When I was five, I lived in Florence with my family. Italy has always felt like a second home to me so it’s no surprise that one of my strongest holiday memories comes from there. Before having children, my husband Martin and I went on holiday to Sardinia. We hired a Fiat 500 and drove around the island without any accommodation booked, travelling from place to place along the picturesque seafront roads. It was a dream.

Before our trip, we had watched the horror film The Orphanage (directed by JA Bayona). Despite my dislike for horror films, I was persuaded to watch it. For the next week, we would make low whistling noises, trying to scare each other by pretending to be Tomás. One late night in Sardinia, we were searching for a place to sleep and spotted a sign for accommodation. It was the only place for miles. We pulled up to an old school that was renting rooms for the summer.

Normally, it would have been a charming place to stay, but after watching that film, every kids’ painting, classroom chair, old Victorian staircase and school peg filled me with absolute terror. We were the only people staying there that night, and the place was massive. I heard creaks, whistles and every noise imaginable, hiding under the covers until morning. 

Of course, I still remember the pasta, pizza, sun, and sights, but my main memory of that holiday is the utter fear of that school: and the carpaccio of swordfish, which was delicious. 

‘Islands’ by MALKA and Kathryn Williams is out now, released as part of Hen Hoose EP2.