By Marmalade Atkinson, with G.P. Taylor and Alex Thompson (pub. Markosia Enterprises, 2025)
He couldn’t blink. He’d never wink.
His eyes were dry; the whites were pink.
The days were bad; the nights much worse.
Being lidless was a curse.
The Sleepless Nights of the Boy with No Eyelids is a collection of poems – no, wait, not poems we’re told. Any rhyming verses are completely coincidental the back of the book tells us (even if there are quite a lot of them!).
This collection features five tales: four are for children, or ideally to be read together, whilst the last one is for parents. The first three each focus on a different child who finds themselves going through something uncomfortable or unexpected; the parents in the tales are not ineffectual, it’s simply something that is beyond their ability to easily fix.
There’s poor Roy, who’s born without eyelids and tormented by creatures in the night. And unlucky Moira who, on her thirteenth birthday, seems to suddenly sprout mould over her body. Or how about Herbert who eats nothing but sherbet? There’s even a solemn funeral service for a dearly departed…family member.
The final tale is quite different to the others, and needs to be read tongue-in-cheek – it’s not a very positive view of a certain aspect of parenting, but it’s intended to amuse not to denigrate. Atkinson is a parent herself, so well knows what she’s joking about!
I feel that it’s important to note that while the tales are dark, they are also playful. The endings may not be happy, but they’re not really horrific. In fact, the book notes that a truly gruesome verse in the first entry has actually been “removed” so as not to upset more sensitive readers!
Whether we consider them to be poems or not, the writing flows neatly from stanza to stanza, with a rhyming scheme that helps it bounce nicely along. You’ll be amazed how well certain ghastly topics can be described in a way that is both engaging and enjoyable, something Atkinson does very well here.
Visually the book is eye-catching, with vivid gothic-style illustrations on almost every page. I particularly loved how the layout of the writing changes at certain points, with specific words or sections designed to stand out. It’s a clever touch for keeping the reader’s attention. There’s also a great visual joke in story three relating to colours, while the book is in black and white, which really made me giggle.
For those of us old enough to remember it, it definitely channels the vibes of Tim Burton’s Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, a book of illustrated gothic poems with a focus on children going through some pretty rough times.
And to be clear, I mean this as a compliment! It’s the type of tale that we really don’t get very often for kids; compilations of slightly grim stories featuring children in horrible situations that don’t always have happy endings, and yet are still fun, and funny, to read.
Printed on dyslexia-friendly paper, these stories are suitable for ages 9 and up – and those fearless readers will be pleased to know that this is in fact the first of two books. The next one is titled ‘The Girl Who Cried and Cried and other far-fetched fables’, and promises to bring us dirt, tears, pets and farts, which rather sums up the human experience in my opinion.
I also wanted to share the short film adaptation that covers the first few pages of ‘The Sleepless Nights of the Boy with No Eyelids’, created by second year Bournemouth University NCCA students for a group project assignment. It’s very well done and delightfully creepy, I just wish there was more of it!
If you want to see what’s hiding in the dark, you can get a copy of The Sleepless Nights of the Boy with No Eyelids and other twisted tales at the link below.
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Looking for more spooky reads? Check out our previous reviews here.
