A Monster Calls - A Novel by Patrick Ness, Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd

Aug 27, 2026

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A Monster Calls is a young adult novel set in the hours after midnight when Conor, a thirteen-year-old boy tormented by recurring nightmare dreams, hears a voice calling his name. The story blends fear, grief, and the supernatural as Conor confronts something wild and untamed that appears outside his bedroom, setting events in motion before he can fully understand them. Through this encounter, the narrative explores how terrifying stories can force emotional truths into the waking world.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages96

Reading Time2 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

Authors’ Note

Introducing the idea and the writing process

For Siobhan

Dedication quotation

Chapter 1: The Monster Appears

AMONSTER CALLS A novel by PATRICK NESS From an original idea by SIOBHAN DOWD Cover illustration by JIM KAY AUTHORS’ NOTE I never got to meet Siobhan Dowd. I only know her the way that most of the rest of you will – through her superb books. Four electric young adult novels, two published in her lifetime, two after her tooearly death. If you haven’t read them, remedy that oversight immediately. This would have been her fifth book. She had the characters, a premise, and a beginning. What she didn’t have, unfortunately, was time. When I was asked if I would consider turning her work into a book, I hesitated. What I wouldn’t do – what I couldn ’t do – was write a novel mimicking her voice. That would have been a disservice to her, to the reader, and most importantly to the story. I don’t think good writing can possibly work that way. But the thing about good ideas is that they grow other ideas. Almost before I could help it, Siobhan’s ideas were suggesting new ones to me, and I began to feel that itch that every writer longs for: the itch to start getting words down, the itch to tell a story. I felt – and feel – as if I’ve been handed a baton, like a particularly fine writer has given me her story and said,“Go. Run with it. Make trouble.” So that’s what I tried to do. Along the way, I had only a single guideline: to write a book I think Siobhan would have liked. No other criteria could really matter. And now it’s time to hand the baton on to you. Stories don’t end with the writers, however many started the race. Here ’s what Siobhan and I came up with. So go. Run with it. Make trouble. Patrick Ness London, February 2011 FOR SIOBHAN You’re only young once, they say, but doesn’t it go on for a long time? More years than you can bear. Hilary Mantel, An Experiment in Love AMONSTER CALLS The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. Conor was awake when it came. He ’d had a nightmare. Well, not a nightmare. The nightmare. The one he ’d been having a lot lately. The one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming. The one with the hands slipping from his grasp, no matter how hard he tried to hold on. The one that always ended with– “Go away,” Conor whispered into the darkness of his bedroom, trying to push the nightmare back, not let it follow him into the world of waking.“Go away now.” He glanced over at the clock his mum had put on his bedside table. 12.07. Seven minutes past midnight. Which was late for a school night, late for a Sunday, certainly. He ’d told no one about the nightmare. Not his mum, obviously, but no one else either, not his dad in their fortnightly (or so) phone call, definitely not his grandma, and no one at school. Absolutely not. What happened in the nightmare was something no one else ever needed to know. Conor blinked groggily at his room, then he frowned. There was something he was missing. He sat up in his bed, waking a bit more. The nightmare was slipping from him, but there was something he couldn’t put his finger on, something different, something– He listened, straining against the silence, but all he could hear was the quiet house around him, the occasional tick from the empty downstairs or a rustle of bedding from his mum’s room next door. Nothing. And then something. Something he realized was the thing that had woken him. Someone was calling his name. Conor. He felt a rush of panic, his guts twisting. Had it followed him? Had it somehow stepped out of the nightmare and–? “Don’t be stupid,” he told himself.“You’re too old for monsters.” And he was. He ’d turned thirteen just last month. Monsters were for babies. Monsters were for bed-wetters. Monsters were for– Conor. There it was again. Conor swallowed. It had been an unusually warm October, and his window was still open. Maybe the curtains shushing each other in the small breeze could have sounded like– Conor. All right, it wasn’t the wind. It was definitely a voice, but

FAQs

Who is credited as the author of A Monster Calls, and what is the connection to Siobhan Dowd?

The novel is by Patrick Ness, inspired by an original idea from Siobhan Dowd.

What event triggers the story at the start of the excerpt?

A monster-like presence appears just after midnight, and Conor hears his name being called.

What kind of nightmare has Conor been experiencing?

He repeatedly dreams of darkness and wind with screaming, ending with something slipping from his grasp despite his attempts to hold on.

Aug 27, 2026

Upload by Connor