HCG to publish comedian Bec Hill's debut series

Hachette Children’s Group has acquired three books in Bec Hill's debut children's series Horror Heights. 

Polly Lyall Grant, commissioning editor, acquired world rights, including film and TV, from Claire Nightingale at PBJ Management. The series will be published under the Hodder Children's Books imprint from September 2021. 

Horror Heights is billed as an accessible, low word-count comedy-horror series for readers aged eight plus. The synopsis reads: "Horror Heights looks remarkably like where you live – in fact, it might be! After all, it is based on a real place. A place where, on the same weekend, an alarming number of kids in the same class reported seemingly separate terrifying experiences. Bec Hill has uncovered each of their creepy encounters to see if they are connected and specific to Horror Heights, or whether such occurrences are more common than we realise ..."

Book one, Horror Heights: The Slime, will follow 11-year-old Connie, who adds a few extra ingredients to a slime recipe in an attempt to cement her title as “Connie, Queen of Slime”. But she soon regrets her choice when it results in a sentient slime monster who threatens to eat her friends and family. Connie must realise her full potential in order to save herself and everyone else from the slime. 

Grant said: "I’m thrilled to welcome the immeasurably creative Bec Hill to the HCG list. I have been looking for 'the new Goosebumps', and Bec has struck gold with her unique combination of horror and humour. Each book is a digestible bite, yet filled to the brim with truly satisfying scares. I can’t wait for young readers to experience the strange goings-on at Horror Heights ... if they dare."

Hill commented: "Growing up on Goosebumps, I’d always been fascinated by scary stories and the fact that every place I visit seems to have one. I’ve been dying to write about the events at Horror Heights because they’re just so unsettling, and I’m equally as excited for others to read about them. There were quite a few, so watch out R L Stine! There’s a reason you can’t spell Bec Hill without ‘chill’!"

Hill is a stand-up comedian and works in children's TV. She is a regular on CBBC's "The Dog Ate My Homework" and has written live-action and animated TV shows aimed at young viewers, including two Disney and Cartoon Network shows which are currently in production, as well as a new CITV arts and crafts series (which she will also host) called "Makeaway Takeaway".