In this Jack Mackay interview, the author of Gloam and The Haunting of Old Splinter talks blame, brothers and a wishing claw on the edge of the North York Moors. He also looks back on Gloam’s double win at The Week Junior Book Awards 2026, Indira Varma’s reading of the Gloam audiobook and why middle grade horror should be genuinely scary.
The Haunting of Old Splinter
The Haunting of Old Splinter by Jack Mackay: A Wish Best Left Unmade
Jack Mackay follows his debut Gloam with The Haunting of Old Splinter, a middle grade horror that hands the old wishing claw legend to two comic-mad brothers on a Yorkshire moor. It is a Monkey’s Paw retelling with real teeth, and one of the finest children’s horror books of 2026.

