I am reading Matilda with my kids and it is fucking terrifying.

[moondog]

Or is it just me?
I'm pretty cynical but Jaysus, it is soooooo creepy.

I hate it, it well and truly creeps me out (I assume you mean the Roald Dahl story). So unrelentingly horrid.

Am not very keen on some other Dahl stories for same sort of reason, like The Twits.

Agree ragged. I find a lot of Roald Dahl's books sinister and creepy.

I don't think I'd have enjoyed his books when I was young but DS loves them.

Agree that most Dahl books are fairly terrifying, I hated them all as a kid.

The Twits - horrible, evil loons trying to kill birds and monkeys.

James and The Giant Peach - little orphan boy with evil aunts gets stuck in a bit of fruit with giant centipedes, etc.

The Witches - I think the kid gets turned into a mouse.

It is no more terrifying than Snow White with the Quenn who wants to kill her and eat her heart or the story (I cannot remember the name) of the 7 little boys who seek refuge at an ogre's house and during the night the boys find out the ogre is going to eat them so switch beds with his daughters so he eats them instead. Numerous stories were poor parents abandon their children because they are too poor to feed the...

Children (most of them) like scary stories.

I love Roald Dahl stories and so do all my Dcs.

I think it is because it is a teacher and the kids are at her mercy as their paretns wouldn't believe them if they told.
Stories of witches and ogres are fantastical to start with.
Yes, my kids love it too.

we're reading Matilda atm too and have just got to the school bit and dd has stopped being keen.
I think Dahl is an incredible writer but my favourite is probably Danny the Champion of the World which is the least scary.

At least in Snow White only the Queen is truly evil. Almost everyone else has some good in them (the hunter who save's SW's life, for instance). In Matilda, there are many awful adults including her own parents, and the nicest adults (what few there are) are all so dippy.

Danny book is my favourite, too!!

Aww I loved Matilda as a child.

We LOVE Dahl. My favourite as a child was The Twits and now it's DD1's favourite. The bad adults all get their comeuppance! I like how his stories give the children (and monkeys) the power to deal with nasty adults. Adults aren't all right, good or nice, it's a good thing for a child to learn I think :)

what I like about Dahl is his faith in children and his cynicism about (many) adults.

Didn't like his books as a kid, don't like 'em now. Creepy is the word!

Oh it's great - and at least you can enjoy the happy ending!

Danny is def the best - the one realistic book. Dahl could write well without gruesome fantasy.

Actually I quite like Matilda, but the Twits are just foul.

I loved his books as a child, didn't find them scary at all. It was always interesting to me to read something written by an adult that basically said 'hey kid, adults often are untrustworthy, fallible twats, just like you thought'.

DD ditched Matilda after just a couple of chapters as she said it gave her nightmares. Teacher is now reading it at school (year 4 class) and she says she is being brave and it's ok

Why do teachers ALWAYS choose Dahl? Is it on the required reading list or something? There are much better things out there IMO!

My 7 year old has just finished reading it, she loved it, and she "doesn't like reading". They're good books to read to class because wth short chapters you can fill the time available and break off easily. It is though only one of the authors my DD will be exposed to at her school.

I love Matilda and DD 7 also loves it. She wants to be Matilda (but without the horrid parents). The best part of this year was going to see the musical in Stratford upon Avon. If you like Matilda then I can't recommend it enough.

mummytime she might also like Madame Pamplemousse and her incredible edibles.

Now I can cope with the idea of the musical, but that's because of the Tim Minchin involvement! Not sure I'd take DD though she's too sensitive.

pugsandseals Go without her. It really is truly fantastic and if it heads to London I WILL be going again.

My DD absolutely loves the audio book and film. I didn't realise that it mentions suicide though - that really freaked me out.

don't like that book. We read the first chapter and decided not to continue with it.

I've just read it to dd (she's 3 and named after it- my favourite childhood book). She loves it! We're halfway through The BFG now.

Going to see the muscial in January for my 30th.

I like Roald Dahl because it's gruesome.

mychildrenarebarmy , we saw Matilda a few weeks ago, it is amazing isn't it?

We didn't read the book first though as had remembered it was very dark (have a 6 and 4 year old).

I'm not that keen on Dahl either but DH is very keen on reading Dahl to DD. I think she's not quite so keen but Daddy can do no wrong.

We went to see the musical at Stratford on Saturday and DD absolutley loved it, as did DH. I thought it was too long, but beatufully performed. And although I love Tim Minchin, I hoped the songs would be a bit more memorable.