Author:Martin Waddell

Multiple online sources confirm that the children's writer "Martin Waddell" and the horror writer "Catherine Sefton" are the same. The "Wee Web" site says:


 * "His books used to be published under two names: Martin Waddell and Catherine Sefton. His Martin Waddell books he describes as 'for amusement only'. He used the pseudonym Catherine Sefton so that he could write serious books that often look at how people relate to one another, and how they deal with different situations. Now all the books are published under the name Martin Waddell."

In more detail, Answers.com quotes the Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature at length, including:


 * "The Sefton novels—thoughtful ghost stories for older readers (In a Blue Velvet Dress, 1972) and realistic problem novels (The Cast-Off, 1993)—are characterized by psychological exploration and an emphasis on family and personal history."

And, finally, Books for Keep's author biography confirms this relation.

This gives us the convincing evidence we need to connect Catherine Sefton with this Martin Waddell. The links above also include data connecting the "Harriet" stories of our Martin S. Waddell with the same Martin Waddell. The conclusion that "M. S. Waddell" is Martin (S.) Waddell is due to a combination of evidence. At least two horror blogs, Vault of Evil and Pan Horrors claim that M. S. Waddell is Martin Waddell, but we generally don't count blogs as definitive. However, the Pan Horror books from number 4 on essentially all contain stories by either "M. S. Waddell" or else by "Martin Waddell", and which name is used varies. With Pan Horror #5 we had a source (now lost) that claimed its 2 stories were written by "Martin Waddell", while Contento & Ashley's "The Supernatural Index" claims they were written by "M. S. Waddell". We view this combination of evidence as definitive that these two authors are the same. Chavey 11 March 2011 and 24 May 2012. (UTC)