I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on this. You claim it as fair, I see it as torturing someone just because they tortured you.Right, but that's capital punishment. Miss Trunchbull is merely scared by Matilda posing as a ghost of her murder victim, causing her to abandon the house and Magnus' inheritance-- both of which she stole anyway. Everything that happens to her is damn mild by literature standards-- even children's literature.
Anyway, I dont know about your claims on children's literature. I've had to read a lot of it with my kids and nothing comes close to Dahl. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I'll keep an eye out