Horrible Histories writer draws crowd at Shrewsbury Waterstones
Hundreds of excited bookworms descended on a Shrewsbury store as one of the biggest children's authors made a rare personal appearance.
Scores of people formed a queue halfway down the street at Shrewsbury's Waterstones branch on Saturday afternoon as Horrible Histories author Terry Deary was welcomed to the town.
And bosses said the event had exceeded all expectations, with an estimated 400 fans turning out for the star author, and people queuing almost three hours before the doors opened.
Shrewsbury's town crier Martin Wood also attended the book signing as the Sunderland-born author, who has written more than 200 books throughout his career, dropped in.
The Horrible Histories series of books, which are popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures, have also been adapted into a popular CBBC television series.
In 2011, he retired from writing children's books after 35 years having sold more than 25 million copies in over 40 languages.
Store manager Richard White said Mr Deary was simply a hero to many children. He said: "We knew it was going to be busy but this has just been amazing. People have been queuing halfway up Grope Lane and the first girl started queuing at 11.30am – she said she was more than happy to queue for two and a half hours to make sure she got to meet him and have her book signed.
"Terry has been having a chat with everyone he meets and it's without a shadow of a doubt the most successful event we've had for a very long time.
"The atmosphere on The Square is very good and people have been more than happy to wait."
