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Correction: we can still see them. For it soon turns out that the children begin to vanish one after another – both from copies of the photograph, only to be replaced by red letter X’s, and in real life, to the astonishment and horror of the protagonist, who is still visible in the photograph: but for how long? Who’s behind it? The mysterious photographer? Their class teacher who didn’t take part in the session? Or perhaps it’s just a prank by her friends targetting the slightly eccentric Tosia, who adores suspense novels. The answer – which isn’t always unambiguous – is served up by this excellent children’s detective horror story written by Paweł Beręsewicz, in which the author masterfully combines classic gothic genre tropes with contemporary accessories. The atmosphere of anxiety and terror in the novel is often interlaced with humour, and although the unusual ending doesn’t result in the ghosts and ghouls being made fun of, typical of children’s horror stories, after reading it it’s hard not to admit that occasionally it’s good to scare yourself a little.