Dark Reads have short chapters and very low word counts of roughly 600 each. These short, gripping stories are punctuated on every other page with bold, two-tone illustrations, which have a graphic novel feel to grab the interest of teenagers. Dark Reads are designed to appeal to readers with a very low reading age of 6 to 7, but a high interest age of 12 to 15. Liam woke. Someone was by his bed. He opened one eye… 'Woah!' It looked like Aunty Joan who he was staying with. But it wasn't. It was a stiff, straw Aunty Joan.