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Ben’s Gargoyle
- Author
- Keith Gray
- Narrator
- Louis Hill
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date
- 4 June 2026
- Run Time
- 1 hour 18 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
- Genre
- Children’s / Teenage fiction and true stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Thrillers / suspense, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: School stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Horror and ghost stories, chillers, or other scary supernatural stories
What to expect
Critically acclaimed author Keith Gray masterfully grapples with the difficult dynamics of a tumultuous family environment in this compelling and bittersweet tale.
When Ben sees a monstrous gargoyle creeping across the midnight rooftops, he’s desperate to tell someone. But Ben feels alone in his new home and is finding it hard fitting in at his new school.
Ben’s dad doesn’t believe him. He’s always angry. He says Ben needs to act his age, stand up to the school bullies and “be a man”. But can Ben find the courage to stand up to the biggest bully of all? And every night the gargoyle creeps closer.
Critics Review
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"Ben's Gargoyle packs one heck of a punch. Keith Gray's story – complemented wonderfully by Keith Robinson's illustrations – explores themes of family, friendship and courage, and builds swiftly to a finale that's as astonishing as it is moving." — Darren Simpson
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"Gray and Robinson are the dream team; with their unflinching yet sensitive portrayal of Ben’s life. Tense, original and ultimately hopeful, Ben’s Gargoyle is a complex idea told with skill; a deceptively simple reflection of toxic masculinity and finding the inner strength to fight it." — Lesley Parr
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"Keith Gray pulls no punches in this gloriously dark tale of upheaval, fear and danger. Ben's struggles are carved from granite in tense and weighty lines, tapping into the bedrock of what masculinity means. A fine gothic fable about how to face the monsters that lurk both inside and out." — Luke Palmer
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"This is a great gothic tale of psychological horror … And you'll be punching the air as Ben manages to find his inner strength … A wonderfully gothic tale with a great theme – I loved it!" — Alastair Chisholm
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"A creepy, powerful story that lingers long after the main page. With themes of isolation, resilience and growing fear this will appeal to readers who enjoy intense, moody books … With strong echoes of Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls, the gradually growing of tension and questions of what it means to be a man, make this Ben’s Gargoyle an ideal, quick read for school book clubs and classroom discussions." — LoveReading4Kids
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"A moving story about family breakdown, hardship, resilience, and finding the strength to overcome adversity. Written and illustrated in a striking modern Gothic style, it uses powerful symbolism to explore one boy’s struggle to reclaim his confidence and hope … Ben’s Gargoyle would be a fantastic complementary text for Gargoyles: Guardians of the Source by Tamsin Mori or The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival." — Scope for Imagination, blog
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Details
- Author
- Keith Gray
- Narrator
- Louis Hill
- Duration
- 1 hour 18 minutes
- Release Date
- 4 June 2026
- ISBN
- 9780008801533
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Genre
- Children’s / Teenage fiction and true stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Thrillers / suspense, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: School stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Horror and ghost stories, chillers, or other scary supernatural stories
Synopsis
Critically acclaimed author Keith Gray masterfully grapples with the difficult dynamics of a tumultuous family environment in this compelling and bittersweet tale. When Ben sees a monstrous gargoyle creeping across the midnight rooftops, he’s desperate to tell someone. But Ben feels alone in his new home and is finding it hard fitting in at his new school. Ben’s dad doesn’t believe him. He’s always angry. He says Ben needs to act his age, stand up to the school bullies and “be a man”. But can Ben find the courage to stand up to the biggest bully of all? And every night the gargoyle creeps closer.
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