William Hussey
Award-winning author of books for children and Young Adults
Thank you so much for visiting my page! My name’s William and I’m an award-winning author of books for children and Young Adults.
As an active member of the LGBTQ+ community and a visiting author, I have spoken to hundreds of LGBTQ+ students in schools worldwide. Hearing their stories of modern intolerance, prejudice and the tragic consequences this can lead to inspired me to write Hideous Beauty. My second gay love story/thriller will be released by Usborne in 2021!
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School Visits
I have been visiting schools for over a decade and my foremost aim as a writer is to get kids excited about reading and writing their own stories. To this end, I have created 4 tailor-made, interactive events that focus on writing, reading and exploring genre. Any combination of these events can be booked.
EVENT 1: THE ‘WHAT IF…?’ WRITING WORKSHOP
This exciting workshop takes children on an interactive journey through the writing process. With a few tips of the trade, pupils come up with their own idea for a story, which we then develop into a narrative plot driven by a strong main character. In groups, we discuss how to break the tyranny of the blank page, how to use evocative description and how to build a plot. At the end of a PowerPoint presentation and a batch of fun exercises, the class will have collaborated on a plan for a full story, and should be ready to start writing!
EVENT 2: THE GOTHIC MASTERCLASS
A fun and educational exploration of the Gothic genre, from its origins and its place in literature to core texts and the great writers. After an overview of the genre, complete with thrilling PowerPoint presentation and a reading from my own gothic novel Haunted, pupils will participate in the Dracula vs Van Helsing Quiz. With appropriate props and costume, children will be selected from the audience to battle it out, answering entertaining questions about the presentation, thereby reinforcing the lessons of the event.
This event is suitable for all students studying English, and has been found to be particularly useful for those in Year 9 who are beginning to study elements of Gothic literature. More advanced versions of the workshop are available for GCSE and A Level students.
EVENT 3: THE WITCHFINDER EXPERIENCE
Designed for assembly-size audiences, this Horrible Histories-style event includes a memorable reading from the Witchfinder books and an introduction to the life of a writer. We then move on to a fully interactive recreation of a 17th Century Witch Trial in which students play major roles. Funny and informative, the session provides a great introduction to Civil War history and, in the final moments, draws parallels with the modern issue of bullying. It also provides rich material for English and creative writing classes. The session concludes with a Q&A.
EVENT 4: AN EVENING OF GHOST STORIES
Open to all years, this after-school event has been designed in collaboration with several teachers to achieve the important goal of involving parents more in school life. Based on a flexible format, ‘An Evening of Ghost Stories’ includes three dramatic readings from classic tales, as well as stories from my own pen. This exciting family event helps to bring parents into school on an informal basis. It then provides a rare face-to-face opportunity for staff to inform parents of other exciting events in the school year, to run charity raffles, to show off pupils’ work (including students’ own dramatic readings and drama projects), and to provide a relaxed environment in which parents, teachers and pupils can interact. (NB suitable for Years 7 and over).
Contact William to organise a school visit
Now including virtual visits
Spooky Books
Witchfinder: Dawn of the Demontide
Witches exist
The Demontide is coming
And Jake Harker is the only one who can stop it…
When a violent storm rages around the little village of Hobarron’s Hollow, a young boy is sacrificed ‘for the greater good’. His blood is used to seal a mystical doorway and prevent an apocalyptic disaster known only as the Demontide. Twenty-five years later, another boy, Jake Harker, is about to be drawn into the nightmare of the Demontide. Witches and their demon familiars stalk his every move, and his dreams are plagued by visions of a 17th Century figure known only as the Witchfinder. When his father is abducted, Jake must face the terrible secrets kept by those closest to him and a shocking truth that will change his life forever …
Witchfinder 2: Gallows at Twilight
Human will fight demon
The past will battle the future
Jake Harker will become the enemy…
The Demon Father has escaped from hell and walks among us, his trident symbol branded into the earth in countries all over the world. A scorching beacon. A call to arms. A sign that war is coming. Meanwhile, Jake is struggling to harness his powers and live up to his reputation as the boy who closed the demon door. But now he must push all doubt aside. To stop the Demon Father Jake must change the course of history – embark on a treacherous journey deep into the past and into another dimension, filled with horror and pain.
Witchfinder 3: The Last Nightfall
The Age of Man is over
Dark creatures wait to be unleashed
The Demontide is here…
The future of humankind rests on Jake’s shoulders. His only hope is to close the demon door forever by harnessing the power of the witchball. But the demon, Pinch, holds it in hell. He waits for a witch with enough darkness in their heart to summon him back to earth.
Jake must travel to hell and back to stop the demon and save a stranded soul. All the while, a strange voice that is his, but not his, is getting louder in Jake’s head. A truth as old as time has been hidden deep within in him and it is slowly forcing its way to the surface…
The Nightmare Eater
Imagine your very worst fear. The kind of fear that visits you in the middle of the night and leaves you gasping for breath. The kind of fear you keep buried deep, deep down.
Tomasz Kaczmarek knows all about that kind of fear. And he’s about to find out what happens when your very worst fears come true…
Jekyll’s Mirror
Sam is a tortured soul, but his darkest hour is yet to come, when he’s invited to take part in ‘Project Hyde’. A new social networking site where users can enjoy total anonymity – it’s exhilarating at first, until Sam notices that the other users are becoming obsessed with the program – addicted to the cruelty they are inflicting online. Sam watched with a growing sense of horror as his classmates turn into something unrecognizable…
For the truth behind Project Hyde is this: it doesn’t simply change WHO you are, it changes WHAT you are.
One click away from Evil’s new domain… Are YOU ready to face the truth?
Haunted
Milton Lake is a seemingly ordinary town, where tales of hauntings and strange goings on ripple beneath the surface. When a mysterious boy comes to town and moves into a large, derelict house, all alone, his arrival changes everything.
Shrouded in secrecy, he senses a kindred spirit in Emma Rhodes, and reveals to her a shocking truth.
Someone in Milton Lake is using the fabled Ghost Machine to call the spirits of the dead back to our world. Now it is up to these two lost souls to find out who is operating the strange invention before it is too late . . .
For call by call, the dead will be unleashed.
Turn Her Face to the Wall
Turn Her Face to the Wall is a free short story so chilling, it is sure to leave your blood running cold. In this creepy tale, the twist comes with the very last word…
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