Tales Point Horror Book Club – Teachers Pet by Richie Tankersley Cusick
#PointHorrorBookClub was created by author Juno Dawson in 2013. Juno announced in 2015 that she was no longer able to carry on so, with her blessing, I took over the reins.
So why not grab a copy and join the discussion with this months #PointHorrorBookClub
Teachers Pet by Richie Tankersley Cusick
Are the Point Horror books we loved as a teenager still our favourites on a re-read? Have they not stood the test of time? After a hit of nostalgia? Or are you new to Point Horror and want to see what its all about?
Want to explore previous #PointHorrorBookClub posts? I’ve got you! Head to the main page here
Beware…….Spoilers Ahead
Kate will do anything to be the teacher’s pet
An aspiring horror writer, Kate likes a little scare. When offered a spot at an exclusive weeklong writing conference, she jumps at the chance to go. After all, it’s taught by William Drewe, the master of horror himself.
But strangely, when Kate arrives, William Drewe is nowhere to be found. Filling in for him is his brother, Gideon, whose assignments give Kate the thrills she seeks. With a teacher like this, she’ll get all the material she needs to become a bestselling author . . . if she survives.
The Tagline
Look what the cat dragged in….
Okay ….so…What’s It All About?
Kate Rawlins loves to be scared and wants to write a book someday that will really terrify people! She has bagged herself a writers conference trip with her teacher, Miss Bunceton after winning an annual fiction competition to a remote writer retreat in a camp in the woods. With the possibility of meeting one of her favourite authors, William Drewe she is very excited! Assigned to cabin thirteen some crazy things begin to happen!
Crazy Things? Oh No!
Yep! Kate discovers a severed hand! Or was it a glove? And then when skinny dipping someone pinches and slashes all her clothes! Her cabin is broken into and she thinks someone is following her in the creepy woods!
Following her in the woods? Who’s there to protect her?
She befriends a lovely boy called Denzil and a girl called Tawney, but also falls in love with Gideon who’s best friend is Pearce who Kate ends up kissing too and it’s like Point Horror has taken a trip to Love Island!
Awwwww this sounds like a nice Point Horror!
Did I mention that something gets killed in Kate’s bath? No!? Opppsssiiieeesss!
The Girl
Oh Kate! Green eyed Kate who loves to be scared, but put a garbage bag or severed hand in front of her and she will do a full on Psycho horror scream! Also don’t EVER walk behind her in the woods or basically anywhere as she will freak out over every little sound she hears especially if the sound comes from the bushes! But please remember she is a budding horror writer so is never scared of anything! 🙂
She does talk to herself a lot and does get a teeny weeny bit obsessed with the old glove, but she was a reasonable Point Horror girl I would say!
I loved how when she suspects Denzil of all the goings on and accuses him many times she runs to him when shes scared! Yep that’s right Point Horror lady….run to the person you think is the killer and scaring you to death! Personally I think I would have run to Denzil too….I kinda loved him!
The Love Interest
Oh wow! Where to start! In the space of 200ish pages our Point Horror girl snogs all three love interests and basically all three males in the story giving a whole new meaning to the words Point Horror! From Gideon to Pearce, back to Gideon, a bit of a flirt with Pearce and then to Denzil! The hussy! A few times I thought I had picked up one of those Point Romances that were out the same time as the Point Horrors – does anyone else remember these? *fans self*
Okay so the main love interest is a violet eyed character called Gideon Drewe, missing William Drewe’s brother, who steps in to cover Williams lectures at the writers retreat and if I’m honest was a little creepy with obsession about fear! He was an okay love interest I guess….meh!
The Gang
Before I start on the gang…I loved how we have classic Point Horror Style names in this book! Teachers Pet did not disappoint on this! Oh how I chuckled and chuckled! I think the names alone made this book for me!
So as above we have Gideon Drewe…love it!. Then we have Pearce Cronan…Love it more! Then a girl called Tawney…more about her below but YES! Then a black cat called Pet….Just !!!! But best of all, and I think this maybe my favourite EVER Point Horror name…..Denzil Doyle! I think I have died and gone to Point Horror character name heaven! 🙂
Chauffer / Caretaker / tall dark Zombie type Pearce Cronan with his midnight black eyes was very mysterious and sometimes I liked him sometimes I was like eh? I loved how he was the reveal dressing up and becoming Gideon and William’s sister Rowena showing he can be a serious writer too by rhyming every sentence but in a creepy way! I kept imagining Rowena breaking out in a bit of a Taylor Swift song “I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream”!
Cowboy wannabe Denzil Doyle with his super cool cowboy hat and owlish grey spectacled eyes who knows how to woo the ladies by pinching them! He did go a little to far though by trying to find the pocket watch in Kate’s clothes whilst she was wearing them! I think I may have been a bit jealous!
Tawney….oh bless her long frosted hair…she was so adorable, clumsy and funny and never got any jokes! Yes she made me laugh on numerous occasions from her poetry, her friendship with Denzil and best of all setting the kitchen on fire with her muffins and losing a contact lens in the ice cream! She was just so scatty that I loved her and her spirit so much and her poems! She made me laugh with her random screaming scaring everyone to death and it was just because she was scared!
Tawney reminded me of this character out of mean girls….
And of course we cannot move on without mentioning budding romance author and lover of all things poison ivy Miss Bunceton! She gets a bit of a bad time at the retreat and what seems to be over her weight. She seemed to be the teacher who was trying to be all hip and cool especially saying the old “what happens at camp stays at camp to Kate”….cringe 🙂
Also special nod to the camp cat, Pet! Clothes thief by day, with a passion for blood at night…well we were told she would eat anything and has no pride at all!
Fashion Faux Pas
I didn’t notice many – did you?
Maybe Gideon and his jeans and bulky knit sweater the exact colour of his violet eyes?!
Dialogue Disasters
Again not really disasters but more lines that made me chuckle a little….
“Oh, you young people and your obsession with horror!”
Miss Bunceton is looking at all of us #pointhorrorbookclub !
“You’ve been reading too many horror stories”
Standard
“Denzil Doyle. Seriously. Would I make up a name like that?”
I’m going all Billy here with his love of Point Horror girl Jenny, but I LOVE YOU DENZIL!
“Is a brick a brick?”
Denzil I have just confessed my love for you and you say something like that!
“I’ll be moseyin’ along. Sleep tight, don’t let the fleas bite, or whatever the hell these little critters are out here”
That’s my man!
“It’s my imagination. It’s a curse!”
This is Kate’s excuse for hearing everything in the bushes!
“Gideon Drewe. Don’t you just love his name!”
Nope Tawney! Chelley hearts Denzil! 4EVER!
“Kate was beginning to feel like one giant goosebump”
Don’t we all Kate! Don’t we all!
“Oh isn’t this just our luck!” “Some bear hauled off our clothes and ate them”
Nope Tawney…your clothes were fine…Poor Kate! The bear must have had a passion for watching people skinny dip!
Or maybe theres another explanation for the missing clothes like…
“Maybe Pet got hold of it! Maybe she hid the rest somewhere!”
*blank face* Pet is the cat!
“Hey look! Theres Igor!”
Classic line from Denzil! My love grows stronger!
“See you later pardner”
*swoons* And stronger!
“Her brain felt like wet sand”
We all have those days right?
“I’m plumb starved – I could eat a horse”
What?
“Don’t go sidewinder on me. Back! Back!”
Eh?
“Maybe he had to go to the bathroom” “That always makes me want to hurry”
Bless Tawney!
“You’ll have – to – pull hard”
Okay….let’s not go there!”
“Oh I thought he was a recluse. Like a lot of writers are”
Ouch Cusick! Ouch!
“I’m sticking to you like needles on a cactus”
Lol! Prickly!
“I believe he refers to them as the Horror Groupies”
*group hug everyone*
Body Count
Teachers Pet provides us with zero live action dead bodies in the book, but the prologue opens up with the hint that William has snuffed it and his body parts turning up all over the camp! Ewwwwwww
We also get a back story about the death of Gideon, William and Pearce’s parents and also another student ex lover of Gideon, Merriam’s death.
So lots of back story but unfortunately all of our characters in Teachers Pet lived!
Is it scary?
Not scary scary…..more point horror scary. The most scary scene for me was the whole ransacked cabin / lets kill something in Kate’s bath tub (although later on she has a shower in there….WHY?).
Did the best friend do it?
Huzzah! Nope the best friend of Kate was not the culprit, but the best friend of Gideon was the baddie! So yeah, in a kind of way it was the best friend! Classic point horror styley!
Some Mild Peril?
There’s a lot of running through the woods that goes on in this book, plus your usual shadowy unknown person wielding an axe and “ghostly apparitions” which would class as mild peril! Also Pearce and the whole setting a lethal hunting trap for Kate and then standing in it himself (no YOU laughed at this!) was genuine mild peril!
And not to mention someone running off with Kate and Tawney’s clothes whilst they were skinny dipping and slashing them to smithereens! A little disturbing!
Oh and killing something in Kate’s bathtub! Gross!
Is it any good?
Reading these books as a teen my favourite ones were always the Richie Tankersley Cusick books, but as we have found now we are a little older we have….lets say struggled with her Point Horror efforts. For me this was third time lucky and I am glad we gave her another chance. I actually liked this Point Horror. It had a very Friday the 13th / Psycho vibe and I actually did like the whole twist on the reveal and basically that Pearce was a little do lally tap with a split personality!
For me the book had a few makings of those classic style horrors including remote cabins, bonfire parties, skinny dipping, plenty of “I’ll be right backs”, people holding axes, comedy and scary moments.
Special shout out to the Horror Hunt! Let’s set one of these up! They sound awesome!
Final Thought
Why didn’t health and safety shut down the camp?! There were fires, deaths, missing people, contact lenses in food! Enough said!
Over to you!
As well as your thoughts on the book I’ve added some fun questions to ponder!
- Lets hear your best Rowena scary rhyme!
- Give me your best Point Horror charter name?
- Has any one ever been to a camp like this?
- Has this given us faith in RTC’s books again?
- What happened to Pet at the end of the book?
Just wanted to add this fab emoji tweet that #PointHorrorBookClub member Billy tweeted! It made me LOL so hard!
Live Chat
Feel free to pop me a comment using the reply button at the top of the page.
Or
Use the #PointHorrorBookClub on Twitter on Instagram, follow PHBC on Instagram @talespointhorrorbookclub or even follow me @chelleytoy … lets have a good old Point Horror chat!
Want to explore previous #PointHorrorBookClub posts? I’ve got you! Head to the main page here
Thanks for joining in….Horror Groupies forever!
Don’t forget to leave me any questions you would like me to ask Point Horror author A Bates for a fab Q&A!
A couple of us had a discussion on Twitter about TEACHER’S PET, so I put together the pertinent tweets to be linked here, as requested by Michelle.
Storify: TEACHER’S PET.
Brilliant thank you for joining in
Awesome work getting another PH interview! I’ll have to write a separate post with my questions (I might just try and sneak another A. Bates novel in before I do!)
So…’Teacher’s Pet’. Gave me that satisfied feeling when I was done; like a binge on your favourite junk food.
The obvious question first: Chelle – are all writer’s conventions like this? 😉
I did roll my eyes at Pearce the creepy caretaker – very Scooby Doo! And he would’ve got away with it too if it wasn’t for those meddling kids!
*sigh* Tawney – “She gave him a dazzling smile and ran into the wall”. I just may have a new PH crush (just don’t tell Shannon!). I just love a gorgeous klutz; permed hair and all! Dodgy poems, skinny dipping, wide eyed innocence…sign me up for the next camp!
I’d love to know if RTC was telling us a little about her own writing methods using Gideon?
Do we need to add a WTF section to the monthly write ups to go alongside the fashion faux pas and dialogue disasters? ‘Coz seriously, WTF #1 – Rowena? and WTF #2 – Kissing Lurch the zombie caretaker?
To be fair, I felt the book dragged a little in the middle – so many walks in the woods!
I agree about the level of romance running through the novel – Gideon, Pearce, Denzil and Kate; is that a love square? Trapezoid? Rhombus?
I really enjoyed the book’s gothic romance aspects; insane twin in an old house – nice! And for the first time in a while I was satisfied with the ending of a PH!
Questions:
* I started writing one for my Tawney, but the only word I could think of that rhymed was horny! Tad inappropriate perhaps – PHBC is still PG-13 yeah? 😉
* I think you’re after the best PH character name? Hmm…Truth is stranger than fiction here. I’m not sure I could create one better than what’s already out there! How about Crash Spuckler?
* My grade 5 camp had some cray cray moments, but no mystery fires, missing teachers and adorably terrible cooks!
* I never lost the faith; my love for Halloween allowed ‘Trick Or Treat’ to score a little higher with me than others.
* The Pet thing is weird. Like with Linnie’s sister in ‘The Dead Game’, it felt like Pet was going to play an important part in the finale but was nowhere to be seen. So where was he? I’ve a horrible feeling Tawney might have cooked him up for dinner!
Hi Mark! I’m really interested in the answers that A Bates is going to give and how her experience maybe differed from the other two authors we have had questions and answers from.
Chelle – are all writer’s conventions like this? – not that I’m aware of, but I will have to conduct some in depth research here! And no that doesn’t mean “doing as Kate would” 🙂
Lol re Scooby Doo ref! Maybe we would have had a little less walking through the woods if they were on the case! 🙂
Crash Spuckler sounds like an awesome Point Horror name!
And I literally gave myself the hiccups with your Tawney / Horny reference! MARK INDEED!!!! *waggles finger*
PS – I am SO grassing you up to Point Horror stalker Shannon for now fancying Tawney!
PPS – Let me know your questions in the next week as I will need to get these sent off asap ready for the next club meeting 🙂
Well, Ms. RTC has well and truly redeemed herself, this was classic Point Horror and a great read. I had this one back in my pre-tax paying days (glances out the window wistfully for a moment) but I don’t think I ever got round to reading it, as I don’t remember anything about it!
Before I begin, I just want to give a special peck on the cheek to Miss Bunceton. She was ridiculed for her weight, sat on some poison ivy, and had all her worldly possessions burnt to a crisp. All whilst maintaining an ever upbeat outlook. God bless her.
Love the fact that Tawney (what a name) had a perm, and did anyone else pick up the descriptive of Gideon’s “long fringed lashes”? How can a lash have a fringe? Another strange oddity I picked up on was Gideon’s bent head… observe:
“… and was surprised to see Gideon out front getting into the van. She stared at his bent head, his hand on the door…”
“… Gideon now in the driver’s seat, head bent upon the steering wheel, shoulders slumped…”
“… Gideon made a choking sound in his throat and bent his head, taking deep breaths…”
And that is literally from just one chapter!!
For the longest time I thought Tawney was Rowena, because I couldn’t believe anybody could be *that* dense, plus if you move the letters around you nearly get an anagram. But nope, it went completely Norman Bates at the end – and Chelle, lol, I literally spat out my coke when I read your line about Pearce setting up the bear trap and then stepping in it himself haha. How dumb can you actually be? Lollingtons.
Onto the q’s…
•Lets hear your best Rowena scary rhyme!
“Kate, Kate, don’t be late
You will meet a terrible fate
Kate Kate, you’re not my mate
Because you and Gids went on a date”
•Give me your best Point Horror character name?
I don’t think it’s possible to top Denzil Doyle. I recall The Accident (which looks like it will be next month’s read) had a girl called Cappie Cabot in it, which is awesome. It definitely needs alliteration. So… Billy Bropsington.
•Has any one ever been to a camp like this?
You mean one where the food is burnt or contains contact lenses, cabins are set on fire, dead animals are found dripping in blood in your shower, people are left to burn alive in house fires, ‘scary’ poems are left for you on a notice board, severed body parts are found dotted around the site, and a cross dressing psycho sets a bear trap for himself? Why yes I have, it was called Warmwell (shudders at regressed childhood memory).
•Has this given us faith in RTC’s books again?
Definitely – Lifeguard here we come!
•What happened to Pet at the end of the book?
The poor thing probably ended up in Tawney’s pavlova.
Great write up as usual, looking forward to reading all the comments. If The Accident does win, I’ll be happy as a) I don’t have to buy it on eBay, b) the cover was *amazing*, c) it was the second one I ever read and has stuck with me, d) it’s also out on Kindle don’t you know and e) Cappie Cabot. HELLO.
Until next month!
I will reply to everything ASAP ….. Don’t forget your questions for A Bates
Billy Goat! How did I forget the long fringed eyelashes and the bent head! Good spotting there!
I have to admit I did think Tawney was going to be the reveal and end being Rowena! Oh how could we ever have doubted her!
Loving your scary rhyme! And Point Horror name! Can Denzil Doyle ever be beaten? Although Cappie Cabot? Seriously! OMG!
At the mo it does look like The Accident is winning the vote….looking forward to reading then having a listen to the audio…I will add a section in discussing the audio next month 🙂
Hey Team!
Ooh, this has been a LONG month. I got a bit excited and premature (if you’ll pardon the expression), and read Teacher’s Pet immediately after last month’s discussion, and have been sat like Tawney at a lecture ever since, staring blankly at the walls and composing ‘poetry’ to pass the time.
Now that the 13th has finally rolled around, let me start by saying that, as RTC’s number one non-fan, I was not entirely looking forward to Teacher’s Pet. But even I have to admit that it was significantly less dreadful than April Fools and Trick or Treat. Disclaimer: this does not mean I thought it was good; just… not as terrible. To be honest, it was all about Tawney and La Bunceton for me; Kate and her thousands of love interests can go and jump in a bear trap for all I care.
Good things first: the already-mentioned gothic vibe and Jane Eyre overtones were a bonus, as was the out-of-the-ordinary literary camp setting (*side-steps obvious comment that perhaps RTC would benefit from attending a couple*). The cross-dressing Psycho-style reveal was nothing if not bonkers, and Pearce was a memorable (if not entirely plausible) villain. Best of all was Tawney, who I loved as much as you guys. Dumb as a box of hair and about as talented as that severed hand that kept turning up for no reason, the unveiling of her masterpiece ‘Muffin Madness, My Early Morning Sadness’ genuinely made me laugh out loud. God bless her. And her perm.
Unfortunately, for me, the book ultimately fell foul of the usual RTC irritants. For a start, I felt like I was reading it for actual YEARS. By our 74th aimless jaunt in the woods, I was 100% ready to jump face-first into the nearest animal trap, and the whole thing seemed kind of aimless. And po-faced. And just, well, all a bit… Tankersley Cusick. Not even the scandalous hints of something vaguely incest-y spiced things up.
Gideon was straight-up the most boring love interest we’ve had so far. Not even the wholly unnecessary testosterone-and-angst wood-choppng scene made me warm to him. Bore off, Gideon. Irresistable-to-men Kate, on the other hand, was fine as PH heroines go, though I think she needs to get her hormones in check. I mean, far be it from me to start slut-shaming, but was there a single guy at that camp that she DIDN’T get off with? For the record, should anyone be wondering, it is never EVER appropriate to get your jollies with a man whose foot is legit hanging off. Bear traps are NOT a mood-enhancer. God, Kate.
Since we’re on the subject of Gideon and Pearce, am I the only person who had to reread several pages to work out what the hell was going on at the end? I’m still not certain I know who the killer was, or which characters knew about what, when, and I’m not sure that RTC ever really made her mind up either. Come to think of it, I’m pretty certain that at one point, EVERY character was dressed as Rowena… or maybe I’d just slipped into a Teacher’s Pet fever dream at that point. It’s hard to tell. All I know is that if you add up all the orphanings, blackmailings, deaths-by-fire, car crashes and comas, that family had a worse time than anyone in all of history. No wonder Pearce went nuts.
I’d like to add to your dialogue disasters with these gems:
“You won’t find her in any crowd. She… doesn’t have a face.” Pearce breaks it to Gideon gently.
“How do you catch a zombie?” “I don’t know.” “In a zombie trap.” *simply stares*
Okay, time for questions!
1. Let’s hear your best Rowena scary rhyme!
Teacher’s Pet, Teacher’s Pet:
Our best RTC effort yet.
I am sure that I shall never forget
Mad Pearce in a frock; on that you can bet.
Or
Kate, you big tramp, put it back in your pants,
There’s a loon on the loose, and he’s severing hands,
If you spent less time snoggin’, more using your noggin,
You’d have a much better chance of not winding up a corpse in the woods, you nutter.
2. Give me your best Point Horror character name
I’m still a fan of Foy Villanova from The Cemetery, but given that the rule seems to be surnames-as-first-names, I’m putting forward Chamberlain De La Christabel, and Collins Meridian.
3. Has any one ever been to a camp like this?
Never. To be honest, if I’d been there, Kate might have had someone else trying to kill her.
4. Has this given us faith in RTC’s books again?
Well, no, frankly. But it’s made me a tiny bit less disdainful of her.
5. What happened to Pet at the end of the book?
For sure, Pet ran off in search of a better book to star in.
I’m done. Fun, as ever, and looking forward to some audio hilarity next month! I’ll ponder some A. Bates questions, too – congrats on landing another author chat!
Hi Paul! You were super eager to read the RTC choice this month! I was shocked! I think maybe there is some secret RTC love going on there! lol
Yay to loving Tawney! I really wished we had heard more of ‘Muffin Madness, My Early Morning Sadness’
Totally agree re lots of wood walking and I felt a little strange that Gideon was a teacher and the whole Kate thing….*shudders*
I did have to re-read the end a couple of times as it was a tad confusing….and what was with Gideon acting all weird at the end…..apparent poisoning??!!
Loving the extra dialogue disasters … I must have missed these during my 900th walk around the woods so thanks 🙂
Love your rhymes….the made me laugh a lot! Foy Villanova was a brill name…..I wish we could bag all out favourite Point Horror Character names and traits and make a super edition Point Horror Book lol
Def looking forward to reading the book next month then listening to the audio….I feel that I may laugh a lot!
PS – Takes back dreaming about trapping Denzil Doyle in a bear trap so I can snog him…..I totally realise now that that’s not hot! Not hot at all! lol
For those not on twitter I have added a brilliant emoji tweet from Billy at the bottom of the post – Teachers Pet in emojis….its hilarious!
Brilliant comments as always!
Don’t forget to get your questions to me for A Bates 🙂
Hey, some questions for A. Bates:
1. Which of your PHs were you most pleased with?
2. Did you read any of your contemporaries’ PHs? Did you have a favourite?
3. The Dead Game was almost unique among PHs in that it had three narrators, one of whom turned out to be the main antagonist. Did you intentionally set out to break the ‘rules’ of PH?
4. How has your YA audience changed over the years? Do you think teen readers are more savvy now than in the early 90s PH heyday?
Fab questions Paul! I will add these in – Thank you 🙂
Oh! And something about character names!
YES! You got it!
Questions for A. Bates:
* From previous interviews we’ve done, it appears the PH framework was to provide authors with titles to build a story around. My question has a couple of parts; firstly did you have any other ideas for the titles you were given? And secondly, did you utilise any pre-existing story outlines that you already had and rework them for PH?
* In ‘The Dead Game’ there was an excellent red herring that saw all of the PHBC convinced that Linnie’s sister would be revealed as the killer. It was written in so well that I have to ask whether she actually was ever set to be the killer? Or was Linnie’s always the killer from draft 1?
* PH books were aimed at a teen market and themes such as racism, sexuality and divorce can be found in their pages. Were there any themes you felt were important to cover with your writing? For example, the inclusion of the character of Ming in ‘The Dead Game’. Not only an Asian character, but also a child whose parents are notably absent.
* Which of your characters is most like you? Did you base any of your characters on people you knew?
* Why do you think the PH was so popular? And why do you think they’re still read today?
* Would you ever return to writing PH? What title would you choose?
Fab questions Mark – I’m on it!
Just to chime in and say that any questions for Frauline Bates that I was going to ask have been asked (more betterly) by Mark and Paul 🙂
I don’t know how to phrase the question, but I’ve often wondered if the PH authors had any interactions with each other? With so many books being churned out, I wonder if they kept in touch to make sure, I don’t know, the allocated titles of ‘Freeze Tag’ and ‘The Snowman’ weren’t heading down the same route? Does that make sense?
Yeah I understand what you mean Billy – will add that on 🙂
Okay if that’s all the questions I’m going to send them off to her asap 🙂
aahh @ pet the cat! oscar (1 of my cats) had a passion for ketchup. i didn’t like this one at all, but now i’ve seen fri 13th & liked it i suppose i’d like it a bit more. love the idea of the flinching horror writer –- my writing was/is sort of horror/fantasy, since school, a favourite trick is to call me really loudly/accidentally-on-purpose drop something i go to loud concerts, i need them louder, but i just can’t cope with loud noise.
i think their names give things away to be honest
pearce = pierce/pierced, i will pierce you
gideon = good/angelic. sword of gideon