Seven seriously flinch-worthy fears of Huggabie Falls author Adam Cece

Adam Cece, author of the madcap The Unbelievably Scary Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls, shares the very strange fears he has in common with the residents of Huggabie Falls.

Adam Cece is the mastermind behind Huggabie Falls – the weirdest town on Earth that you loved from the first book in the Huggabie seriesThe Extremely Weird Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls– so he knows a thing or two about the kooky and spooky.

Halloween is fast approaching, so now is the perfect time to peek inside Adam’s mind to discover the rather odd things that give him the heebie-jeebies. Where do these phobias come from? And how do they inform the crazy and zany events that happen to the Huggabie Falls residents in book two? Let’s find out.

Giveaway! The best drawing of each weird fear listed below will receive a copy of The Unbelievably Scary Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls. Take a picture of your drawing and post it in the comments section of Better Reading Kids’ FB account to enter. Author Adam Cece will be the judge! Competition is open to kids aged 12 and under and closes on Halloween (October 31).

1. Teddy bears

When I was a kid, I had a favourite teddy bear named Mr Puddles. I would often wake up in the middle of the night and there would be a massive moving shadow on my wall. I would squeak and dive under the covers—until I realised that it was just my night light making a shadow of Mr Puddles’ head, and he was just moving because I’d rolled over.

2. Grand pianos

Just imagine a grand piano flying through the air and landing on you.

3. Geese

I walked past a goose once and I’ll never forget the look it gave me, as if to say ‘big mistake buddy.’ And it chased me, hissing and honking, for what felt like a kilometre. I’m sure not all geese are evil, but if I ever see one now, I flash back to that look, and I run for my life.

4. Dinosaurs

Even though they’ve been extinct for 65 million years, dinosaurs are still pretty scary (Have you seen their teeth?) When I was a kid, I kept asking my mum if she was really, really sure dinosaurs were extinct. I needed to be certain that there wasn’t one last dinosaur hanging around, just in case I bumped into it one day.

I share this fear with the Dinosaur Fearers Anonymous group of Huggabie Falls, which is comprised of people who are not fully convinced of dinosaurs’ extinct status.

5. Pigeon poo

I’ll keep this story short. I was walking to school and a pigeon pooed on my shoulder and down the front of my school shirt. That would be bad enough. But the poo soaked in and spread until I felt like my whole shirt was covered and that before long I’d be a walking talking pile of pigeon poo.

6. Spiders

Sure, maybe being scared of spiders isn’t that weird, but I am petrified of spiders. I can’t even be in the same room as a plastic one. Someone just has to mention the word spider and I will race from the room – this is a trick my brother especially enjoys when there is only one piece of cake left and we can’t decide who’s going to eat it.

7. Short names

I used to think Adam Cece was such a short and boring name, with only eight measly letters, and I was sure my life would be so much cooler and more interesting if I had a long name like Bartholomew Amadeus Montgomery Cece the Third.

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Adam Cece lives in Adelaide. In 2017, he won the Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing for The Extremely Weird Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls, Book 1 in the Huggabie Falls trilogy. The second instalment, The Unbelievably Scary Thing that Happened in Huggabie Falls, was also published in 2018.

Andrew Weldon is a cartoonist whose work has appeared in the Age, the Big Issue, the Australian and the New Yorker. He has written and illustrated several children’s books including the Don’t Look Now series with Paul Jennings. Andrew lives in Melbourne.