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READERS NAME BOOK BADDIES
GENERATIONS of children have quaked in their pyjamas and dived under the covers as they read of the devilish deeds and gruesome goings-on of these book baddies.
Readers have named the scariest villains in children's books - and the top 10 list below reveals a motley crew of bullies, baldies and big old brutes.
Wendy Snowdon, of Amazon.co.uk, said: 'Genuinely scary villains stay with us from the time we read a book as a child. Villains who commit crimes against small children and pups are the most inexcusable
CRUELLA DE VIL
101 Dalmatians
THE ruthless fashion designer who kidnaps dogs for their fur still sends shudders down the spine of all animal lovers. When her employee Anita's dogs Pongo and Perdita have a litter of 15 puppies, she wants to use them to make a coat. Her plan is foiled by the pups' parents in Dodie Smith's 1956 story
BILL SYKES
Oliver Twist
CHARLES Dickens created this murderous thief nearly 170 years ago - but he still terrifies readers. Sykes kills prostitute Nancy for trying to help orphan Oliver flee a life of crime but hangs himself as the police chase him. Happily, Oliver is adopted by the elderly Mr Brownlow
VOLDEMORT
Harry Potter
WIZARDS and witches so fear the ravaged Dark Lord, they dare not utter his name. He murdered Harry's parents and tried to kill the boy wizard, but the curse backfired on him. But Harry's foe, created by JK Rowling in 1997, regained strength to again wage war
GOLLUM
Lord Of The Rings
FRIENDLY hobbit Smeagol is transformed into this wretched being by the evil power of the One Ring. His obsession with 'my precious' destroys him in JRR Tolkien's epic 1954 quest. He bites the ring off Frodo, before falling into the Cracks of Doom
GRAND HIGH WITCH
The Witches
THE leader of a band of bald witches who always wear wigs and constantly scratch their itchy scalps. In Roald Dahl's 1973 story, the ugly creatures plan to eliminate all of the children in England by feeding them candy that will turn them into mice
WICKED STEPMOTHER
Snow White
THE vain Queen has Snow White taken into the forest to be killed. But the Huntsman cannot do the deed, so she flees and finds refuge in the home of the seven dwarfs. The 1812 fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers was made into a Disney film in 1937
THE CHILDCATCHER
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
NO wonder this sinister villain is the scariest baddie of all for kids - it's his job to round them up and throw them in a dungeon. Armed with tempting sweeties, he's employed by the Baroness of Vulgaria in the 1964 classic about a flying car by James Bond creator Ian Fleming. The rogue captures Jeremy and Jemima, the kids of madcap inventor Caractacus Potts, who rescues all the youngsters of Vulgaria with the help of chocolate
MISS TRUNCHBULL
Matilda
THE evil headmistress of Crunchem Hall School is another classic baddie by Roald Dahl from 1988. The tyrant likes to throw 'naughty' students about the place. She punishes new pupil Matilda by locking her in the ' chokey' box
THE WHITE WITCH
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
FOUR children find the door to the magical world of Narnia, created by CS Lewis in 1950. The icy villain plots their death but, with lion Aslan's help, the kids become kings and queens - and the witch is killed
CAPTAIN HOOK
Peter Pan
THE pirate with the iron hook for a hand terrorises Never Never Land. JM Barrie's plundering rogue loses his right hand to his nemesis Peter Pan. But it's the crocodile who ate his hand who ends Hook's tyranny in the 1911 tale
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