Doctor Who: Tales of Terror

Various
Puffin Books

For the last 3 years the Doctor Who people have taken to putting out one of these lovely hardback anthologies a year.  We've had a Christmas one, a fairy story one and now a Halloween.  They're very much aimed at the lower end of the YA audience and are pretty slight affairs but that's not something that bothers me overly.  I don't read these things for deep philosophical musings I read them for a quick Doctor fix.

A couple of familiar names from other DW books pop up among the authors of the 12 tales (no War Doctor) - Jacqueline Rayner, Mike Tucker & Paul Magrs - alongside three I don't know - Richard Dungworth, Scott Handcock & Craig Donaghy.

For her two contributions Rayner goes deep into Who history with the Doctor finding himself face to face with the Celestial Toymaker for a pair of adventures.  Mike Tucker subjects Doctor 2 to a psychic invasion of the TARDIS and once more gives Tegan over to the Mara whereas Magrs subjects 3, Jo and some kids to a stranded Dalek that wants to get home and 8 gets to match wits with a genetically engineered sea thing.

Richard Dungworth inflicts a trio of witches on Sarah Jane and 10 to a rematch with the Family of Blood.  Scott Handcock has 7 facing off against other dimensional forces and 9 tackles a stranded Cyberman before Craig Donaghy closes the book with two stories that has 11 help a family escape the Weeping Angels and 12 gets to be short tempered with some kids while messing up the plans of the Nestene Consciousness.

Not every story works but on the whole it was a big, silly read that was just what I was after.

Buy it here - Doctor Who: Tales of Terror

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