My grip tightened on the cruel stone knife, the blade glinting, as the blood-red ruby eyes of the grinning skull bore into mine. Inside my head, the voice rose to a piercing scream. 'Cut out his beating heart - and give it to me!'

Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock lad on a mission - to collect a parcel from the docks and deliver it to a famous school. But dark forces have been released and, as Barnaby returns to Grassington Hall School, he's about to find out the extent of the horror.

A spine-tingling tale of a school in the grip of a terrible curse. Tick-tock, time is running out. Can Barnaby survive?