Eleanor Hawken worked as a children's book editor for many years and was part of the team that established the Bath Festival of Children's Literature. Her popular children's series Sammy Feral's Diaries of Weird chronicles the hilarious adventures of a boy who spends his time with the furry and ferocious tenants of the zoo his family runs.

Together with his cryptozoologist friends Red and Donny, Sammy Feral investigates weird creatures like werewolves, yetis and dragons. When a whole village of children goes missing, Sammy knows something weird is going on again. A black cat begins following him everywhere, and a legion of vampire bats descend on his own village. Then, Sammy's little sister Natty gets really ill, with a strange bruise on her neck.

Thanks to his CSC talent (cross-species-communication) Sammy discovers that the cat is here to warn him about evil bats led by the evil Count Batula. The only way to increase their numbers is by biting children, Sammy's sister does not have much time. The gang create a plan to kill Count Batula, which cat believes will release the other bats back to their normal state.