Nic's friends laugh at him all the time: when he gets chased by a stray dog, when he spills juice on himself and when he gets into trouble at school. After a disastrous Halloween party, Nic can't risk giving them another excuse to laugh at him, so when the boys visit the local haunted house he accepts a dare to go inside.

The trouble is, the boys don't realise that this party has a host, and he isn't very friendly...

Bloomsbury High Low books encourage and support reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate stories for struggling and reluctant readers, those with dyslexia, or those with English as an additional language. Printed on tinted paper and with a dyslexia friendly font, The Host is aimed at readers aged 11+ and has a manageable length (80 pages) and reading age (9+).

Produced in association with reading experts at CatchUp, a charity which aims to address underachievement caused by literacy and numeracy difficulties.

Book band: Brown

From a very young age Beth Chambers knew she wanted to be an author. She grew up in South Wales where, when she wasn't climbing trees and building dens, she could be found scribbling on pieces of paper. Some years later Beth has had just under thirty books published for children, all written under pseudonyms. When she can manage to tear herself away from her computer she assesses people for Specific Learning Difficulties at the University of Glamorgan in Wales close to where she lives.