they were easily followed, leading to the inevitable, obvious end.

In 1994 he won the Carnegie Medal for STONE COLD (Hamish Hamilton), a teenage novel about a serial killer.The story is convincing and touches on other factors that hold it up but do not dilute the narrative. There is no room thirteen in the creepy Crow’s Nest Hotel, where Fliss and her friends are staying on a school trip.

However, if you’re old enough to remember when things functioned as they do in the story then you will probably really (as I did) enjoy this. Fliss is main character and she has a bad dream and then she goes to her Mom and says she don't want to go to the trip but her mom says it's just dream, so don't worry . L’idea di per sé è funzionale: una gita scolastica, il mistero dell’albergo, un cittadina costiera che nasconde un segreto.

And I remember going to a different library and borrowing "Room 13", and it ended up being a completely different book, and I loved that one too, but I could never find it again. On being discharged he worked as a clerk, engineer and printer until 1969 when he entered college to train as a teacher having obtained five 'O' levels at night-school. The backdrop of the school trip will remind anyone of the trips they took while at school, from the coach trip to being allocated rooms to sneaking around at night. The story had stayed with me since I first heard it but it was great to reread it and have my own copy for my bookcase.