Fury as Tesco sells horror-themed colouring book ‘for five-year-olds’ with scenes from The Shining and The Silence Of The Lambs

Colour Me Good - Arrggghhhh!! was for sale on supermarket's website

It has blood-spattered Psycho shower scene on cover - and worse inside

Line drawings to colour are stills from 18-rated films like Carrie and Misery

Grandfather found book while looking for book for his grandson, seven

Tesco apologises for selling book as suitable for children aged five to eight

Siobhan Freegard of Netmums says 'retailers have responsibility to protect'



Tesco has apologised after a horror-themed colouring book featuring gruesome pictures of blood, knives and screaming victims was marketed at children as young as five.

The book, called Colour Me Good - Arrggghhhh!!, features graphic drawings to colour in taken from famous horror films, including the man with nails in his head from Hellraiser, the woman holding a knife by her face from Misery, and a straitjacketed Anthony Hopkins in The Silence Of The Lambs.

Grandfather Chris Tuckwood came across the 16-page book while he was searching for a birthday present for his seven-year-old grandson, Reece.



Good present for a five-year-old? Tesco thought so, but has now apologised and removed it from sale The colouring book features drawings from 18-rated horror films such as Hellraiser - this is the villain, Pinhead

The blurb on the back cover says the book contains 'really scary stuff' and 'more blood than you can shake a dagger at'.

Inside, there are line drawings of iconic stills from terrifying 18-rated films aimed at adults, including Fatal Attraction, The Shining, and Carrie and A Clockwork Orange.



Mr Tuckwood, 56, of Derby, who found the book on Tesco's website, said: 'It was advertised as being suitable for kids from five to eight - I don’t think so.

'It is unbelievable that they can sell such a thing aimed at kids. I don’t think I have to say why it’s unsuitable, that much is obvious.

'Who on earth are they employing that thinks this is OK?'

A Tesco spokesman said the product was placed on the company’s website by the book’s publisher.



He said: 'We have very clear guidelines for third-party sellers who list items on our website, and are sorry that on this occasion they weren’t followed.



Fatal Attraction: The moment when Glenn Close puts a rabbit belonging to her lover's child into boiling water Child-killer Freddy Kruger from Nightmare On Elm Street, left, and the eponymous Carrie covered in pigs' blood



'We will be speaking with the seller to remind them of the importance of selecting the right category when listing products with us.



'Of course when issues do arise we act quickly with the seller to ensure that the item is updated with the correct information.'

But Siobhan Freegard, founder of Netmums.com, said retailers had to 'take responsibility and help parents and schools in the difficult job of protecting our children and allowing them to retain some innocence in childhood.'

She added: 'Protecting our children from violent and sexual imagery is almost impossible in this digital world and those who believe it is just “down to the parents” only have to look at this example to see that.

'However much we block internet porn at home, or refuse to buy overtly sexy clothing, there is always another leak springing up round the corner.

'This book is a gruesome find and yet it is easy to imagine it arriving by post as a gift from a caring grandparent who knows his or her grandson likes 'baddies' without having seen the content, as it is positioned as suitable for children.'

The book’s publisher, I Love Mel, insisted the product is aimed at adults - despite a slogan on the book’s cover describing it as 'The COOL colouring-in book for good colourer-inners (as well as beginners).



The infamous scene from The Shining in which Jack Nicholson hacks through a bathroom door is in the book

The stuff of nightmares: An American Werewolf In London is one of the horror films featured A Clockwork Orange, which tells the story of a dystopian nightmare in a future society, is also pictured

Mel Elliott, who runs I Love Mel, said her book was designed for adults rather than children.

She said: 'Firstly and most importantly, my products are not aimed at kids. They are a contemporary, pop-culture inspired range that are aimed at playful grown-ups.



'I was unaware that Tesco were a stockist as a separate distribution company deal with the wholesale of my products.



'The front cover features a drawing from the horror movie Psycho, in which a woman is stabbed to death in the shower.



'I believe that this one image is a fairly large clue that this is not a book aimed at children.

'However, it does state on Tesco’s website that my products are aimed at five to eight year olds, which is an error on their part.'

The product has now been removed from Tesco’s website.



Terrifying: The book contains drawings featuring knives Anthony Hopkins in a straitjacket in The Silence Of The Lambs and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's childcatcher, right

The classic shark film Jaws is pictured in the book - you can colour in the shark's teeth and its victim's bikini







