Coullian Cuill

Whatever you know about ghosts – forget it. They don’t haunt, go headless or vanish in white floaty sheets. But they do have a tendency to reek like foul, rotting flesh – something that Sethaliss, a soul-stealing Grey Ghost masquerading as the village undertaker, is somewhat proud of. With extendable cracking bones and a retractable extra finger, he’s a master of deception and disguise, as well as the ruthless enemy of Creeven, where the good ghosts live. Coullian Cuill is a twelve-year-old who’s lost his father, been abandoned by his mother and is living with his grandmother in a rear-end-of-nowhere village. When a strange letter arrives inviting him to compete for the role of Ghost Guardian Apprentice, Creeven’s sworn protectors on earth, he has little hesitation in applying. With bruiser best friend Rawsy as his Assistant, Coullian is trained in everything ghost, from the tell-tale signs to spot a living ghost to the 3Gs (Gadgets for Grey Ghosts). When Sethaliss learns that Coullian is to be the next Apprentice, their relationship rapidly deteriorates – culminating in endeavours to chop off Coullian’s head, attempts at poison, and getting his trusted Assassin to murder him. When all this fails, he then tries his bony hand at kidnapping... On All Souls’ Night, when souls rise from graves to become good ghosts or Greys, Sethaliss is desperate to discover the secret entrance into Creeven. With time running out, Sethaliss gives Coullian an impossible choice: his life for Rawsy’s, a soul for a soul. Coullian must prove what he’s willing to do to save others – even after all he’s lost – to show that he’s got what it takes to become the next Ghost Guardian Apprentice. Coullian Cuill: Apprentice Ghost Guardian is a coffin-cracking adventure that will appeal to all lovers of scary, sharp comedy aged 10+.

RITI BRIDIE once starred as a witch and has seen a ghost – salivating credentials in the cut-throat (hers usually) business consultancy world she comes from. She currently lives in Oxford.