After 21 years of taunting and teasing, author Francesca Simon has announced that the time has come to send Horrid Henry packing. The last book in the series is set to be released in July. Consisting of four short stories, Horrid Henry’s Cannibal Curse will see Henry putting a cannibal curse on his enemies.
Simon isn’t worried that Henry will disappear from children’s lives because he has no new tricks up his sleeve. “It’s not as if the books will vanish from bookshelves because I’m not adding to the collection,” she told a publishing magazine.
She has a point, because not only are there twenty books to keep new generations of Horrid Henry fans busy, but there’s also a film and TV series based on his antics, and Simon has said that there will be a “fun surprise” in this last book.
In a Guardian interview, Simon discussed her own ‘Eureka!’ moment and what made the series successful,
“When my Horrid Henry voice finally clicked, I realised quite late that Henry himself and his ‘Out of my way, worm’ is not particularly funny. It’s the narrative voice that’s funny.”
For now, the author is focussing on her Mortal Gods series and is working on the third book The Monstrous Child. The first title, Lost Gods is available to buy from the Guardian Bookshop and a review of the book from author SF Said can be read here.
