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Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids logo.png
Official franchise logo
Creator Jamie Rix
Original work Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids by Jamie Rix (1990)
Print publications
Books 13
Miscellaneous
Country of origin United Kingdom
Language English

Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (often nicknamed Grizzly Tales) is the generic trademarked title for a series of award-winning children's books by British author Jamie Rix which were later adapted into an animated television series of the same name produced for ITV. Known for its surreal black comedy and horror, the franchise was immensely popular with children and adults, and the cartoon became one of the most-watched programmes on CITV in the 2000s; a reboot of the cartoon series was produced for Nickelodeon UK and NickToons UK in 2011 with 26 episodes (split into 2 series) with the added tagline of Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam!. The first four books in the series were published between 1990 and 2001 by a variety of publishers (such as Hodder Children's Books, Puffin, and Scholastic) and have since gone out of print but are available as audio adaptations through Audible and iTunes. The ITV cartoon was produced by Honeycomb Animation and aired between 2000 and 2006 with 6 series; reruns aired on the Nickelodeon channels along with the 2011 series.

Each book in the franchise contained several cautionary tales about children of many ages and the consequences of their antisocial actions. Due to how far-fetched and fantastical the stories could become, it is up to the reader whether they found the series frightening or amusing, but the franchise is usually categorised as children's horror. When the series was adapted for the CITV/Nickelodeon cartoons, the book chapters became ten-minute episodes that were narrated by comic actor Nigel Planer, and created by Honeycomb Animation, with author Rix as co-director.

The franchise received critical acclaim, noted by the themes of horror surrealism and adult paranoia blended with common children's book absurdity. The Daily Telegraph said of the CITV cartoon, "Mix Dahl with Belloc and you can anticipate with glee these animated tales of Jamie Rix. Even William Brown's antics pale..." and The Sunday Times wrote: "They are superior morality stories and Nigel Planer reads them with a delight that borders on the fiendish."

Plot

The Grizzly Tales series features short stories about cautionary tales and imitates an episodic anthology horror (similar to The Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside) with each book chapter a different short story. The typical structure would be a brief glance at a main character's typical day in their life, followed by a change in their routine (e.g. a new possession comes their way or a decision made by them/a supporting character) which eventually goes wrong in a hoisted with their own petard way, with the story ending with the main character either being killed, mutilated, involuntarily shapeshifting, or kidnapped by something/someone supernatural. They usually star children whose misbehaviour (laziness, greediness, vanity, lying, etc.) is failed to be reined in by their parents or guardians, who vary from encouraging it, ignoring it, failing to be firm with their punishments, or do nothing because they are used to being submissive. There are exceptions, however, as some stories are about adults, or set in the past, or are pastiches.

Book series

Recurring features

Locations of stories varied. Some took place in fictionalised versions of English towns (e.g. Colchester) and others did not (Saucy by Sea). Not all took place in the country of the franchise's origin: "It's Only a Game, Sport!" was set in Australia, for example. "The Chipper Chums Go Scrumping" is a pastiche of the works of Enid Blyton and is set in the Kentish countryside in 1952.

Naming conventions highlighted the humour. The Independent on Sunday pointed out, "Jamie Rix’s splendidly nasty short stories can be genuinely scary, but as the protagonists are obnoxious brats with names like Peregrine and Tristram, you may find yourself cheering as they meet their sticky ends." Some of the characters' surnames implied their roles in the story (Mr. and Mrs. Frightfully-Busy were workaholics, Johnny Bullneck is an aggressive school bully, and Serena Slurp is greedy) whereas the more ridiculous the family name is, the more unpleasant they are in the story: Fedora Funkelfink the con artist; and the upper-middle-class Crumpdump family, who trophy hunt to impress their spoilt children. "Knock Down Ginger", meanwhile, is set in a fictional town called Nimby, a notorious home for middle-class snobs. Some of the punishments that the horrible characters have are based on puns: loud-mouthed Dolores from "Silence is Golden" is taken to an alchemist and is turned into a gold statue; "Kiss and Make Up" was a double meaning title about a girl who used make up to look prettier so that she could have her first kiss with a handsome boy in her school. Other titles are pop-culture references ("Fatal Attraction", "The Big Sleep", "The Barber of Civil", "Monty's Python", etc.).

Story issues and morals were relatable to the reader (particularly the parents that would be reading to their children), such as television addiction, sibling rivalry, trying to fit in with their friends, personal hygiene, refusing to eat their dinner, punctuality, but others are about theft and deforestation, as well as an implied anti hunting message in "An Elephant Never Forgets". Supernatural characters varied from witch doctors (Doctor Moribundus, The Barber of Civil), poltergeists (The Spaghetti Man), to snake-oil salesmen. There were also fairies, talking animals, aliens, inanimate objects coming to life (such as drawings), and witches, as well as cursed objects, and absurd occurrences (such as piglets travelling across the countryside disguised as a man); other villains, like Farmer Tregowan, were regular people with extremely violent methods of punishment. Children could be shapeshifted, eaten alive, kidnapped, or turned into food. Due to many of the parents' child neglect and lack of discipline, many of the outcomes of their children's stories do not appear to affect their lives. Some of the workaholic parents are too busy to notice that their child has either been maimed or has disappeared and others are implied to be such insignificance in their children's lives that they do not appear as characters in the story. Meanwhile, happy (or bittersweet) endings were about the character learning from their bad behaviour and turning their lives around before things got worse.

Book list

No. Title Date of publication No. of pages Publisher Notes Original ISBN Other ISBN Ref.
1 Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids 17 May 1990 112 André Deutsch Limited Out of print by 2010
  • (1992)
  • (2000)
2 Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids 14 February 1992 144
  • (1995)
  • (2000)
3 Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids 8 April 1996 224 Hodder Children's Books
4 More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids 19 January 2001 304 Scholastic n/a
5 Nasty Little Beasts 5 April 2007 128 Orion Children's Books
6 Gruesome Grown Ups 5 April 2007 128
7 The "Me!" Monsters 5 July 2007 128
8 Freaks of Nature 5 July 2007 128
9 Terror Time Toys 7 February 2008 128
10 Blubbers and Sickers 7 February 2008 128
11 The Gnaughty Gnomes of "NO!" 1 July 2008 128
12 Superzeroes 1 July 2008 128
13 A Grizzly Dozen 4 June 2009 256

Television series

Between 2000 and 2012, two animated adaptations were made for CITV and NickToons. Both were produced and animated by Honeycomb Animation as well as Rix's own television company Elephant (later renamed Little Brother). Producing partner Nigel Planer performed in the cartoons as the narrator of the stories during each episodes' framing devices. The first animated adaptation aired on CITV between January 2000 and October 2006, and the second aired on Nicktoons between May 2011 and November 2012.

Merchandise

Kindle versions of the first four books were briefly available to buy in 2011.

Nigel Planer was the narrator for this series and played Uncle Grizzly. He also narrated Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids on audiobook. Bill Wallis narrated More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, and Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids and Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids were both read by Andrew Sachs. Orion Audiobooks have also released full CD recordings of the books, read by Rupert Degas. Audio Go have re-released the original Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids audiobook on CD and download.

Awards and nominations

Both the books and the two television adaptations have received awards and nominations for their work.

Books

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref
1990 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Fiction, Age 9-11 Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids Won

Television

List of published short stories

Nearly every story Jamie Rix has written for Grizzly Tales are adaptations from his books:

Key
N/A Denounces information needed but is not included yet
Denounces information that did not happen

Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (1990)

Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids (1992)

Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids (1996)

More Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids (2001)

Nasty Little Beasts (April 2007)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 The Grub A Blub Blub Laziness "The Grub A Blub Blub" 5 05 31 March 2006
Savannah Slumberson refuses to leave her bedroom and is furious when her parents adamantly decide to go on a camping holiday at resort miles away from their city.
2 Monty's Python Sibling rivalry, animal abuse "Monty's Python" 5 04 30 March 2006
Monty enjoys playing pranks on his sister and decides by buy a python (he names "Sister Eater") to terrorise her more.
3 The Lobster's Scream N/A "The Lobster's Scream" 6 09 17 October 2006
Shannon Shellfish shouts "I WANT" when her parents will let her pay attention. Mr Pecorino pays a visit and Shannon needs his lobster costume, while the lobsters throw her into a pot of boiling water.
4 Wolf Child N/A "Wolf Child" 5 06 3 April 2006
Garth MacQueen's family has a history of offspring being kidnapped by wolves so when his baby sister is born, he is determined to try and get her kidnapped as well.
5 The Fruit Bat Fussy eater "The Fruit Bat" 5 03 29 March 2006
Cherie Stone refuses to eat fruit.
6 The Clothes Pigs Laziness, greed "The Clothes Pigs" 6 03 20 September 2006
In the city, Trueman "Truffle" Snuffle makes his parents do everything for him. In nearby farmland, piglets starve as their greedy family members push them out of the way to get a bigger helping in the trough.

Gruesome Grown Ups (April 2007)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 Jamie's School Dinners Fussy eater "Jamie's School Dinners" 6 01 18 September 2006
Jamie is obsessed with junk food and is forced to go on a diet.
2 Silence Is Golden Manners and rudeness "Silence is Golden" 5 10 7 April 2006
Dolores Bellicose enjoyed shouting because it made her the most heard person in her school. The school librarians are not impressed and plan to teach her a lesson.
3 The Old Tailor of Pelting Moor N/A "The Old Tailor of Pelting Moor" 6 10 18 October 2006
Jumbo Ferrari wants a new "life suit".
4 Her Majesty's Moley Animal abuse "Her Majesty's Moley" 5 11 10 April 2006
A girl called Mattie enjoys killing moles.
5 The Soul Stealer Blackmail, abuse of power "The Soul Stealer" 5 13 12 April 2006
A girl called Poppy is given a new mobile phone with a camera and uses it to blackmail people around her.
6 Nobby's Nightmare N/A "Nobby's Nightmare" 6 07 16 October 2006
Nobby finds it hard to distinguish whether he is in a dream or not.

The "Me!" Monsters (July 2007)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 The Apostrophic Expositor N/A "The Apostrophic Expositor" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 03 7 September 2011
N/A
2 Kiss And Make Up Vanity "Kiss and Make Up" 5 08 5 April 2006
Holly wants to have her first kiss and is visited by a (literal) two-faced fairy, who gives her advice and some makeup to look prettier.
3 The Kingdom of Wax N/A "Kingdom of Wax" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 11 9 May 2011
N/A
4 The Blood Doctor N/A "The Blood Doctor" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 01 5 September 2011
N/A
5 The Ugly Prince N/A "The Ugly Prince" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 03 3 May 2011
N/A
6 Big Head Pride and arrogance "Big Head" 6 11 18 October 2006
Sammy Slitherall becomes smug when he is picked as a team mascot.

Freaks of Nature (July 2007)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 Frank Einstein's Monster N/A "Frank Einstein's Monster" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 07 29 October 2012
N/A
2 Recyclops Recycling "Recyclops" 6 02 19 September 2006
N/A
3 The Weather Witch N/A "The Weather Witch" 5 07 4 April 2006
Jack Frost does not understand how horrible cold weather is, especially to the elderly.
4 William The Conkerer Greed, arrogance "William the Conkerer" 5 09 6 April 2006
William is determined to be the Conkers king of the school playground so he sneaks out of his house at midnight to destroy every conker tree in the area, angering a hermit who lives in a treehouse.
5 Hear No Weevil, See No Weevil N/A "Hear No Weevil See No Weevil" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 04 3 May 2011
N/A
6 Tom Time Punctuality "Tom Time" 6 13 19 October 2006
Tom is never on time for anything in his life and when science discovers that the end of the world is imminent, Tom's mother is determined to make him on time for the evacuation spaceships.

Terror Time Toys (February 2008)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 The Butcher Boy Greed and attention-seeking "The Butcher Boy" 5 02 28 March 2006
Gilbert is obsessed with money and fame, and does anything to be the richest boy in his school who gets the most attention.
2 The Bugaboo Bear N/A "The Bugaboo Bear" 5 01 27 March 2006
Emily gets a new teddy bear from the latest popular brand but soon becomes bored with it and starts to vandalise it.
3 Why Boys Make Better Burglars N/A "Why Boys Make Better Burglers" 6 04 21 September 2006
A burglar couple welcome a new son and his father cannot wait to teach him the family's tricks.
4 Puppet on a String N/A "Puppet on a String" 5 12 11 April 2006
N/A
5 The Death Rattle N/A "The Spelling Bee" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 12 N/A
N/A
6 eBoy Computer addiction "eBoy" 6 06 16 October 2006
N/A

Blubbers and Sicksters (February 2008)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 The Piranha Sisters Gaslighting "The Piranha Sisters" 6 12 19 October 2006
Dorothy May Piranha loves pranking her sister, Petey, but these pranks are malicious and warp Petey's common sense, which gets her in trouble with their parents. When Petey's birthday arrives, Dorothy May plans to make the party an unforgettable one, but a skeleton spirit warns her that her pranks might go horribly wrong.
2 The Crystal Eye Selfishness "A Grizzly New Year's Tale: The Crystal Eye" 4 15 31 December 2004
A boy is tired of sharing everything with his twin brother but then the family receives a mirror for Christmas.
3 Cat's Eyes N/A "Cat's Eyes" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 06 4 May 2011
A mean older sister tries to coerce her siblings into doing her wishes.
4 The Hair Fairies N/A "The Hair Fairies" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 02 6 September 2011
Fairies visit a boy when he envies his sister's hair.
5 The Watermelon Babies wasting water "The Watermelon Babies" 6 05 22 September 2006
Two sisters who live in a country suffering from a severe drought ignore the Hosepipe ban and abuse their power over water for their entertainment.
6 The Nuclear Wart nuclear power, sibling rivalry "The Nuclear Wart" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 13 2 November 2012
Tom and Jerry are brothers who despise each other to the point of their negative energy manifesting into an evergrowing wart.

The Gnaughty Gnomes of "NO!" (July 2008)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 Tinkerbell N/A "Tinklebell" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 01 2 May 2011
N/A
2 The Long Face N/A "The Long Face" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 10 6 May 2011
N/A
3 The Dragon Moth N/A "The Dragon Moth" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 09 6 May 2011
N/A
4 Sick To Death N/A "Sick To Death" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 02 2 May 2011
N/A
5 Message in a Bottle N/A "Message in a Bottle" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 07 5 May 2011
N/A
6 Lazybones N/A "Lazy Bones" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 06 10 September 2011
N/A

Superzeroes (July 2008)

No. Title Theme Cartoon Episode
Episode Name Series Episode number Air date
1 Fatal Attraction Ego "Nerves of Steel" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 04
N/A
2 Little Angel Dishonesty "Little Angel" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 08 5 May 2011
N/A
3 The Flat-Pack Kid Destruction and vandalism "The Flat Pack Kid" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 13 10 May 2011
N/A
4 The Worm N/A "The Worm" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 05 9 September 2011
N/A
5 The Little Flower Girl N/A "The Little Flower Girl" 2 (Grizzly Tales) 10 30 October 2012
N/A
6 The Rise And Fall of the Evil Guff Manners and etiquete "The Rise and Fall of The Evil Guff" 1 (Grizzly Tales) 05 4 May 2011
A boy uses flatulence to get his way.

A Grizzly Dozen (2009)

This was a compilation book containing stories from numerous books in the Grizzly Tales: Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam! series.

  1. The Grub A Blub Blub
  2. Monty's Python
  3. The Lobster's Scream
  4. Wolf Child
  5. The Fruit Bat
  6. The Clothes Pigs
  7. Jamie's School Dinners
  8. Silence Is Golden
  9. The Old Tailor of Pelting Moor
  10. Her Majesty's Moley
  11. The Soul Stealer
  12. Nobby's Nightmare
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